My Rules

I have lots of notes up in front of me.  And lists.  I have just collated them.  as follows

Be engaged, Curious, Vibrant and Brave.
do yoga every day
eat clean food
do art projects
organise parties
create great art
get people together - get people to know each other a bit better
have fun
enjoy life
be grateful
inspire yourself and others to shine
eat outside. eat together
travel
do what you love
help people
make friends
give of yourself
listen
think the best of people
be yourself. don't pretend
seize the scary stuff
do something different
be optimistic
do less
get excited
be uncommon
play
get into the arena
go outside your comfort zone
believe in magic
know when to walk away
trust the universe
buy local

Things I need to do

For my creative business.

Get a new website with a blog on it, on Wordpress. Make it clear that i do portraits.
Spend some time going through the HSHB course with regard to this particular business.
Experiment with styles and framing to find the best fit
Experiment with the idea of empowering self portraiture and the possibility of doing a workshop on this
Set some time aside for this each week

Goals, aims, end points, finish lines.

I am a qualified yoga teacher
I am paid to teach yoga
I have been to Ibiza, a festival, on art retreat and on a yoga holiday
We have a sociable kitchen
I paint and create
I am fully qualified at people who do and get regular work. Inc setting up work.
Ted is learning; French, swimming, cooking, oh and to read and write

That will do for now.

Yoga, PWD, holidays, art. Yes.

Being Done by People Who Do

Accelerated Productivity.  WOW.  I have to say I feel immensely organised!! It was  a WADE to get through all my notes to myself and things I start up doing or wanting to do, but it has been done.  Processed.  Simplified.

check this.  I have inboxes at zero (and a method, which is simple as pie) of managing them. My calendars and my iphone talk to each other and sync up and I have this super little moleskine which has all my projects listed (currently on the go) and all the back burner projects (soooo many...) and all my 'to do' lists are actions and are grouped into contexts.  @computer  @errands  @YogaTeacherTraining... etc.  So if I randomly think of something I must ask my yoga teacher at class, I can make a note of it and remember to ask it.  Or when I talk to the accountant I have a comprehensive list of all I need to ask him.

I am all set up with a clever little application

I do now see the point of the project files and am hankering after the filing system in which to put all my project plans, as sometimes my planning gets a bit muddled up with my next actions.... but setting this up is in my lists.

It really does feel very clever and ORGANISED.   Get me.  I have to do a weekly review,  without fail, or the whole system collapses.  But I am very motivated and for the next week or so I will have People Who Do on my case about this.  Of course life has it that I am away on holiday again next week.  So the major part of this accelerated productivity will kick in come September.  But hey, watch this space. 

60 small ways to improve your life over the next 100 days

day one will be tomorrow then.  the list was forwarded to me via facebook.  its here in its original.  (NB have just had it pointed out to me that the comments on it are pretty funny to read too.  so check them out) and for the record AM SO NOT GOING TO DO ALL OF THEM!

I particularly like the go around the house and make note of the things you are tolerating, and SORT EM (oven door? your time has come).

On Thursday I am going to get done at People Who Do.  Its all about making sure that all the things you set out to do, even, and especially if you never ever get around to them.  And OH.  Blimey I have just added 60 small things to that list.  DOH!.  actually.  I am not interested in the whole 60.  I don't watch tv or drink fizzy drinks, for example.  But there are a few which I am going to run with.  Some I have tried before, so hopefully that aint going to be too much of a struggle.

So my focus here will be on making sure I capture ALL the unfinished business, stuff that needs sorting, stuff I am only tolerating things out, and work my way through them... according to my PWD principles (to be learnt / experienced) on Thursday...

Decluttering (all part of my be more efficient and have less to tidy up plan - ongoing - (ongoing forever.....?!?!)

Being grateful.  5 things a day.
getting up 1 minute earlier every day  (in conjunction with the getting Bub to go to sleep earlier plan)
tracking expenses (have been a wasteful fool of late, no more! no more!)
I like the idea of keeping a change pot for 100 days and seeing how much goes in it.  I kind of do that already, so will definately do one of those. 

Here goes with the gratitude
1.  I have great hair (its really working for me the last couple of days.  gotta appreciate that!)
2. I got some good opportunities to earn money to pay back our mortgage
3. got a roof over our heads and its a good one.
4. I have a beautiful necklace on
5. Hub is the kind of fellow who plays spaceships and landing on different imaginary planets with Bub for hours

Now to set the alarm clock.  We had a respectable 7.50am this morning.  7.49.  Lets see how that goes.
DO YOGA (no joke this NEEDS to be done.  can't really believe am being such a slacker in this.  I LOVE Yoga!)


and below is the cut n paste version.  its too long I know. 

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days.
Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

Home

1.  Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days.  Here’s an example:

• Day 1: Declutter Magazines
• Day 2: Declutter DVD’s
• Day 3: Declutter books
• Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:

• If you take it out, put it back.
• If you open it, close it.
• If you throw it down, pick it up.
• If you take it off, hang it up.

3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:

• A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
• A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
• The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out.

Happiness

4.  Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day.
5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following:

• Eating your lunch outside.
• Calling your best friend to chat.
• Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.

6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:

• How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?
• Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
• Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?
• How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?

Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter.
7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

Learning/Personal Development

8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days.
9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite clothing boutique as you shop. If it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.
10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.
11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100 days you’ll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than you’re waking up now.
12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.
13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.

Finances

14. Create a spending plan (also known as a budget). Track every cent that you spend for the next 100 days to make sure that you’re sticking to your spending plan.
15. Scour the internet for frugality tips, choose ten of the tips that you find, and apply them for the next 100 days.  Here are some possibilities:

• Go to the grocery store with cash and a calculator instead of using your debit card.
• Take inventory before going to the grocery store to avoid buying repeat items.
• Scale back the cable.
• Ask yourself if you really need a landline telephone.
• Consolidate errands into one trip to save on gas.

Keep track of how much money you save over the next 100 days by applying these tips.
16. For the next 100 days, pay for everything with paper money and keep any change that you receive. Then, put all of your change in a jar and see how much money you can accumulate in 100 days.
17. Don’t buy anything that you don’t absolutely need for 100 days. Use any money you save by doing this to do one of the following:

• Pay down your debt, if you have any.
• Put it toward your six month emergency fund.
• Start setting aside money to invest.

18. Set an hour aside every day for the next 100 days to devote to creating one source of passive income.

Time Management

19. For the next 100 days, take a notebook with you everywhere in order to keep your mind decluttered. Record everything, so that it’s safely stored in one place—out of your head—where you can decide what to do with it later. Include things such as the following:

• Ideas for writing assignments.
• Appointment dates.
• To Do list items

20. Track how you spend your time for 5 days. Use the information that you gather in order to create a time budget: the percentage of your time that you want to devote to each activity that you engage in on a regular basis. This can include things such as:

• Transportation
• Housework
• Leisure
• Income-Generating Activities

Make sure that you stick to your time budget for the remaining 95 days.
21. Identify one low-priority activity which you can stop doing for the next 100 days, and devote that time to a high priority task instead.
22. Identify five ways in which you regularly waste time, and limit the time that you’re going to spend on these activities each day, for the next 100 days. Here are three examples:

• Watch no more than half-an-hour of television a day.
• Spend no more than half-an-hour each day on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon.
• Spend no more than twenty minutes a day playing video games.

23. For the next 100 days, stop multi-tasking; do one thing at a time without distractions.
24. For the next 100 days, plan your day the night before.
25. For the next 100 days, do the most important thing on your To-Do list first, before you do anything else.
26. For the next 14 weeks, conduct a review of each week. During your weekly review, answer the following:

• What did you accomplish?
• What went wrong?
• What went right?

27. For the next 100 days, spend a few minutes at the end of each day organizing your desk, filing papers, and making sure that your work area is clean and orderly, so that you can walk in to a neat desk the next day.
28. Make a list of all of the commitments and social obligations that you have in the next 100 days. Then, take out a red pen and cross out anything that does not truly bring you joy or help move you along the path to achieving your main life goals.
29. For the next 100 days, every time that you switch to a new activity throughout the day stop and ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time at this moment?”

Health

30. Losing a pound of fat requires burning 3500 calories.  If you reduce your caloric intake by 175 calories a day for the next 100 days, you’ll have lost 5 pounds in the next 100 days.
31. For the next 100 days, eat five servings of vegetables every day.
32.  For the next 100 days, eat three servings of fruit of every day.
33. Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthier—whether it’s the decadent cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chips—and go cold turkey for the next 100 days.
34.  For the next 100 days, eat from a smaller plate to help control portion size.
35. For the next 100 days, buy 100% natural juices instead of the kind with added sugar and preservatives.
36. For the next 100 days, instead of carbonated drinks, drink water.
37. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix breakfast meals.
38. Create a list of 20 healthy, easy to fix meals which can be eaten for lunch or dinner.
39. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix snacks.
40. Use your lists of healthy breakfast meals, lunches, dinners, and snacks in order to plan out your meals for the week ahead of time. Do this for the next 14 weeks.
41. For the next 100 days, keep a food log. This will help you to identify where you’re deviating from your planned menu, and where you’re consuming extra calories.
42. For the next 100 days, get at least twenty minutes of daily exercise.
43. Wear a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps, every day, for the next 100 days. Every step you take during the day counts toward the 10,000 steps:

• When you walk to your car.
• When you walk from your desk to the bathroom.
• When you walk over to talk to a co-worker, and so on.

44. Set up a weight chart and post it up in your bathroom. Every week for the next 14 weeks, keep track of the following:

• Your weight.
• Your percentage of body fat.
• Your waist circumference.

45. For the next 100 days, set your watch to beep once an hour, or set up a computer reminder, to make sure that you drink water on a regular basis throughout the day.
46. For the next 100 days, make it a daily ritual to mediate, breath, or visualize every day in order to calm your mind.

Your Relationship

47.   For the next 100 days, actively look for something positive in your partner every day, and write it down.
48. Create a scrapbook of all the things you and your partner do together during the next 100 days. At the end of the 100 days, give your partner the list you created of positive things you observed about them each day, as well as the scrapbook you created.
49. Identify 3 actions that you’re going to take each day, for the next 100 days, in order to strengthen your relationship. These can include the following:

• Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” to your significant other every morning.
• Hug your significant other as soon as you see each other after work.
• Go for a twenty minute walk together every day after dinner; hold hands.

Social

50. Connect with someone new every day for the next 100 days, whether it’s by greeting a neighbor you’ve never spoken to before, following someone new on Twitter, leaving a comment on a blog you’ve never commented on before, and so on.
51. For the next 100 days, make it a point to associate with people you admire, respect and want to be like.
52. For the next 100 days, when someone does or says something that upsets you, take a minute to think over your response instead of answering right away.
53. For the next 100 days, don’t even think of passing judgment until you’ve heard both sides of the story.
54. For the next 100 days do one kind deed for someone every day, however small, even if it’s just sending a silent blessing their way.
55. For the next 100 days, make it a point to give praise and approval to those who deserve it.
56. For the next 100 days, practice active listening. When someone is talking to you, remain focused on what they’re saying, instead of rehearsing in your head what you’re going to say next. Paraphrase what you think you heard them say to make sure that you haven’t misinterpreted them, and encourage them to elaborate on any points you’re still not clear about.
57. Practice empathy for the next 100 days. If you disagree with someone, try to see the world from their perspective; put yourself in their shoes. Be curious about the other person, about their beliefs and their life experience, and about the thinking process that they followed to reach their conclusions.
58. For the next 100 days, stay in your own life and don’t compare yourself to anyone else.
59. For the next 100 days, place the best possible interpretation on the actions of others.
60. For the next 100 days, keep reminding yourself that everyone is doing the best that they can.
(Sunday Morning Still Life is courtesy of Pen Waggener).

moving forward on various plans

Bubs' room (last year) but its still his room.  And I want it to be my studio.  So this is a before shot!

Last year I worked out a plan for studio space in our house! LAST YEAR!!!!! AND WHAT HAS HAPPENEND? yup NADA! Again, why? what is it that held me back?

The plan was /is  to move Bub into the guest room - and use his box room for my studio..... and first thing was to get black out blinds made for the guest room - no point putting a small child into a room that has light blaring into it at night and early in the morning, right! SO I started making the blinds, and got half way and stalled.... and stalled.  Its not that I couldn't do it. its just that it confused me and I didn't do it because of that.  And eventually I met someone who makes roman blinds. So they are now done. (still got to collect the damn things and put them up in the room, then have to get rid of a double bed and 2 double mattresses, which requires a van... or paying someone....or maybe there is another solution I haven't thought of yet...) and getting the single bed down from the attic, and painting it...

But for some reason a big stumbling block is asking Hubby.  WHY?!! really, just because sometimes I feel I get shouted at about things, its not like that always AT ALL!!!  I had got all stuck in my head that it was wrong for me to want that space for my studio because Hub earns 85% of the household income and he needs an office....

Bubs room (last year) before shot (soon to be my studio)

The guest room (still is) Soon to be Bub's room. 

Yesterday I was talking to a friend, an artist, about studio space, and she was saying, don't you have any room at home?? and so when I told her my plan she was like DO IT!!! He won't mind! Say you need it!! You will earn money from it!! etc

So today I thought about it, and it does seem daft to be paying £40 (ish)  a week to get some studio space, when we have the room at home.  SO I asked Hub. I suggested that we could make an office for him in the bedroom, put some shelves up and make it neat, and I would take out ALL my creative (very messy!!) stuff (yup there are piles of it lying around!) and put it in Ted's old room and have that as a studio!  And he could have a nice neat office in the bedroom (we need to be able to shut the door to it so Bub doesn't wander in when he is on the phone or whatever......... And he LIKED the idea.  So am all fired up AGAIN.


AND I have found a travel agent re looking into the cheapest and best way of getting to San Francisco in October.  They are going to get back to me.  Funny but even though I have had 'permission' to go, I have held off looking at flights or booking them... slightly scared! why?? I don't know.  But there you go first step taken. 

Isn't it daft how half the things we want are just there for the taking, if we would only just take that first tiny step towards it?

Its Mad March goal setting time folks

I wish I hadn't deleted all my old posts...... however, there was a time when this blog was all about GETTING STUFF DONE.  It still is.  Its still about writing down my dreams and goals and tracking my progress towards them.  My old first ever post was all just the dream life thing.  I seem to remember it was about having a big kitchen table and lots of friends dropping by, of eating well and doing art and yoga everyday.  I guess this still pretty much sums up my dream life.  I will add in having my own studio (ooh one for Art and one for Yoga, get me!) and throw in some travel.... yes please.  And I have upped the ante with the campervan to being a really beautiful converted horse box... all dark wood and a wood burner!  My travelling studio!  I have been sitting here in the Blue Dog Gallery today dreaming of my alter ego.  She is called Dolly Chestnutt and to a large extent, as perhaps all alter egos are, she is pretty much all I want to be.  Or even all I am....  at least in my dreams.    I am thinking that she might start a blog.... and be the name of my new business.  She could be the wedding coordinator who supplies vintage bunting to English Country weddings.  And who creates totemic iconic narrative portraits using collage, story telling and drawing and painting.  Oh and she definately creates vast colourful painterly canvases that sell for thousands in international galleries! Dolly definately has one of those cool converted horse boxes as a mobile home and mobile studio! 

So its March, like tomorrow.  And I do like a little bit of dream and goal setting.

March 
- create new dream journal pages -  I have an idea of a 3-d set piece or three.  I am looking forward to joining in with Amelia's Journal Your Dreams again this week.  I like that its just a week too.  I can get very enthusiastic about online things then if I miss out a bit somewhere in the middle I can lose my way and forget about the last bits....  But in a way I will be experimenting and dream setting at the same time.  Woohoo.
- yoga at least 2 times a week
- green smoothie every day
- eat something raw everyday
- study my yoga books a little every day if I can.... before I go to sleep I think is a good time.
- track spending / switch my ISA account / count up my savings jars stuff and BANK them.  pay Hanover Centre for playgroup room hire. 

Theme dreamsetting..... as narrative portrait.... hmmmm.....

Things I am looking forward to in March
My London Girlies are coming to visit on 19th March.  Woo hoo! I am so happy.  I so regret missing going to the girly lunch get together.  Its a lesson I have learnt, if possible, do not cut your nose off to spite anything.  Old friends are so valuable, do not miss out on spending time with them.

New friends are very cool too, though.  Part of my dream setting has to be this seeking of supportive community.  And as part of this I am also VERY MUCH looking forward to the UK bloggers meet up on the 26th.  I have already met up with Kat from This Year I.... and that was just great!  It was so easy chatting to her, I had such a lovely day.  (Kat, I did take some pictures but have lost the lead to upload them to my computer..... I loved reading your post and am so glad you loved Brighton!) I am not sure who is coming, but Kat is, and so is Holly of Shopaholly (the illustrious and dynamic organiser of the event, GO Holly!), I believe Laura from Move to Portugal is coming (hope so) but am sad already that Caroline from What's Happening at My House cannot make it (double booked? you are too popular!) And Rachel of Go Placidly too (hurrah!) And someone called Amy whose blog I need to look up....  Very exciting, so really looking forward to that, ladies

Bjorn Again, next monday!  Hurrah some high campery and ABBA singalonga.  Its my Christmas present from Hub.  Gotta love him for that! 

I am also being a nanny for 2 weeks.  Which I am somewhat dreading slightly.... the wee chap, K is gorgeous, but looking after him and Bub at the same time?  eek. And back to nappies with him (he's just 2) And he's a vegetarian and a prolific fruit eater.......  I do prefer sitting in the gallery and blogging I must say.  Oh am sure it will be fine.

Well.  Better stop now!  Off to dream some more!

snow.... and work

The snow has finally hit the south.  Its not that heavy in Brighton proper, but the surroundings are deeply hit. And as such the Gallery owner is snowed in and I have some extra shifts at the Blue Dog Gallery.   So since last tuesday, apart from the weekend I have been working fulltime!  everyday!   The one thing that is a bit of an annoyance is that tomorrow was going to be a day for me to do my work.  As in the portrait commission I have to do and - admin I have to do.  And I was going to be able to work on my dreams journal.  But it is good to be earning money in such a nice way.  

The whole project Next Step is working really well.  The Next Step with that is to do a Goals and Dreams list for the year, so that we can bear this in mind while taking mini steps each week.

I am keeping remembering and reminding myself that MAGIC EXISTS and that The Universe is ON MY SIDE.  Its a good thought.  One thing that is not on my overt wish list, but which is coming true, is the way Hub is getting really involved with our life here in BRighton.  I guess it was a lot to do with the commuting that was taking up all of his time.  But he has come along to all the birthday parties that Bub's friends are having.  And talked with lots of the people there.  And basically just gotten stuck in; helping cook the pizzas, talking to the other dads etc.  He even ran my playgroup when I was working last week.  Chatting to the mums and making tea, washing up and all.  This might sound ridiculous that he wasn't, but it IS my dream that he IS doing it.  I just LOVE him for it.  He used to shy away from it on various grounds.  I am loving his involvement. LOVING it. 

moving it on....forward planning

I have been thinking about what the next steps are.  I have been thinking about my dreams and plans being as how I have been doing Amelia's Journal Your Dreams ecourse.  I am half way through producing some art work journal pages for it.  And its nice to be honing the Dream thing again further on from Mondo Beyondo.  I know I am not the only one who believes that by actively visualising and documenting dreams that you get closer to achieving them.  Hub and I had a 'Next Level' meeting.  Hub likes to name all our plans (e.g. Project Downstairs, ParticiPants, Team Go et al!!) It was majorly good to sit down and to discuss objectives with him.  We have a list of things to do by next Sunday.  Mine are:
1. I have done at least one drawing of H and O (a commission)
2. I have business cards done for my portraiture work (and facepainting)
3. I have bought some painters overalls and painted the wall in the sitting room
4. I have started on the xmas present list (and we have decided on the exact contents of the xmas hampers we are creating)

Me personally.  Because I love a list and there is a LOT of the week to go.
1. I have changed the bank account to lower the monthly fees appropriately
2. I have got the paperwork in order to swap the ISA to a better rate of interest.
3. I have done 5 mins of Yoga each day
4. I have done more work on my Journal my Dreams pages
5. kept a track of spending on food and personally
6. making space for MAGIC to HAPPEN by not eating sugar and spending 5 minutes a day on my own to 'meditate'.  And getting rid of some clutter.  At least one bit. 

This whole process has started me thinking of long term dreams again.  Like I have been thinking a lot about what gifts I want to give my son.  Not as in Christmas presents.  But things like, The Ability to Cook well.  Speaking a foreign language.  That sort of thing.  There are so many things you have to teach your children  -just so that they can survive well in the world.  How do you teach creative thinking, for example. How? exactly? I would love to give him that gift.  And to be able to budget and manage his own accounts.  And confidence.  I want him to have confidence, internal self confidence.... And to see MAGIC in the world.  To see its beauty. 

And then for my own dreams
A Studio. 
Go to ARt SChool
teach art (outside of the box)

dream the good dream

when I am 60.
I want to be
fit and healthy.
lively and alive.
supple and strong.
an artist
a community builder / part of a community
surrounded by friends and family and colleagues - my glorious tribe
financially secure
owner / renter of an art studio
possessor of a large kitchen table that hosts lots of lovely friends and interesting aquaintances
an expert at something
passionate about life
loved
loving
confidant
cultured

Ok that's good for now.....

A Likemind Challenge - can you help?

For this month's Likemind.... We are to think of a city that could partner Brighton, England, UK.

Assignment: City Dating Agency
Bring with you a city for Brighton to copy / build bridges with / marry. And maybe a nice feature or project or movement that goes on there.
E.g. Portland http://www.wk.com/wke/show/dont_move_here/

Sheffield http://dontgo.co.uk/

I would love to know from any of you folks who live elsewhere (if any of you read this, of course!) if you know of any cool projects or movements I could showcase..... So far I have rebar from San Francisco, but I am sure i have read blog posts about others, but god knows I can't remember them..... Transition Town Worthing, though that really is a tad local.....

I love Likemind I ALWAYS meet someone inspiring, interesting, unexpected. Its just the bees knees in my book.

Lastly, just to let you all know, that the experiment of attacking my daily diet routine has actually resulted in me cheering up. Maybe its just the act of doing something rather than nothing that changes your feelings about everything. But it is good news never the less. Likewise I have been rethinking my long term goals in light of a conversation I had with Hub, who pointed out that I was freaking out as I was thinking too short term, where, if you want anything to improve, is possibly going to be shit for a while. LIke, for example, if you go to the gym, because you are overweight and unhealthy, its going to be pretty painful to begin with, but long term, its going to be a good thing. A brighter future. So, instead of panicking and focusing short (Omigod the jobs I can get right now are lousy, badly paid and depressing) I should think LONG TERM and see the bigger picture. I did a tad of research into 'career planning' - something I have never ever gone near in the past to be honest - and even that basically says, look at where you want to be in five or ten years time. And then speak to people who are where you want to be. And find out how they got there. And work it backwards from there. So with that in mind, I have really been thinking about where I want to go. And while it is about money, its also not about money. I want to be better off than I am now, but I also really want something I can be proud of. That is to do with me and who I am. Like I was talking to a lovely lass, who I know as a mummy friend. We don't know that much about each other's lives outside of motherhood. And she was talking about how she was applying for a teaching position at Central St Martins. Which is a massively prestigious art school. WOW. Teaching there, on the curation course (something I recall looking into at one point) and well, it just made me want to do something that I could feel WOW about myself. I realised, that for me, I need to keep my oar in the ARts, big time. Its very important to who I think I am and who I want to be. And so I spent a little time this evening contemplating the kind of person I want to be in my fifties and sixties. And I want to - firstly I want to do a lot of yoga, maybe teach yoga - secondly I want to work in the creative community. I want to work in the field of teaching creativity. I want to build community. I want to be green. I want to be wealthy (as in financially secure and able to eat out and go on holiday) I want to be fired up by what I do, passionate about it, and I want to be inspiring others, and I want to make a positive difference in the world.

Lastly and a tad randomly. I am very disturbed by how the big banks seem to be running the governments. I don't know exactly what to do about it. But there is some serious wrong doing going on which left unchecked could really be a bad thing for community everywhere. Profit motive is not good government.

Ah, no not lastly. Just to update no spend November is going OK. I got a good crowd at playgroup so income was good. I did spend £15 on Bub's French class (but that was paid for by Granny) and £7.40 on food.