What I love about my vegetable garden is that it is almost as full of flowers as it is with fruit and veg. Alongside the rows of rocket, spinach and lettuce, beds are edged with marigolds, and poppies, and there is an obelisks surrounded with flowering herbs and lavendar. I let my opium poppies roam freely and give seeds to people who visit the art gallery. These poppies have provided so much joy and inspired so many paintings.
The Heath family commissioned a large abstract painting from me and went home with veges!
Recently, I found dahalis flowering in my compost bin—as I write in my book by the same name, Make Joy From Sh*t, you can turn something yucky into something beautiful.
Every piece of shit life hands you is a chance to create something extraordinary
“You are like a flower learning to grow through the darkened spaces of the soil, to break through, to realize the tremendous amount of light that awaits you.”
~ Dr. David Clements MMath, MASt, DPhil
Joy isn’t the absence of pain. It’s what you create in spite of it. It’s a choice to take the broken pieces and build something new. It’s the courage to look at life’s mess and say, “I can work with this.”
So, how do you make joy from shit? You start where you are, with whatever you’ve got. Maybe it’s a journal and a pen, a canvas and some paint, or simply your hands and the earth. You take the raw, messy, painful parts of life and let them be the foundation for something greater.
Joy doesn’t erase the hard parts, but it reshapes them. It teaches you that even in the darkest times, there’s light to be found if you’re willing to dig deep enough. And when you uncover that light, you realize that life—even at its messiest—is a gift.
Every piece of shit life hands you is a chance to create something extraordinary. You just have to believe in your ability to turn it into gold.
Shitty things to happen to good people. It’s a fact. Cyclones destroy towns, fires rage through homes, people assault kindhearted partners, and world wars continue unabated. Eventually, fate deals us all a cruel hand. Every day, just like a bowel motion, shit happens.
Showing up for joy is an act of rebellion—the perfect feel-great act of defiance in a world drunk on fear and misery.
Bestselling author, award-winning artist, holistic therapist, and creativity expert Cassandra Gaisford (BCA, Dip Psych) shares strategies that have worked for her through many of her own life challenges and for her clients in her professional work as a counselor and self-empowerment coach.
Discover the spiritual superpower of making joy from sh*t and learn how to find joy in disappointments, setbacks, and trauma in this empowering book.
AMAZON US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCLRVJDJ
AMAZON CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCLRVJDJ
AMAZON UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCLRVJDJ
AMAZON AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCLRVJDJ
companion planting
Growing flowers alongside vegetables – or companion planting, as it is known – is something I’ve always done. There is no particular science to it, but the flowers attract more pollinators, which will in turn help the pollination of other crops.
I love my bees! My dad was a beekeeper and I have created many wonderful beeswax artworks, like this one which sold recently.
Growing flowers alongside vegetables can also lure the less beneficial aphids and other pests away from the vegetables and fruit. Plus, it’s wonderful to see my rescue butterflies return. I write more about this on my blog: How To Raise Monarch Butterflies At Home
The Painter’s Garden: Life Lessons from Vincent van Gogh, Flowers, Art, and Nature
DIRECT FROM CASSIE l AMAZON l APPLE l KOBO l BARNES & NOBLE
Step into a Kaleidoscope of Color and Emotion in The Painter’s Garden: Life Lessons from Vincent van Gogh, Flowers, Art, and Nature.
In this enchanting collection of reflections and art, follow a painter’s journey as each flower tells its own story of resilience, beauty, and the power of nature to inspire. From the bold defiance of sunflowers to the quiet strength of chrysanthemums, every chapter reveals lessons on life, love, and creativity through the lens of blooms both wild and cultivated.
Discover the joy of tulips in a field that seems endless, the quiet grace of forget-me-nots and their tender whispers of memory, and the luminous honesty of lunaria. As the artist’s brush captures each flower’s unique essence, their timeless truths unfold: the courage to bloom boldly, the beauty of vulnerability, and the power of connection.
Perfect for lovers of art, gardening, and inspiration, The Painter’s Garden is more than a celebration of flowers—it’s a meditation on life’s fleeting yet enduring beauty, reminding us to embrace every season and bloom where we are planted.
For fans of Victoria Finlay and Hannah Richell, this beautifully written book will leave you inspired, uplifted, and longing to wander through your own painter’s garden.
A story of flowers, art, and the life lessons that blossom between the petals.
Follow The Pied Piper of Delight
Cassie dreams of being an artist but is discouraged by her family. After her parents’ divorce she has to move house. Painting flowers helps her feel happy. She paints in secret, never allowing her dreams to die. She waters the call of her heart. One day, when she is a grown-up she discovers that her childhood dreams have become her living realities. She became The Joyful Artist who paints like a child.
This is a classic, empowering book that every child, teenager and adult should have the joy of reading.
With a unique combination of beautifully simple stories, comforting words, and powerful uplifting messages, Cassandra Gaisford has been delighting young children, teenagers and adults for over fifty years.
Creator of the delightfully beautiful, The Little Princess, Cassandra cuts to the heart of the lesson we all need to hear, over and over again, helping us learn to follow our hearts, be courageous, happy, and empowered.
This inspiring biographical story and personal development guide for girls, boys, men and women has themes on self-love, self-esteem, resilience and overcoming obstacles.
To enjoy your copy from Amazon:
https://mybook.to/DancingFieldsofFlowers
Free Chapters: The Painter’s Garden: Life Lessons from Vincent van Gogh, Flowers, Art, and Nature
Can visual art offer solace, hope and reassurance?
Posted in: Blog
ABOUT CASSANDRA
All my creations are infused with positive energy, love, and light. I believe in the power of beauty, joy, love, purpose, and creativity to transform your life.
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