Busy-ness

When lots of things happen in your life, you get busy.

Obvious, really.

But it's something we often forget: That when things happen, you get busy. And that often means not taking time for yourself. And when you don't take time for yourself, your busy-ness increases.

Why? Because, in not taking time for yourself, your mind gets cluttered and you don't think straight. You rush things with a cluttered mind. It's like walking in a busy street. When you take your time, you don't bump into anyone. But when you're rushing, you seem to collide with everyone and everything; and your journey takes, or appears to take, longer.

So slow down. Take some time for yourself. De-clutter your mind and you'll be a lot more productive.

Looking Back to Look Forward - 2

It's been a long time since I wrote in here. I've been busy!

I've just been reading some of my earlier blogs. Hmmm!

Over the last five and a half years, I have worked, not only on my self-esteem, but also on my self-image. It's easy to see how "right" we are; our real problem is that we never seem to see ourselves as others see us. I won't say I've got there; but, four years on from my last post, I'm amazed that I had the audacity to write what I did!

I did think of deleting some of my previous posts. But I think it's more important to leave them there. They represent the road I've travelled during the last six years - and it really is a "road less travelled" as the poem (and book and film and cliche) goes.

Maybe, over the next few months, I'll publish some of my findings aboput myself. For now, suffice it to say that I'm not the person who wrote that last entry. I've changed.

And I'd like to think I've changed for the better, too.

Looking Back to Look Forward

This morning, I had an urge to look at what I was doing this time last year. So, I dug out my old journal and read the entry. It was near the end of the first journal I used seriously. I was stunned.

I had written six pages. The night before, I had spent some time on my self-esteem, reviewing my own history. That led me to some really deep insights, such as why I tended to lose my temper a lot.

Reviewing the past year, I can see how much I've changed. Keeping a journal has done a lot of that.

Looking back on the last year was a good move. I can now start looking forward in earnest.

Genius or Madness

It is said that there is a very fine line between genius and madness. Well, it seems that I walk zig-zag along it!

Two days ago, things came to a head at work. I managed to create a situation where my superiors had to sort out those who were complaining about my "attitude". Basically, I had given them a realistic estimate of when I would finish a task and they didn't like it.

Anyway, today, I solved a problem we have been trying to tackle since about August.

The trouble is, we tend to see the situation as manic-depression. I think we label people too easily. We need to look beyond their actions and words and try to find the good parts of what they are saying.

It's often worth putting up with mad people, because, when they cross back into genius, they're well worth listening to.

Blogging On

Well, I finally got my website redesigned. Well, just about, anyway. I wanted to bring it more up-to-date. I decided to use a blog to update it, but I also wanted to create some dynamic web pages. Now I've got that working for my photos, I should be able to branch out into all sorts of other areas, which was the plan all along.

A New Website

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy on the new version of my website. I decided to try using a blog to keep it up to date. It seems to be working so far.

The new site has new features. It has links to my blogs and to my family's pages where appropriate.

I am slowly increasing the number of sections. Not only will it have photos as I used to have, but I plan to expand it to show my craft creatins, too. I make a range of greetings cards that I sell and I want to show them off. I also plan to include articles on photography and craft work.

There will be lots to see and do and, hopefully, a visitors' book, if I can work out how to include one!

See you there at MJ Montage.

A Celebration

Yes, I'm celebrating. It's exactly a year ago, today, that I started full-time work again after a five and a half year period of illness. I had got to the point where I never expected to work again.

So, I'm celebrating.