I HAVEN’T been at work since September 2015 when I went on maternity leave from my course leader role at Solent University.

On the day I left, my belongings were still on my desk, my books still on my shelves because I was going to be back in 12 months. Greg was diagnosed with cancer less than two weeks before I was due to return and as it turns out, I never went back to my desk again.

I miss work in a big way. While leaving my job to look after Greg was absolutely the right decision, I miss the routine, the camaraderie, feeling part of a team and being able to use my brain.

My mental health would significantly deteriorate without structure and purpose so in a landscape of hospitals and children rearing, I’ve needed to carve out my own new future that involves a splattering of different jobs here and there. One of them is as a curator.

To be honest, I can’t even remember how I came to be curating an exhibition at Showcase Gallery. A bit like when you drive home and have no recollection of the journey, I can’t recollect any conversations or visualise much of the early planning that led to the point I’m at now.

But here I am, about to open my first exhibition. This has been a dream of mine for so long but despite working in the arts all my life, I never pushed myself to do it. I was always too scared but now I’m here, making it happen for myself.

I have been secretly worried that being out of work for so long has meant that I would be unemployable in the future. From this experience, I can now see that everything that has happened to me over the past few years has given me more transferable skills and in fact taken the stress out of everything because ultimately, any set back in a gallery is not stage 4 cancer.

I deal with the worst situations every day so dealing with artists, organising events and painting walls is an absolute dream.

A big kiss must go to Kate and Asten for letting me wear the silver boots in their gallery.

The opening of ‘Everything is Now’ is on Thursday 25th April at Showcase Gallery, Southampton 6-8pm, and everyone is encouraged to come along. The exhibition runs until June 23rd.

  • Stacey Heale has left her career as a fashion lecturer to focus on her two lively little girls and husband, Delays frontman Greg Gilbert, who was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in November 2016. She launched the viral campaign Give4Greg to raise funds for lifesaving treatment: gofundme.com/give4greg. You can read more at her blog, www.beneaththeweather.com