Caring for others, love and loss
Hello.
Our family business is inspired by our daughter, Ella, who lost her battle with terminal illness in September 2020 after 11 years. Our professional counselling services are informed by personal experience and focused on empathy.
1p36 and Ella
Ella was diagnosed with 1p36 micro-deletion syndrome at three months, after she presented with aggressive seizures and was admitted to hospital. Tests concluded that Ella’s condition was not hereditary - click for more information on 1p36.
For her whole life, Ella was affected by a condition which left her unable to walk, talk or feed, and completely dependent. Despite the severe epilepsy, which constantly affected her development and the chest infections which came close to taking her life many times, she always put up a good fight and was often a happy child, who expressed herself the best she could.
Our lives were over-run with 24/7 care responsibilities, but we persevered, as parents do. It was during those difficult days, that we learned how to survive in constant chaos and uncertainty, often sleep deprived and stressed. Ella taught us to find ways to get through the most impossible of situations, through her enduring spirit and we will always be grateful to her for showing us how to find new strength.
Lois, Ella’s younger sister, is also a greatly courageous girl, who has carried on well after such a terrible time. Lois likes to get involved in all of our design decisions and is an uncompromising young critic.
Wellbeing Skills and Inspiration
I have been crafting from a young age and love brightening up life with vibrant colours, so have blended my crafts with rhymes and poems for both adults and children.
I am a qualified counsellor, life-coach and aromatherapist. My work as a counsellor and my own personal experiences led to thoughts about ways of managing difficult situations, which was when I began designing calming products, that people can hold or easily carry around at times when things become difficult.
Instead of stigmatising stress and anxiety with ideas which seem out of place, I have tried to focus on creating wellbeing accessories and decorations, which are enjoyable to experience and blend in, so that they are a good fit in any environment.
Life is very enjoyable when things are going well but when it becomes extremely tough, we may have to try several approaches to improving our wellbeing, before we discover a method which works.
Wellbeing poems
My husband started University as a way of coping with Ella’s condition - click for more information - and graduated shortly before her death, so was able to celebrate a little with her. He studied: creative writing, English literature, language and creativity and now has a 2:1 honours degree – I put him to work on the poetry to go with my craft.
In addition to several standard options, which can be purchased as both extremely affordable downloads and as framed purchases, in our poems section, we offer the flexibility of us writing poems, mantras and rhymes which contain empowering themes, determined by you.
We are really happy for you to visit and read our poems at any time, as we want them to bring you all enjoyment and empowerment, but please do not use them for resale, academic submission or publication.
Giving something back - Galena wellbeing
Part of what we set out to do was to help others, in some small way. We do not have the resources of a charity, but have already been able to provide supportive words and products for a few people with anxiety, cancer and others who are going through a tough time, and would like to help more in the future.