Hey!

Nice to see you here!

My name/alias is Erin Reki and I spend a lot of my time on the Internet searching for people who I can relate to, just to know that I’m not alone, that people have been through the same things and survived. I love reading other peeps travel stories as they give me inspiration for my own bucket list. Also I’m addicted to whiling away the time looking at other people’s artwork and pretty pictures. I think it’s great when people express themselves through the cunning use of cartoons!  Now I think it’s my time to share.

I’ll be focusing on the three main things that I love in life.

 

Where I’ve been and what I did there.

Cartoons, paintings, photographs, sketches.

My experiences with depression, anxiety and what I do to try manage my wellbeing.

My mission: create a space where people feel welcome to read, laugh and learn from and about my own experiences.

How about some crazy adventures around Australia? Learn how I got out of debt! Laugh at my ridiculous cartoons complaining about my inability to love new food. I’ll show you some of my paintings too. They make no sense but make me feel better. I can help plan your own trip to Nepal. Give you advice on packing and finding art gear. Share tips how I deal with depression on the road.

My aim: to connect with and inspire others to work towards a happier perspective in life!

You don’t have to be perfect. Life is not a picture perfect, I’d love to make people feel less alone more confident or comfortable to be themselves, and know that the bad stuff doesn’t define you.  Share your work and your life, without fear!

How: By sharing myself!
On this website you can find:

• More About me.
• My Art including photographs, sketches, paintings and cartoons.
• Blog updated weekly with some other random thing, ranging from hotel reviews to how I feel about travel burnout.
• Destinations I have been to.
• Advice from how to cope with homesickness to finding work in Australia.

Why are you going through the painful process of making erinreki.com and what is an alias?

a·li·as

adverb
1.used to indicate that a named person is also known or more familiar under another specified name.

“Eric Blair, alias George Orwell”

noun
2.a false or assumed identity.

“a spy operating under the alias Barsad”

The alias… Erin Reki was born in Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.  I was gallivanting around Dublin with my bestie when we stumbled into the cathedral during sightseeing. By happy coincidence an exhibition by Ludmila Pawlowska, Icons in Transition was on at the same time.

www.iconsattrinity.org

Pawlowska’s paintings hung beautifully everywhere. The textures, the colors, the eyes. Oh my god the eyes. At the time I’d been living a fairly frivolous lifestyle, gotten myself into debt and broken a few hearts by being selfish and stupid. I thought I was happy.  I was kind of happy.  But I always felt there was something missing. Those huge eyes staring back at me in those paintings knew it too. I know it sounds silly but it’s like they were piecing into my soul. This was a turning point.

I quit my job. Ended my relationship. Months later I was accepted onto a volunteer trip to Nepal which changed my life! Surprisingly enough caring and learning about other people made me happy and feel less empty. I knew I wanted to continue developing those relationships but just wasn’t sure how.

Now, I’ve been drawing myself as a cartoon since I was about 12. And I’ve been given various nicknames/aliases. But in that cathedral the alias Erin Reki was created. It means opening your eyes and expanding your horizons. A persona, the creative and confident part of me that wants to share, help and understand others.

Please be aware… I don’t have any credentials or training. I only have my experiences and those of my friends to base my advice on. I’m not a doctor. The advice and opinions expressed are my own based on things I’ve learnt from personal experience. If even one person can take anything useful or positive away from this then it was worth me typing.

In the future… I would love for Erin Reki to be an actual place!
A place where people can physically go.
Chill out read, paint, meditate, connect and share with others.
Imagine if you’re local coffee shop was like a mini art retreat with a ton of free resources and full of people who wanted to nothing more than to help others in turn for a bit of free advice about their own life.
None of the surface chit chat but down to the real nitty gritty without judgment.

Ah, well I can dream. Maybe one day… for now we’ll just work on the website!

So a warm welcome and thank you! I hope you like it here!

P.S

Feel free to email me if you see any spelling mistakes/parts of the website that don’t work or need improving. I only ask that you be kind about it. I am new to this blogging/web thing and not so skilled in the computer patience area AND have a touch of dyslexia and disregard for the correct use of grammar. Sorry Nan-Nan.

P.P.S

I occasionally refer to my boyfriend/partner/pain in the butt as The Irishman…. his name is Seán. 

The more you know!