"The sacred duty of being an individual is to gradually learn how to live so as to awaken the eternal within you. If you can awaken the eternal beauty and light of your soul, then you will bring light wherever you go. The gift of life is given to us for ourselves and also to bring peace, courage and compassion to others."
John O'Donohue, Eternal Echoes
Monday, May 07, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
My Library Thing
As part of our move, we are drastically culling our book collection. I am also creating an online catalogue of the books we *are* taking with us. You can see a random sample of that catalogue on the right side of this blog site, and there's a link to our full library there (just click on "my library").
Keep in mind that we're only part way through the process, so there are many more books to be added! The thing I like about librarything.com is that you can attach various 'tags' to each book, which allows for really easy searching on a topic (or for an author).
Warning! If you are keen and decide to try this yourself, don't be caught out as I was. When I'd added 200 books, and was finally getting quick at the process, I found out that adding more than 200 books required a membership. Let me tell you, by the time you've done this much, it's easier to simply pay the membership than it is to admit that you've just wasted all that time - so I paid up (LOL). I'm mentioning this here so no-one gets caught out thanks to me!
Keep in mind that we're only part way through the process, so there are many more books to be added! The thing I like about librarything.com is that you can attach various 'tags' to each book, which allows for really easy searching on a topic (or for an author).
Warning! If you are keen and decide to try this yourself, don't be caught out as I was. When I'd added 200 books, and was finally getting quick at the process, I found out that adding more than 200 books required a membership. Let me tell you, by the time you've done this much, it's easier to simply pay the membership than it is to admit that you've just wasted all that time - so I paid up (LOL). I'm mentioning this here so no-one gets caught out thanks to me!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Schizophrenia
I feel as though I've been immersed in the world of schizophrenia recently. I've been writing an essay about this topic for university, which has meant focusing heavily on the clinical aspects. In addition, our book group is reading "Tell Me I'm Here" by Anne Deveson this month. This has provided a very personal and heart-breaking account of one family's journey through the hell of mental illness. Finally, my husband Garry is a support person for a family friend who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia for many years. I've been able to talk with his mother about their experience in recent weeks.
It has been good for me to face my ignorance about mental illness. It was also very helpful to be reading Anne Deveson's book while researching schizophrenia. It's easy to become blasé about something when all you're dealing with is impersonal studies and books. I was struck by many things while reading "Tell Me I'm Here", not least by the way certain parts of their journey parallel our journey with Christopher's cerebral palsy.
Thankfully my essay is now finished, which will allow me to focus on other (slightly neglected) parts of my life. Back to packing boxes and decluttering - lucky me!
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)
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