Monday, April 23, 2007
The Move
It's 6 weeks now until we move from our current home to the Sunshine Coast, and things are getting busier. I have been using index cards to keep myself on track, and to keep a lid on my restless, anxious mind. While we are all really looking forward to living closer to the beach (in a part of the world where it rains once in a while - unlike here!), it is always a challenge to move house.
I have created a set of "moving cards" which I compiled after walking through the house and writing down every single thing I needed to do before packing up each room. Each individual task was then written out on a single card. Because I am also trying to write an essay about schizophrenia for university, and keep up with everyday life, this is how I structure my days: in the mornings I choose 1 moving card, 1 essay-writing card, and 1 "next action" card. These form the main work outline for my day.
What has been really fun is that both Christopher and Catherine love to choose and participate in the "moving cards" with me. My university essay is on track and none of the other essentials are falling by the wayside. Each day, my moving card pile grows smaller (although Garry is starting to get into things and likes to add new cards to my pile!). It will be interesting to see how long this mind like water approach can be maintained in the face of all that @#$%^ packing...
BTW, the photo is of our new lounge room (click on the picture to enlarge)
I have created a set of "moving cards" which I compiled after walking through the house and writing down every single thing I needed to do before packing up each room. Each individual task was then written out on a single card. Because I am also trying to write an essay about schizophrenia for university, and keep up with everyday life, this is how I structure my days: in the mornings I choose 1 moving card, 1 essay-writing card, and 1 "next action" card. These form the main work outline for my day.What has been really fun is that both Christopher and Catherine love to choose and participate in the "moving cards" with me. My university essay is on track and none of the other essentials are falling by the wayside. Each day, my moving card pile grows smaller (although Garry is starting to get into things and likes to add new cards to my pile!). It will be interesting to see how long this mind like water approach can be maintained in the face of all that @#$%^ packing...
BTW, the photo is of our new lounge room (click on the picture to enlarge)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
A Reluctant Bookbinder
The title of my blog today is borrowed from a delightful book by Gwen Diehn, titled The Decorated Journal: Creating Beautifully Expressive Journal Pages. One particular chapter is devoted to the making of one's own journals and I suddenly found myself bitten by the bookbinding bug. After all, who could resist such a thing as a "Three-Minute Pamphlet"? It took me slightly longer than that (but not much) as I needed to scrounge for various tools and supplies around the house. For example, I used brown paper bags for my inner pages; an old manilla folder for the green cover; and dental floss for the sewing - so my mini journal smells rather fresh and minty.
I created a little window in the cover, stuck a picture on the first page, and glued it to the cover. There you have it - my very first home-made notebook/journal. The finished size (closed) is about 8cm x 10.5 cm. I am now looking longingly at the remainder of this chapter, which progresses right through to a section called, "The Two-Hour Extremely Beautiful, Useful, and Sturdy Journal". Well, I can dream, can't I?Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A Journal of Sorts
I mentioned in an earlier post that I would elaborate on how I use the larger of my two moleskine notebooks, so here are some pictures of recent pages:
The first is my "Mind Like Water" page. I read somewhere that if keeping a detailed journal is too hard to maintain, you could just create a page around a single phrase or sentence. Since I'd been thinking a lot about how I can achieve a mind like water, this was my way of journaling that concept.
This second picture really appealed to me when I saw it. I journaled a few thoughts around the outer edge and - voilà - there was another page completed. (She is washing dishes, by the way) LOL.
I created this "Tea Time" page because I am trying to establish a habit of having a tea-drinking ritual in the late afternoons. I have a little teapot, an elegant cup and saucer, and wafer-thin ginger and almond biscuits to enjoy with my tea. I am going to trial some different flavours until I find some I really like.
So there you have it - my moleskine arty journal thingy. I don't claim to be a terribly creative person, incidentally, so the notebook is also a way for me to experiment with being a little less artistically inhibited.
The first is my "Mind Like Water" page. I read somewhere that if keeping a detailed journal is too hard to maintain, you could just create a page around a single phrase or sentence. Since I'd been thinking a lot about how I can achieve a mind like water, this was my way of journaling that concept.
This second picture really appealed to me when I saw it. I journaled a few thoughts around the outer edge and - voilà - there was another page completed. (She is washing dishes, by the way) LOL.
I created this "Tea Time" page because I am trying to establish a habit of having a tea-drinking ritual in the late afternoons. I have a little teapot, an elegant cup and saucer, and wafer-thin ginger and almond biscuits to enjoy with my tea. I am going to trial some different flavours until I find some I really like.
So there you have it - my moleskine arty journal thingy. I don't claim to be a terribly creative person, incidentally, so the notebook is also a way for me to experiment with being a little less artistically inhibited.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Leaving things undone
To balance out my previous blog about "Getting Things Done", here is a quote I came across this week:
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of
leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
- Lin Yutang
Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of
leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
- Lin Yutang
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