My Passion In Life: Colour!

Good Day Everyone,

All my life, for as long as I can remember, I have had one passion. A passion which, just the thought of, automatically makes a smile form on my face and that passion is colour – ‘colour in life’ to be precise! Colour just makes me so unbelievably happy. Now I’m not quite sure where this passion comes from. My mum has always liked flowers because they are colourful so growing up we always had them in the house. My mum also grows her own flowers, especially roses and she has sooo many plants around her house that you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a greenhouse or allotment. So perhaps it stems from my childhood for both my mum and I have the same favourite colour - green – the colour of plants and life. I like ALL bright, happy colours as I find they lift my mood and spirit. 

The most amazing thing about this passion is that it is ubiquitous, colour is all around us. It’s in nature (from the ground to the sea and sky above), food, clothes, accessories, makeup, animals, homes, cars, work, yep that’s right work and even in us (human beings). Colour is EVERYWHERE! We live in such a colourful world and it makes me sooo happy! 

Can you just imagine what life would be like, what the world would be like if everything was just black and white plus the shades in between, like the old black and white movies? I’ve often thought that if I had my time again, I would not have the career that I did, rather I would find a career that would allow me to channel this passion, be it as a photographer, florist, interior designer, makeup artists, cake maker, jewellery designer.... the list is endless!

In fact earlier this year whilst I was trying to figure out what to do with my life now that work as I know it is no longer an option (due to my arthritis) I thought about sewing, baking and floristry. Now floristry isn’t really an option whilst we live in Singapore as the weather is sooo hot and humid that flowers don’t last very long and are incredibly expensive. I do have a sewing machine and love to make things but unfortunately it is packed away at our storage unit back in England and it weighs way too much for us to bring it over, and I don't fancy buying another one.

I did really get in to baking earlier this year (see a few samples below) which I enjoyed. However, decorating cakes with all things dairy was a real challenge in the heat and humidity. Plus as the arthritis has spread to one of my wrists I now have to be a lot more mindful of holding heavy things like electronic whisks, I can’t eat sugary foods (it aggravates my arthritis) and we don’t know enough people that we could feed all this cake I was making to. My hubby’s work colleagues were usually the ones to benefit from this little hobby but transporting the cakes to my hubby’s office was costing me a small fortune in taxi rides!

(Now I know the cake picture is a bit rude but trust me there was a story behind the angry bird, dollar sign and the female form ;o))

More recently I have rediscovered my love of makeup and clothes. Now that I have lost all my steroid weight and look like myself again, getting dressed and doing my make is a real pleasure. I also have a very special event coming up and have decided to do my own makeup for it which has given me the excuse to go out and buy lots and lots of different makeup products.

I recently bought a camera so that via this blog I can share my passion for colour in all aspects of my life from food, travel, clothes, makeup, nature and everything else -  for colour really is everywhere and I hope it inspires you to ‘colour in life!’

Love Sheen xxx

My Journey To This Blog

Hi there, how are you? Good I hope! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Sheen. I am a British expat wife currently living in Singapore with my hubby. 

After ten years in a career that I was lucky enough to enjoy, I've been forced to take a career break due to health reasons :o( About a year before we moved out to Singapore I was diagnosed with my third and most debilitating chronic illness, arthritis (psoriatic arthritis to be precise). Having suffered from psoriasis and migraines since my teenage years I was now faced with a condition that affected me in a way that the other two had not. Whilst I suffered from quite horrific migraines, I wasn’t suffering from them continuously (although it did feel like that at times), and whilst the psoriasis was there all the time there were times, albeit very occasionally, that I would forget about it, but this arthritis was there all the time and there was no way this disease was ever going to let me forget who the boss was (not me that’s for sure!).  

Eight months after we left all our friends and family and everything that was familiar behind to begin our Asian adventure I hit one of the lowest points in my life. My arthritis was very aggressive, I was in constant pain, I gained so much weight due to the steroid medication I was taking that I no longer recognised myself in the mirror, I was suffering from regular migraines that were so severe they prevented one of my eyes from opening fully, my psoriasis was going nuts again but most alarming of all, I felt complete and utter despair – I was sooo unhappy! So at the end of 2011, with the support of my amazing hubby, I made the decision to give up work so that I could gain some sort of control over my life and most importantly my health – both physical and mental. 

I spent 2012 getting healthy again and it sure worked a treat :o) My migraines have practically disappeared (more on this later). My psoriasis is the most controlled it’s ever been in the last 17 years and my arthritis, whilst it’s still very much ‘alive and kicking’ it is no longer making me as miserable as it did in 2011 (even though I now have more joints affected). You see, I’ve learnt to live with it in a more ‘harmonious’ manner. It no longer feels like the ‘boss’ of me, rather we have developed an understanding, and now it feels more like a long term ‘companion’.

This year (2013) has been spent exploring and contemplating about what I want to (and can physically) do with my life now that going back to my old career is no longer an option. And so here we are! I’ve decided to use this blog as outlet for my lifelong passion... colour, in its many different manifestations, because colour is the one thing that has ALWAYS made me happy and I want to be happy because life’s no fun otherwise! No doubt I'll also be talking about the ups and downs of living life with chronic illnesses, especially arthritis. I will probably throw in a few other bits and bobs for good measure like aspects from our lives in Asia and anything else that takes my fancy. So why don’t you come along for the ride for you never quite know what’s around the corner –ooooh how exciting!!!

Love Sheen xxx

P.S. I love looking at photos on blogs (it makes them so much more interesting) but in inevitably there will be posts where photos are not really relevant, in which case, I will probably add photos of nature / sights (like I've done here) just so that there's something colourful to look at ;o)