Sunday, September 23, 2012

Finally, my mojo is back!

I've been in a bit of a creative slump lately.  A logo I'd been working on for a girlfriend just wasn't turning out right, I was falling behind in my course work for my Graphic Design course and was a bit disheartened about ever reaching my goals.  It seems that change has come with the return of the warmer weather!

I gathered my equipment yesterday and instead of working at my desk in my room (which is the warmest room in the house in Winter months), I ventured out to my dining room which has a beautiful bay window overlooking our yard and proceeded to recreate the logo while sitting at our dining table.  With white sage incense burning and birds singing all around ....... Voila!  It worked!



The final draft of the logo is done and I'm about to start work on it this morning.  My girlfriend returns from overseas the week after next and I want it sitting in her inbox, "just so".  Thank you, Muse, for returning inspiration to me - it's amazing what a change of scenery can do.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

My Manifestation List updated 4th October

Over at the Goddess Circle, Jane started a post in one of the forums detailing 50 things she'd like to get done by the end of the year, motived by Leonie Dawson's 2012 Workbook and Planner. It was so inspiring that others have started posting their lists too.

I already have a list, which is ongoing, as I find I don't stick well to deadlines as day to day life has a way of throwing a spanner in the works. As a result of the wonderful conversations there, I thought I'd post my list here in the hope that others may also find inspiration.

Please let me know if you start or go back to an existing list you have as a result - I'd love to know how far this idea spreads!

Mine is as follows. Purple = done, blue = work in progress, green = ongoing or stuff to be done on a regular basis, brown = no longer applicable
  1. Complete the first instalment of a story I'm writing
  2. Declutter for 15 minutes a day
  3. Have a garage sale once enough has been decluttered
  4. Get down to 70Kg and see how I feel healthwise (I'm in the 80's at the moment but have already lost 10Kg and feel fantastic)
  5. Visit family in Sydney (6 hours' drive away)
  6. Have my car serviced
  7. Apply for the job I really REALLY want until I'm self sufficient (wasn't successful but that just gives me more time to work on my stuff!)
  8. Pay more into my superannuation
  9. Practise being less judgemental
  10. Get the tarot deck that's been in my head for nearly a decade now, out into the world
  11. Create arty notebooks to sell
  12. Create my 2x e-courses that are currently swirling in my brain
  13. Reclaim my side garden along my driveway
  14. Reclaim my veggie garden and give away cuttings, excess herbs, etc This will happen when the plovers currently sitting on eggs in my backyard have moved on
  15. Start focusing on bringing MY house to me instead of renting
  16. Pass Cert III Graphic Design
  17. Pass Cert IV Graphic Design
  18. Pass my Diploma Graphic Design
  19. Have people to dinner every 6 weeks
  20. Give blood
  21. Recommence belly dance on October 19
  22. Participate regularly in Goddess Circle
  23. Set up my home office desk
  24. Art journal regularly
  25. Visit Melbourne
  26. Visit Brisbane
  27. Visit Cairns
  28. Visit Canberra
  29. Do fun stuff with my daughter monthly
  30. Knit from stash
  31. Create my version of a mermaid in my art journal with the mermaid poem in the 30 days of Goddess folder
  32. Set up invoices in Freshbooks
  33. Do website course
  34. Finish Bookkeeping course
  35. Do marketing course
  36. Join more interest groups on social media
  37. Art! Do more whenever possible
  38. Trim bushes along driveway
  39. Take a trip to Brown Bros winery @ Milawa for a meal with someone whose company I enjoy
  40. Check out Social Oomph
  41. Work out a budget and how much I need to earn each month in order to give up one and then both of my day jobs using Leonie's Magic Money Making Kit
  42. Create my free thing to offer people that's also going around in my head
  43. Visit a good friend of mine in Newcastle
  44. Have dinner with a very handsome man who I just met up with again after a decade or so
  45. Search for the purple flower I have in my minds' eye which is my medicine for facing fear and paint it
  46. Paint my "Kali belly"
  47. Paint Kali and I standing on the mountaintop together
  48. Hands painting with Astrology saying
  49. Anticipation - figure out how I paint it and do it
  50. Get started on golf logo
  51. Finish my "Style Statement" exercises
  52. Add a "What I'm reading/listening to" section on my blog http://thewitchofbegavalleyshire.blogspot.com.au/
  53. Get my passport
  54. Do a Nadgee Nature Reserve trek
  55. Catch up with said handsome man again and go camping/stay at his place when he moves in November (beforehand if it's good for him)
  56. Generate passive income
  57. Catch up with family in Sydney
  58. Visit Canberra
  59. Create sunflower and daisies artwork
  60. Create my "solace" artwork after working out how to portray yummy smelly stuff (?incense smoke)
  61. Finish a logo for a friend
  62. Create a friends' weebly website
  63. Blog about why bellydance means so much to me
  64. Develop workshop
  65. Blog about my style statement/personal brand
  66. Record meditations for those I've promised them to
  67. Attract more like-minded people into my life
  68. Read Meet and Grow Rich!
  69. Get my copy of "A Witch Alone" back off a friend
  70. Plant my purple daisies along the drive
  71. Go to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the National Gallery when it arrives
  72. Do the stone sculpture course down in Bendigo in 2013
  73. Learn as much as possible from the silent retreat I'm attending in November and make a concerted effort to put it into practice on a daily basis 
  74. Complete the "How to Start a Blog That Matters" course
  75. Use the Decision Matrix to decide what to commence first as far as my e-biz is concerned
  76. Add Twitter cards to my site/s 
  77. Put "Selling and Marketing Your Art" into action
  78. Complete the "How to Start a Blog That Matters" course
  79. Look into the "Renaissance Business" book by Emilie Wapnick
  80. Explore Rosemary Frythe as an author
  81. Design a Twitter Header image (and perhaps use that as my header in whichever website I decide will be my one and only)
  82. Book into the Stone sculpture workshop I want to do next year
  83. Get my head around "A Marketer's Guide to Nailing Timing and Frequency of Social Media Updates"
  84. Investigate "The 7 Graces Global Community" webring (haven't head of a webring for years and years!)
  85. Think about offering a free sample re: "Flock" (flock.magpie-girl.com)
  86. Do Flock lesson and meditation
  87. Use Synchroblog topics to post if I can't think of anything myself
  88. Add a "must read" list to my blog
  89. Complete the "Triple My Traffic" ebook (print out up to and including p7 first)
  90. Blog about Aileen giving us irises and Astrid connecting with people
  91. Blog about Vicki and knitting group
  92. Check out how to use Pinterest for business
  93. Paint "I Commit to Myself and my Dream"
  94. Contemplate who my muses are.  My Muse of Connecting to others is Astrid
  95. Decide whether the List-A-Palooza Kit is for me
  96. Implement the "How to Use Google Analytics" article
  97. Create glorious stationary for me to use in my planning 
  98. Roots blog post 
  99. Get up enough courage to see if I can interview Kate Swoboda about courage! :D
  100. Look into guest posting on other people's blogs
  101. Blog about not having failed at anything
  102. Blog post about "conventional wisdom"
  103. Create a connection point
  104. Research podcasts
  105. Research Ning and see if it's for me, as well as alternatives
  106. Develop sales pages and FAQ's
  107. Research e-junkie
  108. Develop "Tips" sheet 
  109. Offer trials in return for feedback and testimony
  110. Develop coaching sales page
  111. Explore itty biz
  112. Continue Business Goddess ebook
  113. Look into the Organic Sister program
  114. Set up an affiliate program
  115. Listen to Monday Meditation
  116. Talk to Karie Hill about financial coaching
  117. Jeff and Kane webinar
  118. Adobe Create the Web Online webinar
  119. Get hair done 12th October
  120. Week 1 website development soc
  121. Week 2 website development soc
  122. Week 3 website development soc
  123. Week 4 website development soc
  124. Week 5 website development soc
  125. Week 6 website development soc
  126. Week 7 website development soc
  127. Week 8 website development soc
  128. Week 8 website development soc
  129. Develop individual visualisation stuff
  130. Write ebook 
  131. Develop workshop
  132. Divide Twitter following into lists (or something else useful for tracking.  Might be a good idea to actually learn what lists are and do first!)
  133. Transfer Blogger site to Wordpress and incorporate Weebly site as well
  134. Join in "Big Draw" and upload by 28/10 - blog about it
  135. Contemplate Jeff and Kane stuff in the future if I feel I need it
  136. Check out Easel for prototyping
  137. Nightly exercise
  138. Healthy eating plan
  139. Log fitness progress on Noom daily
  140.  

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Oh belly dance how I've missed you!

I just received a call from my Belly Dance teacher to say she's taking classes again! 

Can't wait to get started. 

My belly dance gear that's been languishing neglected for months now


If anyone local is reading it's being held Friday nights at Tathra Hall from 7:30 to 8:30, commencing Friday 12th October.  The cost is  $15 per casual class.

You don't have to be a flexible, supple young thing - all ages go and it's amazing fun. 
Plus the opportunity to connect with the sacred feminine through dance is a blessing and a half.  Great physical workout too!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Amazing Week!

What an amazing week it's been - and it's not over yet!

Last Sunday I picked my daughter up from work and we set off for Sydney, 6 hours away.  Our first real stop was to visit friends who live on 30 acres near Canberra, as I hadn't had the chance to connect with them for AGES.  While my daughter contented herself communing with their dog and the many donkeys they own (she's a huge animal lover) we had the chance to share coffee, cake and generally catch up on goings-on.  SUCH a boon - I adore my friends - they're so open and giving and loving and welcoming.  It put a huge smile on both of our faces for the rest of the trip.  Evening saw us arrive at my mother's house and catching up with family, again, it's been WAY too long since we've seen them all and I was overjoyed that we'd be spending the week with them.

Monday saw me commence my day job working from my mother's dining room table.  I started a couple of hours earlier than I usually do so that I had more time to spend with them that evening, and all was fantastic.

Tuesday I did the same and then my daughter and I set off for the southern suburbs where she had an appointment with a new Endocrinologist.  For those of you who aren't aware, my daughter suffers from Type 1 diabetes, Asperger's Syndrome and a few other minor ailments which makes it a little more difficult to be as rigorous with diabetes as necessary.  It's been having a huge impact on both of our lives for quite some time, resulting in huge amounts of time spent in hospital for her.  She's one of the most stoic people I know and often downplays the impact of things on her life, but I know she longs to live life in the same manner that others do.  The Dr was awesome - supportive, optimistic for the future and positive without engendering false hope and laying out exactly what she needs to do in order to be eligible for an Insulin pump, her Learner's permit and being able to fully volunteer with the SES again.    We both came out of there feeling so much lighter and positive and Ast with a renewed sense of purpose and capability as far as control of her diabetes is concerned.  Dr Thornley you're my hero!

Tuesday evening saw me going out to dinner with a man whom I knew in passing many years ago and have recently had the opportunity to connect with.  He is totally, absolutely charming and dinner was something I thoroughly enjoyed.  We went for coffee afterwards and I think I got home about 2am.  We have plans to catch up again, something I am very much looking forward to. 

After collapsing into bed and grabbing as much sleep as I could, I started work early again on Wednesday for my Canberra boss, then took off down south again to my Sydney boss's place.  We then went for lunch at the Royal Motor Yacht Club and indulged in lobster mornay and the spectacular view.  I was supposed to visit a friend in Newcastle last night but by the time I got onto the M5 to come home traffic had built up and I wouldn't have arrived there until midnight, so took a raincheck with my beautiful, understanding friend and spent the night relaxing again with my family.

Tonight again I am meant to meet up with another girlfriend in town but given that we need to drive home tomorrow and the rain has set in I've postponed because I think I planned just a *little* too much this time around.  Given that we'll be back up again soon for another appointment for my daughter, there's plenty of time. 

Home tomorrow.  I hope it's raining all the way down the coast.  My plants will drink it all up and grow big and strong and beautiful so that I can paint them.  It will be good if it stops and everything dries out by Saturday morning though, as I have to get on with trimming the rest of my driveway!  It's majorly overgrown and soon my car won't fit up it unless it gets a good haircut.  To rain, sunshine and the amazingly beautiful rainbow of life and communing with friends, family and humanity in general!

(Pictures to come later!)