Falmouth: A Change of Scene

Last week, I went on a short but sweet trip to Falmouth. I am very lucky to have family there, and every few years we brave the long car journey down to get some Cornish air in our lungs.

I love Falmouth, it's got such an arty vibe. The high street is jam packed with independent shops selling interesting and gorgeous stationery, homeware and vintage clothes. The beach is often sprinkled with students from the university (which specialises in creative industries) playing volleyball and braving a dip in the surf. There are several theatre groups, an art gallery, and the classic children's novel, The Wind in the Willows was even born in the town.

The creative feeling that Falmouth exudes always rubs off on me. I find that lots of ideas for blog posts come to me whilst I'm eating a cornish pasty, taking a cliffside stroll from Gyllyngvase beach to Swanpool, or when I'm just sitting in my godmother's living room (I'll stop with the Cornish cliche's now!). My godmother and her husband have a great deal of books in their lovely house, and even just being surrounded by words, words that an individual has poured so much hard work and passion into, inspires me. That reminds me of when I was browsing in Waterstones the other day. It's amazing to think that every single book on the shelves was actually written by someone... was once just an idea scribbled in a notebook or typed into a phone that then became a project that the individual committed to and turned into reality... pretty humbling when you think about it.

Anyway, we arrived on Wednesday and immediately went for a walk on the beach to stretch our legs. Usually we notice a huge change in temperate when visiting Cornwall in the winter... it's always a good few degrees warming than Birmingham or Manchester. However, it was freezing. In fact, it felt much colder than up north because it was so windy! A proper icy wind too - the kind of wind that makes you want to wrap your whole head in a scarf. But it definitely blew the cobwebs away!

On Thursday, I met up with Sochal's lovely Ambassador for Nutrition, Faith Toogood, in Truro. Truro is the county town of Cornwall but surprisingly has a smaller population than Falmouth... I wonder who invented the rule that places must have a cathedral in order to be a city? Faith and I had a catch up over coffee and got super excited about the launch of the Sochal app... you should be excited too, it's going to be great. Remember to head over to www.sochal.com after you've finished reading to pre-register (it's free!).

The rest of the week was spent mooching around the lovely shops in Falmouth, walking on the beach, drinking hot chocolate in cute cafes and spending time and sharing ideas with family. My Falmouth family are all an extremely creative bunch, and I came away with numerous ideas buzzing around my head, itching to get jotted down onto paper... keep your eyes peeled for lots of new blog posts!

The trip reminded me of the importance of getting a change of scene every now and then. If you work from home, popping to a coffee shop or library for an hour can really give you some pep in your step and encourage you to be more productive. If you have friends or relatives who you haven't spoken to in a while, give them a ring and tell them about what you're working on at the moment, get their ideas and opinions. You don't have to go to a different town, county or country to feel refreshed, just changing up your environment and spending time with people you haven't spoken to in a while can be very helpful. When I was younger, I thought that Falmouth was this magical place where creativity lived and breathed in the bricks and mortar... but you can live a creative and purposeful life anywhere. The "Falmouth mindset" can be applied to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Falmouth,  I hope to see you again soon... but in the meantime, I'll be getting my creative juices flowing right here in Manchester!

Jane 

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