May your love keep you warm

Taking a holiday is so very important. I tend to find them difficult because I am my own worst critic and hate to be seen as lazy. But it's important to love yourself first and best and part of that is knowing when to give yourself breaks and taking time to enjoy the moment without rushing about and being preoccupied with too many responsibilities.

For me, this is the one time of year where I find it easy to take a break. This is probably because it's the one time of year when the priority should be the people you love. I am so fortunate to have a wonderful, supportive family and incredible friends. For me, this is the time of year when I am able to express my gratitude and appreciation by making time to share in conversation and delicious food.

Living a good life is largely about the attitude you take to it. My attitude at this time of year is one of warmth and comfort. It's about building new memories and reminiscing on the old. It's about time spent with loved ones.

I think with those as my priorities, taking a break becomes much simpler. I'm not slacking off at all - if anything I'm doing some of my most important work. I'm sharing in the joy of the connections we have with those around us and celebrating the wonderful people who make my life so very interesting and delightful.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and I'll be back to my regular posting in the New Year.

London Journal - 2 years

O.K, not two years exactly just yet. One year, eleven months and nine days, if I'm going to be entirely accurate. The point is, I've nearly been in London for the original duration I planned for back in 2009. 

My life needed shaking up and the route I took for this was to move from the city where I was born and raised to London. Why London? A multitude of reasons spring to mind every time someone asks me this and it's something I've covered extensively in this very blog. The short of it is that I was ready for something entirely different than anything I knew before. 

It has been incredibly different and it's not over yet. My original work visa is set to expire in a few weeks, but it no longer applies as I've moved onto a temporary leave to remain card. I've got at least two more years in the UK but I wanted to reflect on the time I've spent here based on that original timeline. 

Everyday is an opportunity and as time passes it's amazing what we can accomplish. I didn't set out to do anything specific when I moved to a new country. I was just looking for adventure, change, a chance to explore. 

Explore I have! In two years I've been to Scotland, Wales, Jersey and explored a large chunk of England. I've travelled to Paris and Amsterdam, been to the vineyards in the south of France and gone all the way to Thailand for my birthday. 

As for change, I've had my fair share to reckon with. Culturally I've discovered and learned so much about myself as a Canadian. I've also realised that the UK is full of a multitude of cultural differences. Sometimes it's been a struggle as I have felt too loud, too up front or too honest for the relatively subdued English. More often it's been a delight as I've discovered the inherently English things about me and my family which have been passed down from my wonderful Grandmother, a war bride who left England at the same age as when I came to it. 

More than anything, there have been the opportunities. I didn't really imagine that I'd learn graphic design, hold an art gallery showing and take the first steps into starting my own life coaching business. Not to mention the incredible wealth of knowledge I have gained from watching brilliant BBC documentaries, visiting a multitude of museums from the National Gallery to the Louvre, and reading countless plaques and monuments to some of histories most significant characters. 

I know how easy it is to make excuses to not do something because of a fear of the unknown, an inability to save the cash or the feeling that some obligation to others is more important than any desire you have to live the life you dream of. I once spent two years doing so little that I can hardly remember them - day to day there was so little change. Now I've spent two years doing so much that I can hardly believe it's only been two! I feel as though I've been making up for that wasted time, ravenously reading books (59 so far in 2011!), studying psychology and philosophy, jet setting anywhere that takes my fancy, creating incredible artwork, editing more than one novel at a time, and continuing to find new things to try, new places to visit and new ways to see the world. 

We can get bogged down with cliches so easily but life really is what you make it. At the end, I doubt very highly that you'll be wishing you'd been more careful, less generous and more introverted - so go after the life you want. 

Emotions

Lately I've been posting questions to my facebook page about emotions and how people describe, feel or explain them. The resulting response has been really incredible. People have so many different ways of identifying their emotions. Sometimes there are similarities and sometimes they seem almost obscure.

We get pretty hung up on emotions and whether or not someone is 'emotional'. It's easy to disregard a persons actions as being unimportant because they were being very emotional. But emotions are really important.

As a creative person and as someone who seeks greater self awareness, I spend quite a lot of time considering my emotions and the emotions of those around me. Human beings can be very empathic, some more than others. This ability for us to connect to those around us through the emotions we share is really quite incredible.

When I write or paint or create anything, really, my emotions are as influential as the experiences I've had. As a life coach I know it's incredibly important for me to recognise and listen to how someone is feeling.

By asking people to describe the colour or physical form of an emotion, or explain where it is in their body, we can see how people experience emotions very differently. Essentially, what makes me happy isn't what makes you happy, although the feeling of happiness might be the same.

I encourage you to join in. If anything, it's a really interesting conversation. So please, do contribute.

The bonnie land of Scot

On the 3rd I attended the opening of the Trees for Life exhibition to raise money to save the Scottish Caledonian forest. I submitted a piece of work to the exhibition some months ago and when the date was confirmed it seemed like a great opportunity to visit Edinburgh.

The exhibition was completely successful as several pieces already had the tell tale red dots of a sale and many more acquired them throughout the evening. The proceeds are going straight to Trees for Life and will be used to plant new trees and provide a lush wild land for future generations. My submission is still available for purchase.

 The rest of the weekend was spent taking in the weird and wonderful city-scape. Edinburgh is not terribly large and therefore easily explored by foot. From Edinburgh Castle in the Old Town to the fabulous Georgian Dome in the New Town, the entire city is full of an indescribable character. The stones are stained with soot, as though a permanent shadow is cast across the corners of the buildings. Everything is subtly larger than London - the ceilings higher, the roads wider, the windows taller. The grey colouring does not make the city feel dull. Instead it intensifies everything in an incredibly magical and captivating way.

 Around the streets of the Old Town there are a multitude of closes, winding narrow staircases and dark doorways through to residential spots or hidden churches. The number of churches seems astounding given the rather small size of the city. Many do not perform their original function, having been turned into art galleries, theatre spaces and in one case an ironically named night club - 'Sin'.

 Just like London though, Edinburgh is full of art. Around corners, at the ends of bridges, in busy squares - there are sculpted wonders, incredible monuments and some things that can't be described and have not even been labelled.

Three days was not long enough to see all I wanted and yet I felt I'd seen more than I had expected as the weekend drew to a close and I was once more on a plane to London. Fortunately it's a short flight away, only an hour or so, and I know I will go back for it's the sort of city one is drawn to out of curiosity and a sense of wonder.

Off to Edinburgh

I knew November would be busy but I don't think I was prepared for just how busy it would be within the first few days. The charity I work for held a 'do' at the House of Lords on the 1st and as a result today has involved a lot of catch-up. I've had to be extra vigilant as I won't be in for the rest of the week because my partner and I are flying up to Edinburgh for the Trees for Life Exhibition which opens tomorrow night.

Both of us have work featured in the exhibition so we thought it would be a great idea opportunity for a trip to Scotland. This will be extra exciting for me as it also means I an tick yet another destination off of my 'Everything I ever Want to do in my Entire Life' list.

This is a good list to have. I recommend you start one. Get a binder, put some paper in it (lined or unlined - totally up to you.) or grab a journal or sketchbook and just start writing down all the stuff you'd like to accomplish in your life. The key is to really think about everything you write down. It's not a time challenge, it's a chance for you to truly consider the things you want to see, do and know.

If anything it's a wonderful way to see that you don't actually want to do a million things. It's more likely you'll have difficulty even listing the first 100. Once it's all down then it will be more obvious how achievable those things are and you won't feel like you've got to keep your brain cluttered with ideas. You've written it down, so you will remember because you have a reference. And then it's just a matter of finding the right opportunity.

In this case I found an exhibition doing an open call for art that featured trees. I contacted the organiser and sent in my piece. Deciding to head there for the exhibition was a natural follow-through and voila! Something to tick off my list. Easy peasy.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Hallowe'en is not celebrated in the UK the same way it's celebrated in Canada. It hasn't been a tradition here but the onset of globalisation has resulted in the youth of the nation attempting to cash in on the free candy. They don't do a very good job of it, mostly because they can't get the night right, apparently. I had youth showing up on Saturday and Sunday - not the 31st at all. I told them to come back on Monday and continued with my pumpkin carving.

 This year I decided to try something a bit more complex. I was inspired by a slideshow sent to me by my best friend. I have to say I'm really chuffed with the result! My fierce kitty is a great first attempt and even works when lit.

I also purchased a small pumpkin for my partner. She did a bit of research as she's not such an old hand at pumpkin carving as myself, and created a delightful howling wolf.

A total success as far as pumpkin art goes, I must say!

Happy Hallowe'en and Trick or Treat.

52 books!

I don't really believe in New Years resolutions because if it's worth changing I'll just get on and do it, regardless of the time of year. I do, however, see it as a great time to set specific goals. What better place to start a timeline to a goal than the first of the year? The weeks and months lay ahead, ready to measure the count down to that end project.

One of my main goals for 2011 was sort of a double act. I wanted to read at least a book a week and, if at all possible, read as many or more books than my dad. I figured that having the double goal would be helpful because reading fifty two books in a year is a challenge but reading as many or more than my dad was inclined to be impossible - he once read over seventy in a single year.

I needed to be pragmatic if this was going to be an achievable goal. I love to read, very much, as books are a source of great inspiration, ideas and growth for me. In 2010 I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted primarily because most of my reading material was non-fiction of a philosophical nature. Each book took several weeks to finish because a single chapter could leave me with a lot to mull over and I wanted to stop and consider what I'd read before moving on.

This year my reading selection has been a mix but falling heavily on the fiction side. I've been relatively indiscriminate about my reading material (Within reason, you couldn't pay me to read some authors - who will remain unnamed as I don't believe in squashing enthusiasm) and taken any book that came my way with eager anticipation.

Evidently this has paid off because today, a full eight weeks before the end of the year, I finished reading my fifty-second book. I'm elated because at this point I have achieved half my goal - the half which was a personal challenge - and can see that the full goal may yet be reached.

Proof that, if you take things as they come, keep and open mind and set clear goals, we can amaze ourselves.