On blogging, freedom and project 333 - an update

 

I notice it’s been a month since my last blog post here.

It was more of an unintentional break than a planned hiatus. I’ve struggled with the identity of this blog, and where I want to take it. Quite honestly, it doesn’t feel like it represents enough of who I am.

You may be surprised (or not) to know that:

:: I prefer function over aesthetics. I don’t decorate for the sake of decorating. If I decorate, it’s either something meaningful, or functional. For example, I have organised my yarn in colour order on the shelf, which doubles as a decoration because it looks nice.

:: I have an aversion to trinkets, and always have. I try to minimise the amount of dusting I do, because seriously, there are better ways to spend my time.

:: I am a packrat, a messy person or whatever the preferred term is, and I frequently leave things on the floor. I also, ironically, have obsessive compulsive disorder.

:: I have suffered with depression for most of my life, and more recently, in the last 8 years, anxiety. I am glad to say that I’ve found ways to manage the illness better, and it feels like it’s finally improving. Depression is a funny one, because I don’t think it’s really possible to find out if it’s completely gone.

:: I am hopelessly obsessed with self-help and personal development. Self-awareness and growth has done awesome things for my quality of life.

:: I have a secret stash of courage, which I seem to find when I am about to do something really scary.

:: I have been practising the minimalist fashion challenge, Project 333, for about a year. In July of this year, I completely fell off the bandwagon, raided my storage boxes, and just wore whatever I wanted this summer. I still haven’t found the motivation to start the challenge again, and that’s ok. Too much choice in my clothing is getting tiring though. I still have some posts to share with you about the project, because it has taught me a lot about living with less.

:: Remember the no-spend challenge from April? The real reason for starting it was so I could save up the money to quit my job. Only I couldn’t reveal that, and so the challenge didn’t work. I did stick to my promise of not buying clothing though, until October 1st. Also, my last day in my job was October 1st!!!!

:: The freedom gained from quitting is terrifying. I am intentionally staying off the jobsites for a while, because I want to focus on my writing, and creating my shop (eep!!!!). Freedom is the best present I can give myself after working for a year in an office cubicle. No purchase will ever match up to that.

:: I am starting a new phase of my life, in which I intend to show up to my life and dreams with honesty and courage. To document my journey, I have started a new blog, Notes from the arena, where I will be writing about personal development, mental health, random thoughts, musings and anything else that takes my fancy. All with a healthy dose of courage. I’d love for you to pop over and say hi, if those topics interest you.

 

How has your summer been? For the bloggers among you, do you take random/scheduled breaks? Do they help? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

27 lessons in 27 years

 

 



 

Today marks 27 years since I was born. Hot damn I'm getting closer and closer to 30 and just the thought scares the crap out of me!

For my birthday, I thought I'd join in with the blogging prompt and list some things I've learned, mostly in the past year.

1. I am a multipotentialite . I thrive on learning new techniques and crafty ways of making new things.

2. Experiences are better than stuff. The best birthday present ever was a trip to the Eden Project and a night in a B&B.

3. Time is better than money. I've recently reduced my hours at work, and it has made a massive difference to my daily life.

4. I am a natural born packrat....

5. ....And an aspiring minimalist.

6. Forgiving doesn't change the past, but lightens my heart in the present and changes the future.

7. Change is the only thing that doesn't change.

8. Imperfection is beautiful. I don't think I fully believe this lesson yet, but I'm practising all the time with dropping perfectionism.

9. I have high empathy - and carry some traits of a highly sensitive person (HSP). I don't particularly like that term though. But I'm comfortable with being an empathic introvert.

10. I am a self-help, spiritual and personal growth glutton. I can't get enough of books and blogs on these topics.

11. Finding a tribe that I can relate to is a good way to be comfortable with certain aspects of my personality. Susannah Conway's journalling course made me less embarrassed about my incurable stationery/art supply/paint/felt tip/pencil addiction. I bought new felt tips for my birthday.

12. My unofficial internet/blogging mentor is Andrea Schroeder. She is an amazing woman, and I love her work. She inspires me to continue on my creative journey.

13. Letting go is hard, but worth it. I get to say bye to the old, and hello to the new.

14. Photography is my new passion. It grounds me in simple beauty.

15. Personal growth and the development of self awareness never stops. There is always more to learn.

16. I doubt my ability to be accountable, and that is why I practise. I'm currently doing a push-up challenge with my partner, and we are accountable to each other in not giving up. I'm also practising with a new writing project. So far, being accountable and following through with something is a great boost to confidence.

17. My essentials are: writing, creating and photography.

18. Recovery for me is a lot about discovering who I am and being comfortable with it, embracing it. Hence the big list of "I am's" above!

19. I've only ever known the voice of my inner critic. My inner wisdom is still a faint whisper, but I can hear it if I listen carefully.

20. Meditation is not about achieving an empty mind. It's about noticing what happens, being aware, and then letting go.

21. Drawing mandalas helps me challenge my perfectionism and be comfortable with the creative process.

22. My purpose in this life is to help people in any way I can.

23. Mornings are quiet and beautiful. I never used to be a morning lark, but a night owl who never saw the possibility of change. Now I know that change is possible, and long held assumptions are open to challenge.

24. Self-belief is the most important thing for driving change.

25. We are all in this together, and can share our stories so others feel less alone.

26. Everyone has a voice, and everyone is unique. Your story is unique because you are telling it. Here's my TUT note from the Universe for today:

In fact, there's never been a single one like you, nor is there ever ANY possibility that another will come again. You're an Angel among us. Someone, whose eyes see what no others will EVER see, whose ears hear what no others will EVER hear, and whose perspective and feelings will NEVER, ever be duplicated. Without YOU, the Universe, and ALL THAT IS, would be sadly less than it is. 

27. Vulnerability is not a weakness. A quote from Brene Brown's new book "Daring greatly":

Yes, we are totally exposed when we are vulnerable. Yes, we are in the torture chamber that we call uncertainty. And yes, we're taking a huge emotional risk when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable. But there's no equation where taking risks, braving uncertainty, and opening ourselves up to emotional exposure equals weakness. 

 

I've made pancakes with maple syrup and banana, gone blackberry picking, eaten too much chocolate and dessert, was given beautiful flowers and am going out to dinner tonight. Reflecting on the above lessons suddenly makes getting a year older a bit less scary.

I hope your week is filled with beautiful moments :)

 

 

 

Leaning in

 

 

Move closer, lean in, get curious; even for a moment, experience the feelings without labels, beyond being good or bad. Welcome them. Invite them. Do anything that helps melt the resistance.   

-Pema Chödrön

Here’s the truth; life is pretty difficult right now. One challenge after another presents itself, and I’m struggling with the sky-high anxiety I’ve experienced as a result.

Job stress, home stress, life stress, career (what is that anyway?) stress, will-I-ever-fulfil-my-purpose-stress.

Yes, those have all happened recently, and now I’m back at job stress. Uncertainty over rules, regulations and how long I will be in my job for.

I’ve been meaning to get the hell outta here, run away, give up and escape, anything-but-this, go live as a nomad somewhere. Sounds good to me.

I’m pretty good at convincing myself that escape is the only solution. Yet, the wisdom that is a barely audible whisper compared to my screaming inner critic, says that to develop strength and resilience, independence and stamina, to figure out what this life is all about, I must stay. Stay, learn from the experience and come out stronger.

Hardship sucks. But in the face of all this, messages of “lean in” come along*, reminding me that running from these feelings won’t solve anything. They’ll most likely pack themselves in my bag, putting themselves on the list of essential items. Thanks dad for the awesome analogy!

Avoiding these feelings, running away from struggle, will only make things more difficult. If I pretend that things are easy peasy, refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom that says “slow-the-f*%* down and rest”, I will run myself into the ground and it will be a mighty endeavour to pick myself up again.

In the interest of developing confidence and trust in my inner wisdom, I’m going to listen. Listen carefully. The Universe is conspiring along with me, as from my recent note:

Those little things that you alone see, Linda, aren't by chance. The sign, the squirrel, the dragonfly; the whisper, the song, the lily. It's me. I'm always with you. I'll do anything to reach you -- to give you hope, keep you on track, answer your questions. Look even closer,    The Universe

If you’re interested in your own Notes from the Universe, sign up here. Lovely messages, delivered to your inbox.

and another:

When you tough it out, hold the line, and stay the course, Linda, I promise you there will soon come a day when you look back over your shoulder, shake your head in dismay, and seriously wonder what all the fuss was about. Just like all the other times,    The Universe

And so, I lean in. Be with the discomfort, aware of my tiredness, fatigue, exhaustion and I execute a most divine self-care plan. Plenty of crochet, reading, journalling, photo-taking, and sleep.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” – Eleanor Roosevelt

(borrowed from Sandra Pawula’s excellent collection)

 

-I believe in you all

Linda

*I'm not a Christian, but the message conveyed here is still a good one.

 

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to subscribe to my posts by RSS or follow me on Twitter. I'd love to hear from you in the comments. You can also connect with me privately by email.

Adventures in Hope Valley

 

I went on a solo adventure this weekend, to the rather aptly named Hope Valley in Derbyshire, UK.

There are lots of changes going on in this house, and I feel the name captures my feelings around these changes rather nicely. It was a beautiful weekend. I went to my best friend's wedding, alone, 180 miles away. I camped, soaked in the view, and indulged in some photography while I was there.

I wanted to share some photos from the weekend with you, but couldn't choose between them! So here they are.



 

These photos are taken with my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR. 

 

I am working on a post about travelling alone, something I haven't done in over 2 years. It was incredibly refreshing and empowering, and I'd like to capture that in an essay soon.

 

What adventures have you been on lately? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

 

 

A slow Sunday

I woke up determined to get all the housework done. I set myself a deadline of 1pm. I cleaned out the fridge, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, put shopping away, cleaned the bathroom, put laundry on, tidied the bedroom and lounge. Started a new writing project which I'm rather excited about, journalled some, carried on with the housework. I did in fact finish by my set deadline! This is rare for me, I must say, as I'm usually found procrastinating on the computer instead of cleaning up.

We had some lunch at home, and then went for a stroll down to the local city farm, through what we affectionately call "hippyville" - full of allotments, and a certain atmosphere that isn't found elsewhere in the city. There is a guy that leaves free art out on the wall for people to take.

We made friends with the goats at the city farm:

 



 



 



 

 

I think I'm smitten. They're so friendly and sweet, especially the young kids.

We kept coming back to them, and then went to the lovely cafe at the farm:



 

 

Chai tea latte and apple+ginger juice. Yum.

 



 

 

After the slightly hectic cleaning session in the morning, it's been nice to slow down, notice the flowers, walk along and talk to the animals at the farm. I love finding little gems on our explorations of the local area. I've been here 4 years and keep discovering new things. Today we found a path up to a community garden maintained by people with learning disabilities as part of the farm's work. It's these discoveries which draw me to non-profits, and making a difference in our world.

Now to find somewhere to get involved!

 

A couple of other updates:

Today is the last day of our TV licence*, and we are going to be experimenting with not watching any TV at all (we will be unplugging it from the TV aerial socket), except for the occasional iPlayer session (TV episode catch up online, for those of you who don't know it). We have been thinking about our finances, and the £150 bill for the year is something we could do without right now. I hope the TV licence people don't hound us too much.

Today is also the last day of Google Reader before it retires. If you subscribe through Reader, you'll need another RSS service. I use Feedly - it's free, and a one-click import from Google Reader. I like it so far. Here is the link to my RSS feed. 

 

*In the UK, the law states you need a TV licence to watch TV as it is broadcast. This is aside from any cable or satellite charges. If you want to watch TV, you need to have one. If you only watch programmes after they've aired, then you're exempt.

 

I hope you're having a lovely weekend... I'm off to do some crochet.

Something in the air

 

 

There is something in the air in the blogging world. At least judging by the bloggers I read. It seems a few of us are getting disillusioned, downhearted and de-motivated regarding our blogs, including me. Although it’s not a nice feeling, I feel better when others mention they are feeling the same.

It reinforces for me, that

We are never alone

 

There is always someone else going through a similar experience.

I only know this because the bloggers said so, instead of pretending things were a-ok. And that’s what inspired this post. I feel more able to share my experiences with blogging, because someone else was brave enough to do it first.

Blogging is a funny thing, y’see. We write for an audience, even if no one reads it. We write to portray our lives, find our voice, share our message with the world, or follow a passion.

It can be incredibly hard work, but it can also be incredibly fulfilling, and that’s why I keep returning to my little space on the internet. Just some days, it’s harder than others.

As I say here I don’t believe in pursuing a beautiful life, because it feels like it’s always going to be one step ahead. I want to create a beautiful life, right here, right now. In creating something as profound as a life that I want to live, I will be on a journey, and there is a difference for me between a pursuit and a journey. The journey is the here, the now, and what happens on a day to day basis. A pursuit implies some sort of chase, and I don’t like the connotations that has.

A great post I read today mentioned that if we were already there (wherever we want to get to), our writing would in all honesty be boring. Mine would perhaps be gushing with beautiful stories and images and how oh-so-amazing everything is. If that was me reading a blog like that, I think I’d feel a little left out, a little like, well I won’t get there,  so why bother trying?

Instead, I would want to know how that person got there. How they created that beautiful life. All the ups and downs along the way. The challenges and the triumphs. I would want to see something I could relate to, an experience similar to mine, something that resonated with me.

One little niggling thing of mine is that I feel I can’t write about my journey until I have the direction figured out. Until I know what I’m doing. Only then do I feel comfortable actually doing it. With most things in life though, I’ve learnt how to do things, by doing them. It’s the best way to learn.

So I struggle with this blog, because I haven’t found a clear direction. I’ve figured out the mission statement for this blog, but quite honestly, I’ve little idea how I’m going to create this beautiful life that I believe is possible.

Sure, I have ideas that I’d like to try, learn and do, and see what happens. But I haven’t got a solution yet.

But. In order for this blog to be real, it’s time to drop the perfectionism, and start writing already. I am on a journey, and sometimes it won’t be pretty, and sometimes it will be amazing. Some days it will be hard, others it will be easier. Some days I will be highly strung and a nervous wreck, and other days I may reach the spaced-out calmness of meditation.

My life isn’t perfect. It’s been flippin’ hard at times, and I will continue to be faced with challenges. The ups and downs are what makes it interesting.

My purpose for being here is to share my journey, so others may stumble upon it, find something to relate to, and maybe feel a little less alone.

We are all trying to find our way through life, one experience at a time, and sometimes it helps to know someone has been there before.

The more stories there are, the more chance someone has of finding their way.

Some good posts from elsewhere on the tinterwebs (which inspired this post).

The Jest from Mel at Coal Valley View

Which linked to On blogging over at Knitsofacto

A quote from here:

"Of course lots of the pics posted in blogland give delight to others too, but the point I'm making is that even if they didn't, the posting of them remains important, perhaps even essential, for bloggers themselves. And although I think one of the most important and special aspects of blogging is the possibility of connection with others, there is also a place for blogging that preserves connections with ourselves and the days of our lives that we thread together, like beads on a string; sometimes in deliberate patterns and ordered arrangements; often haphazardly and accidentally and which, whether we like it or not, make up the history of our identity. And part of life's essential survival kit, I think, is remaining interested in that."

and this post from Jen at little birdie.

Reading these made me feel a bit more able to jump on in and get involved. I invite you to come along, share the journey, perhaps find your own way in the process. It’s so much better when there’s other people too.

 

Slow down, sister!

 



 

 

Oops. I’ve run myself into the ground again, and now I’m off work and at home, recovering.

There is nothing else for it but an afternoon nap, a good book, some podcasts and perhaps a bit of sewing.

In other words, slowing right down to a crawl, and resting up.

 

I hope you all have a good day!

 

 

 

This weekend....

[gallery ids="429,430,431,432,433,434,435,436,437,438,439,440,441,442,443,444,445,446,447"]
Update: the link above is wrong, there are 19 photos in the gallery!

Saturday

We drove to nearby Dyrham park...

Put the blanket down, had a picnic, and lay down watching the clouds....

Got up, strolled down the hill, and wandered round the house, me with camera in hand, practising....

Went into the orangery, and took photos of the beautiful flowers...

Ambled around the gardens, watching the children play, enjoying the sunshine...

Went into the house and looked at beautiful armour from a long lost age...

Explored the surroundings...

Put our blanket on the grass and felt the warm sun beating down....

Yearned for ice cream, but had no money...

Found the sad, lonely, house cat, staring out the window...

Climbed the steep hill back to the car....

 

Sunday

Breakfast and a big mug of tea....

Finished weaving the ends of my crochet rug (post soon)...

My man cooked an amazing BLT for a late lunch...

We tidied the house, changed the beds and cleaned the floors....

I made a delicious banana bread, complete with split crust top...

Next, to up-end the furniture ready for carpet cleaning tomorrow.

 

Divine weekend, the best in a long time. I hope you had a lovely weekend too.

 

A note on self-care, and a certificate

I received some lovely post yesterday, and further along the train of thoughts, I started thinking about self-care.

 



 

 

I went on this course to learn how to listen better or more effectively, and came away knowing a lot more about myself too. Even though the course was focussed on listening to others, we were also encouraged to listen to ourselves.

After all, it’s difficult to help others and maintain a client caseload if you’re struggling with keeping all the balls in the air. More generally, it’s difficult to take care of everyone around us and close to us, if we aren’t looking after ourselves too.

The last session of the course focussed on self-care, and we dedicated 30 minutes to an art and craft activity - an A3 sheet of paper, a representation of us in the centre, surrounded by all the ways we look after ourselves. They gave us the SPICES framework:

Spiritual

Physical

Intellectual

Creative

Emotional

Social

 

and encouraged us to think of the ways we look after ourselves on the above dimensions.

Here is mine:

I wonder, am I making you uncomfortable? Is it uncomfortable to talk about self-care, when it is taboo and frowned upon to lift ourselves up in anyway, instead infusing every positive comment with sarcasm? Does it make us look selfish in any way? Or is it ok?  I’ve often found that I’ve been met with a hint of disdain when I’ve talked about myself in a positive way, or how I’m doing something for me. Have you experienced that?

The point of this post is not to boast in any way about getting a certificate for my course. It’s a recognition of the fact that I did that course for me, and for me only. I didn’t do it under advice, coercion, or because I didn’t know what else to do (something that I’ve done often in the past). Straight away, the element of self-care pops out at me, that I did this course, for me. To learn and try something new, just because I felt like it.

Even if it’s uncomfortable to talk about, it is important to take care of ourselves. It restores energy, and allows us to give more freely of ourselves. And I mean always, not just when we’re ill, or run-down. It’s important to take care of ourselves, each day, each week, each month. It doesn’t have to be big, or cost any money. I’m not talking endless spa days here. I certainly can’t afford a spa-day or a massage every month!

It’s the little things that count. Seeing friends, a bath, a good book, exercise, going outside, sitting in the garden, engaging in a hobby, a hot drink, a spot of decluttering, an early night, listening to music, whatever makes you feel good and restored. There are millions of ideas for this, and even throwing out all stained and ratty clothing can feel like you’re looking after yourself (I did this just recently, and it’s brilliant). My personal favourite is putting on a big comfy hoodie (with the hood up), joggers and curling up somewhere comfy (yep, even in summer, especially after a day outside).

Over to you

You could make up your own A3 poster, cut out pictures of things like we did on the course. You could follow the SPICES approach and see which areas need attention. You could write a list of the things you’ve done recently, and of things you’d like to do.

How do you look after yourself? If you don’t take time out just for you, how could you start? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Synchronicity

The signs are all there. They’ve been building up, showing me something, and today the last one appeared.

(are you ok, Linda?, I hear you say- in one of those moods again?) Yes, absolutely fine. Excited, scared, apprehensive perhaps.

I’ve just chosen to notice some things and connect up all the dots. Random things have been happening to me recently, and I’m considering them to be not so random.

 

First, “shadow artists”.

“Artists love other artists.  Shadow artists are gravitating to their rightful tribe but cannot yet claim their birthright.  Very often audacity, not talent, makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist–hiding in the shadows, afraid to step out and expose the dream to the light, fearful that it will disintegrate to the touch.”

Read more at:http://skinnyartist.com/an-artists-bookshelf-the-artists-way-by-julia-cameron/

Second, these people followed me on Twitter.

Third, this TED talk. I’ve heard of this person, but always glanced on by.

Fourth, today: A reading deprivation exercise. (The Artist's way, page 87)

"Reading deprivation is a very powerful tool - and a very frightening one. Even thinking about it can bring up enormous rage. For most blocked creatives, reading is an addiction"

"In my teaching, the week that I assign reading deprivation is always a tough one. I go to the podium knowing that I will be the enemy"

 

A what? Yep, I was as surprised as you might be now. Deprive yourself of reading material for a whole week. Watch out for all the fillers too, radio, TV, mindless consumption of information.

 

Reading material? Deprive myself? No way.

 

Yes way.

I’m choosing now to stop ignoring the signs. I’m not religious by the way. I am spiritual though. Yep, there’s a difference, but I digress.

It felt right to move on to the next chapter of the Artist’s way. I’ll tell you more about that one day.

And on the first page came a warning: “Do not ignore the reading deprivation tool”. The author knows us human beings and how we shy away from challenges, things that might seem too hard or impossible. She knows. She says “even at the safe remove of the written word, I can feel the shock waves of antagonism about trying this tool" Too right, you can. Twenty odd years later (the book is that old).

Out came the excuses, (as predicted by the author) :

- how will I get through my day without reading?

- all the blog posts I can’t read

- the magazines

- the news

- how will I occupy myself?

-I can’t do this! I will die of boredom!

- and so on...

I had in mind to delay this, but the signs are too strong. I start now, or not at all.

 

I’ve made a plan.

-All my favourite blogs are in an aptly named “Favourites” folder in my Reader, and they will conveniently still be there next week for me to catch up on. There will be 30-40 articles in there. Yikes.

- Social media is limited to posting links to my blog (as I’m definitely allowed to write/create).

- No TV, radio or news

- No reading books.

 

What I can do:

- I can read patterns to make things (I’m currently crocheting something awesome).

- I respond to emails as part of my job, so I still need to do that.

- I can check my email twice per day, once in the morning, once in the evening. Anything that is a newsletter, blog update or other “no-reply” item, will be put in a folder to read later. I can read comments on my posts and respond.

- The author gives us permission to read the chapter in the book, and the tasks for the week.

 

 

Why on earth am I doing this??????

- Because my mind feels saturated, full to bursting, and there is little room for me to come up with my own ideas.

- I mindlessly consume my favourite blogs, the amazingly inspiring articles, and they don’t have a chance to impact me in the way that they could if I had space to take in their message.

- Reading is my addiction because I think that if I read enough, I will eventually have the courage to write.

- Because the signs are there, random or otherwise, and I’m choosing to notice them. I could safely ignore them, but I’d always wonder what if. I’d also be forsaking/limiting any benefits of this challenge.

 

Yet another challenge????

- I love challenges. They are fun/scary (at the same time). They are educational. They inspire growth. They encourage reflection. They take us out of our comfort zone, and that is only a good thing.

- I could speculate on the benefits of this challenge, I could take it with a pinch of salt, I could do it half-heartedly. Sure. But then I won’t discover the full benefits, and may end up considering it pointless.

 

How do you feel about this???

-Scared

-Apprehensive

-Excited

-Surprised

-Anxious

-Doubtful

- Worried

 

These feelings are all good signs of growth. Personal growth is scary, induces anxiety, and uncertainty. And as Brene Brown said in her talk, it makes us vulnerable (in a good way - I invite you to watch the video).

 

I’m going cold turkey on my addiction to information, blogs, articles, facebook, twitter, books and other reading material.

 

Flippin heck. Why do I do these things to myself??

 

The challenge starts now, and runs until 10pm Thursday 18th April.

 

p.s. you might see more posts from me in the next week. If I don’t die of boredom first ;)

 

What do you think? Have you done anything similar before? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

 

Weekend wandering

I had planned to go and buy castor oil because I want to try the oil-cleansing method for my face. However, I also knew that a spending urge had materialised in my mind.

Given that I am now on a no spend challenge, I decided against the castor oil, because I was certain I'd have broken the rules of my challenge, only a week in. My favourite charity bookshop is a couple of shops down. Not good.

Instead, I left the house without my wallet and took my new camera with the intent of taking some photos. Turns out I'm nervous about taking photos when there are lots of people around! And people there were:

 




At the first hint of sunshine, and a bearable temperature, people flock to the park. I love the little tea hut in the middle, and one day I will park myself at one of the tables with a cuppa.



The tree I sat under. I can't wait for the leaves to appear.

I love the look of the dark spindly branches against the bright blue sky.

 

I sat in the park for a while, pondering and enjoying the warmth of the sun. I found peace sitting with fewer than 10 objects around me;

Camera, handbag, pen, journal, the Artist's way, a tote bag, my phone, a water bottle, and a clipboard to write on.

At home, I tend to feel overwhelmed with the mess and the clutter, and my focus completely disappears. Yet, I don't often see the connection, and I get stuck on the sofa not knowing where to start or how to get motivated. Knowing now that being surrounded by stuff is draining my motivation, the spending urge has well and truly been quashed.

 

Tip of the day: leave the house without your wallet.

 

What are you up to this weekend? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

 

Means to a beginning

 

Laura Mardon via Compfight

I’ve chosen to reward myself for my hard work this winter.

• I’ve completed 6 months full time work, something I never thought I could do so soon after leaving my PhD.
  


• I’ve completed a 3 month introductory course in counselling.


• It’s been 9 months since I left my PhD, and the decision alone was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.


• I’ve started two blogs


• I’m learning and growing every day.

After much deliberation (about two months) and finally choosing my reward at the weekend, an entry level DSLR camera , I’ve come to realise that minimalism isn’t really about the stuff in the end. It’s not about owning the least amount of possessions. It’s not a competition over who can have the best, and most simple decor, or the amount of white walls in our homes. It’s not about decluttering either. Getting rid of the excess is just a means to an end.

The end, and simultaneously, the beginning, is learning what is important. Freeing up space allows us to discover what else there is besides stuff. It’s the beginning of a new life full of discovery.

The beginning will be different for everyone.

I’ve discovered a passion for writing, rekindled my creative endeavours, and have dipped my toe into the world of photography. I am learning what is important to me.

This blog is important to me, and because I am a visual person, the look of my blog is important too.  Hence, developing the ability to take better photos is important to me.

My new camera is pretty awesome, but it’s not the plastic casing and the technology per se that I lust after.  I could amass a great collection of lenses, a tripod and all the kit in the world (given the money), but there’s no point in owning all of those if they just sit on a shelf, untouched.

The camera is just a tool to get me closer to something I love doing. It’s not the camera, but learning how to use it that will add value to my life, and will challenge me to be creative with a new medium.

How about you? What is truly important to you? Feel free to share in the comments.

 

 

Find your sacred space

Tired? Stressed? Overwhelmed? Fed up with the daily grind? Don’t know how to find time to yourself? Don’t know how to achieve your dreams?

If this applies to you (as it does me), then I would like to invite you to

Find your sacred space

A space to write.

A space to dream, hope and wonder.

A space to realise your ambition

A space to be with yourself

A space to be yourself

 

I often forget that I have a sacred space. I forget that once a week, I am free to dream, create and hope for better things. Outside of my sacred space, I forget that I have great ideas, belief in myself and the ability to centre into a room. Instead, I get caught up in the stress of work, unhappy customers, busy work, emails, spam phone calls, pollution, traffic and the hectic city life.

Today, I realised, that in my writing room, I am free. I am ensconced in a bubble, safe, protected and free. My writing room is my sacred space. It’s not mine per se, but it feels like it’s mine while I am there. I need very little in this space. My favourite pen, a notebook, and a chair. I am free to dream.

The lines hold words, meanings and my deepest secrets. Here I find my voice, and this is where I cherish it, nurture it, appreciate it. This is my special place, where things are allowed to be still and calm. There are no distractions here, no urgency, no desire to check my phone or be otherwise engaged in anything but the flow of my pen across the page.

My wildest dreams come true in my writing room. In my dreams I lead a simple, intentional, purposeful life. In my dreams I contribute beyond myself, helping others to realise their true potential. And for that one sacred hour per week, it feels possible.

Nothing will intrude on this space, because its sole purpose is for me to write. My writing group meets here, and we write together. This is the only purpose. To write, grow, heal, and share together. When the safe space only has one purpose, it is easier to eliminate everything else.

How to find it

The elimination of all distractions is essential. Emails, social media, phone, people that are likely to divert your attention. Eliminate all demands on your time in this space, and dedicate it instead to something you love.

Writing
Creating
Knitting
Sewing
Reading
Drawing
Painting
Meditating
Yoga

Your sacred space may be inside the home, or outside the home.

Inside could be your bedroom, the kitchen table, craft room, spare room, a desk area or home office, attic or garden.

Outside could be a cafe, library, church, yoga studio, parks, a tent, caravan or the beach.

Anywhere you can allow yourself to focus on something you love, and be in the moment, with yourself, your thoughts, and wildest dreams.


 

 

Do you have a sacred space? Would you like one? What would you do there? 

I'd love to hear from you in the comments.