Today is the Dove House Art Therapy Christmas Party. Mum drops me off on her way to get her haircut and will pick me up after. It’s a small group but pretty much everyone comes so there are about 15 people. It’s wonderful to meet in person the people I’ve only ever seen online before. They are real, they are 3 dimensional! 

We chat our way through the next couple of hours. Surprisingly I’m not anxious at all. With this group of people there is a reality and an honesty that I don’t feel anywhere else. I guess the commonality of experiences has stripped away the need for pretence. These women have helped me in so many ways. I think about the hot mess I was when I first joined, how welcoming and accepting they were, and how they helped me to come to terms with my situation. Everything I have been through, someone in the group has also experienced. And so much more. Yet they each have a grace and a vibrancy that is amazing. A lust for life.

I love the art but it’s not the only thing that keeps me coming back. It is this truly inspirational bunch of women. We won’t have class now until the end of January which seems a long way off. 

Go well everyone and I hope to see you all in 2024!