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ON THE GRAM

Jun 10

Today I was choosing photos from my phone to have printed on canvas for my guest bedroom. I’ve decided to go with the Iona theme so all these are from one of my many trips to the Isle of Iona.

I take so many photographs and share only a very few of them with you all… so I’m going to delve into the archives a bit more now and then and begin sharing them more!

I continue to believe that Scotland is the most beautiful country in the world (not only visibly but deep down in the soul of these places), and days like this one seem to support that.

Looking forward to visiting Iona again in only a few months’ time with some lovely clients…will share more on that soon!

Until then, have a beautiful Saturday and enjoy the part of the world you get to be in.

#photography #scotland #islands #isleofiona #happysaturday #beautyeverywhere #travelscotland #beach #ontheshore #whitesandybeach #justkeepgoing

Jun 9

Oh hey 😁

I’m sharing this pic to say hey, to say happy Friday, and also because it’s the first picture in a while I felt like sharing.

For every “aw, I look cute!” pic with sunshine and lipstick and happiness, I’ve got a number of “oh my word NO” photos I’ve deleted because I feel like I look too tired or too heavy or too whatever.

I am making progress: I had a few moments of feeling really “Ughh” about how I looked this week, and every time I took a moment to think, wait, what if this thought came up about someone else? A friend, a team member, a client, someone I met while wandering London…?

I realised this kind of negative self talk DOESNT come up when I look at other people. I either see them for the familiar beautiful whole person i know them to be; or I see them as a beautiful stranger. I saw myself doing it while people watching in London. I kept thinking “ooh, cool top. Love those tattoos! What a great necklace. She’s pretty. They look like fun people. Funky suitcase! What amazing red hair”… and on and on. I noticed good things, different things… but I wasn’t “speaking” about them in my mind like I was about myself. The things my mind tried to say to me when I saw a picture or a video of myself, or me in the mirror, were often ugly things. So I fight them.

Yes, I’m sharing a photo I feel comfortable with and not embarrassed by… but it’s also a reminder that I can choose to see this person no matter what the picture or mirror shows. Cos that’s what you all see: and I’m grateful for it.

(Also, hilariously, this is one of about seven selfies I took in the sunshine and this one was a mistake. I was trying to fix my hair and hit the button by accident. Hahah!! And it ended up being my fave.)

Love to you all beautiful, clever, funky, pretty, courageous, badasses. I’m putting myself in your category. ❤️💪✨👏

Jun 5

So, um…am I the only one who lays out all the @lego pieces like this before starting a new build??

I genuinely thought almost everyone did this and since having shared it with a few people I’ve gotten a lot of “wow that’s so organised” and “I just dump out the bags and get started”.

Maybe it’s my tendency to organisation and efficiency. But the five minutes it takes at the beginning to lay them all out is not only extremely efficient because I can lay my hand on the piece I need instantly… but also it’s so satisfying to see it all laid out in rows like this! My nephews and I do it this way too @marcusblann @jakecblann

Maybe now I know how our #accountants feel about a good spreadsheet! Haha! 😆

This particular build is the Great Hall of #Hogwarts with thanks to @iamcherylsharp who sent me a set her son didn’t need anymore. I will ALWAYS take a bonus lego set and I found the instructions on the Lego site so we are good to go.

Having a Lego build on my kitchen table is a great #creativitypillar activity to do in between other work - while lunch or dinner is cooking , or as a break from emails and laptops.

How about you? Organise the pieces first, or jump straight in?

#legobuild #legoharrypotter #hogwartscastle #greathallhogwarts #hogwartslego #harrypotter #wizardingworld #creativity

Jun 3

Finished the core content for book three today. This one is on the power of rest. 💛

I’ve learned a lot about rest while writing it…and part of that is a conscious choice not to “define” rest in it. Not to say “this is how you rest”, or give a list of to-do’s so you can Get More Rest Now!!

After all, that sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? Get rest by… working harder? Being even more obligated? Feeling more guilty?

I’ve considered what kinds of things I believe rest involves, and what it doesn’t. And there’s a verrrry long chapter (which may need to be broken up later) on why we resist rest, and how true rest brings out all our demons. Which causes us to avoid it and then the cycle continues.

Once again, I’ve been “writing” this book for over fifteen years. I’ve been keeping notes on my phone and on little scraps of paper and in my head. I’ve had endless conversations , in person and by text and email and every other format, and some of them I’ve saved to come back to.

But two months ago i started writing 1000 words every morning, and after I finished the core concept for my book on creativity I decided to move seamlessly to the next.

And, also once again, I’ve not reached my word count goal. I was shooting for 45k but this morning I wrote the final paragraphs of the conclusion and decided 40978 is quite a good showing, plus I’m done saying what I need to say.

You’ll notice I didn’t reach the 1000 words every day this time. I even had a few days when I was in the negative, because I cut out things I didn’t need anymore.

My “low day plan” is 200 words. I didn’t even manage THAT once or twice because I cut out so many I was in the negative. But I kept going. 💪

I literally had planned to stop now but… I may or may not have started a document for my fourth book this morning. 😬

Anyone want to guess what that one’s about???

#restpillar #creativity #authorlife #authorsofinstagram #goodmorning #happysaturday #justkeepgoing #writing #writer #writingcommunity