Springing A New Look

The fields in the Shire are covered with yellow clover flowers, an assortment of other flowers that I cannot identify, but I take this to mean that Spring is around the corner. Although based on this morning’s temperature of 3C, it is difficult to imagine. Nevertheless, the first two months of 2023 have been full of changes, in an effort to rebrand and build up.

March has always been a special month, especially since my daughter was born this month, in addition to a few other very special people in my inner circle. Let us also not forget that March is Women’s History Month (2023 theme is “Women Who Tell Stories”) and International Women’s Day on March 8th (2023 theme is #EmbraceEquity), both powerful themes that I can identify with!

Whereas 2022 was a year of transition, discovery and setting down, 2023 is full of new beginnings and revivals, fully embracing the creativity and motivation that has taken a back burner for far too long. I am horribly behind in finishing Sunset Shadows, but then I asked myself, what is the hurry? Why rush and place myself under undue pressure, when I can savour the process and do an even better job. So I pulled the brakes, gave myself a break from writing altogether, but now everything is full steam ahead with new purpose and motivation.

Along with this overhaul comes a rebranding that has a story behind it. I told a friend the other day that I seem to be living my life backwards. A lot of the things I am going through now I would have much preferred to experience in my youth. But I find myself going through wave after wave of eye-openers, not all pleasant, but valuable lessons that will carry me forward. It’s not just a “been-there-done-that” sort of enlightenment, but more of accepting the fact that certain events the Universe dishes out are not meant to be traumatic, but to be teaching moments and prepare you for better things ahead; the real deal.

If there is one thing the past 12 months have taught me is that there is no harm or shame in breaking out of the conservative and suffocating systems imposed on us by generations of ancestors and cultural values that have curtailed our authentic selves. If I want to dress up in bright colours and be bohemian, then I will do so. Getting in touch with a deep inner core and setting so many ghosts of the past free has been an ongoing process that I wasn’t ready for until I moved to Portugal. Those of you who have followed this blog longer, know that nothing scares me, especially not new beginnings or venturing into the unknown! I forge my own path and if I want to be a FrogDiva in red boots living in the Shire I damn well will be.

There is one person in particular who has had a ringside seat to my emergence: my daughter, Maike. Our creative sides have linked us on a very special level and that made her the perfect person to have created the brand new logo that you now see on the front page of the blog. It is a bold statement but also an affirmation of confidence. The logo is more than just artwork or design, this is the indelible fusion of two souls who share genetics, love, friendship, and creative vision. We understand and interpret each other in body, mind and spirit.

There’s more. The original FrogDiva logo’s journey began in Thailand, back in 2015. It was a Christmas gift from her that year, hand-drawn and painted. I wanted to immortalise the gift so it became my first official logo. A couple of years after that, I registered it and got it copyrighted, which is the familiar frog you come to know over the years from the blog, the photography website, and even my stationary. The 2023 version has undergone a major transformation but retains that gutsy, gritty, resilient character.

I can’t explain the buzz running through me at the moment. It is a mixture of excitement, inspiration, anticipation, and a host of other things. The timing of the launching of the new logos could not have been better, and if I am to follow my Feng Shui, then auspicious things are about to fall into place.