“Just because something has been overshadowed doesn’t mean it has stopped growing. Sometimes it simply needs someone to believe in it.”
Hardy garden cyclamen
There is something rather special about hardy garden cyclamen. They have a wonderfully determined way of growing on their own timetable, often appearing when you least expect them.
Some species, such as Cyclamen hederifolium and Cyclamen coum, have slightly different growing and flowering cycles. Cyclamen hederifolium flowers from late summer into autumn, while Cyclamen coum brightens the garden with flowers through winter and into early spring.
Then, for part of the year, they seem to disappear.
The leaves die back and the flowers are long gone. Above the soil, there can be little to suggest that anything is happening at all. But beneath the surface, the cyclamen’s tuber is still there, storing energy and waiting. When the conditions are right, it begins its cycle all over again.
I love that.
Because sometimes we can be a little like cyclamen.
We can be overwhelmed by everything happening around us. We can become tired, lose our confidence or need to step back for a while. From the outside, it might look as though we have stopped growing or that something we have built has disappeared. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is gone. Sometimes we simply need time to rest, regroup and wait for the right conditions to come along.
StraightCurves is ready to bloom again
And I think that is what has been happening at StraightCurves. September has certainly helped!
There is something about the start of a new term that brings a lovely sense of energy and possibility. After the slower pace of summer, September arrives with people getting back into routines, looking for something new to learn and perhaps finally finding the time to do something for themselves.
The studio has been feeling that September buzz too. Our classes are filling, people are coming through the door and there is that lovely hum of activity that I have missed so much. Of course, some of this is the natural rhythm of the new term, but for me it feels like something more than that. It feels like StraightCurves is finding its feet again.
There have been times when I honestly wondered whether StraightCurves would survive. The pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and all the pressures that come with running a small business have sometimes felt like very big things growing around us, overshadowing what we were trying to achieve and making it difficult to see the light.
Eventually, I got burnt out and needed to step away for a while.
Taking that break was difficult, but it was also necessary. I needed time to breathe, look after myself and think about what I really wanted StraightCurves to be. Now, as I begin to refocus, it feels a little bit like the cyclamen in my garden finally coming back into flower — which, as it happens, it is!
And honestly, I can’t tell you how much joy that is bringing me.
The studio being busy again is brightening my days in a way I hadn’t quite realised I had been missing. There is something wonderful about opening the doors, seeing people arrive, hearing conversations and laughter, and watching someone discover that they can actually make something they didn’t think they could.
Some of you are returning after a long time away. Others are completely new and have only just discovered what we do. I love seeing you all.
Every familiar face and every new one reminds me why I started StraightCurves in the first place.
It was never just about running a business. It was about creating a space where people could learn, make things, meet others and, most importantly, experience that little spark of joy that comes when you surprise yourself with what you can do.
Seeing my cyclamen start to flower in my garden after I thought it had died brought me a similar joy. It didn’t give up because the leaves disappeared. Other plants — foxgloves mostly — had grown taller around it and partly covering it, but It didn’t decide it was never going to flower again.
It simply waited, stored its energy and carried on beneath the surface. Or in the case of mine above the surface as you can se below.
And perhaps StraightCurves has been doing something similar.
The foundations were still there. The ideas were still there. The joy was still there. I just needed to give them some time and space to grow again.
So, as the studio fills up once more, I’m feeling incredibly grateful — and quietly hopeful about what comes next.
Sometimes things don’t need to be started again. Sometimes they just need the chance to spring back to life.
And if you have been putting off making time for yourself, perhaps now is the time to do it.
That might mean saying no to a few things — hard as that can be — and giving yourself some time to hibernate and recharge. Or it might mean saying yes to coming along to the studio and giving yourself some regular, dedicated creative “me time”. There is no right answer. Do what’s right for you today.