30 Day Challenges

Above and beyond the 365 writing challenge here in cyberspace. Outside in the real world I have been engaging in a series of 30 day challenges. Inspired by Matt D’Avella‘s YouTube channel, (except I’m a 45 year old tubby nobody and he’s a hipster film maker) … However this little tubby lass has found inspiration and since walking away from social media, I have done (surprisingly) quite a few of these 30 day challenges.

Including: 30 days of Yoga – 30 days of Meditation – 30 days without chocolate – 30 days of daily journalling – 30 days without coffee…

5 different challenges to push myself a beyond my comfort zone, beyond the never ending circles of procrastination and binge eating and to try and make some positive changes in my life.

Not so easy when you’re a middle aged flubber filled lazy sod – used to scrolling hours away and achieving the bare minimum to be comfortable.

So – how did I get on and where does this lead me next?

Honestly…. all except one of the above 5 challenges has become part of my daily routine, now beyond the initial 30 days, these have simply slotted into my life in a comfortable way, developing positive changes along the way.

Which one did I slip up on? … Coffee …

Somehow I found chocolate easier to quit than coffee and I have reembraced coffee back into my life – however at a significant reduced amount – from 8 coffees daily to two…

So where does the bewildered go from here?

Apart from my 100 days of gratitude, which is my next online challenge. September I’m going to focus on my finances, meaning that if it isn’t bills, food, or for home improvements. I’m not spending. So, no more Washi Tape?! For a month!?

How will I possibly survive?

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Just Can’t Keep Away!

Having a short (two day) break following the completion of my rather epic year long challenge – simply resulted in me spending money on Esty, that I really shouldn’t have spent on Esty. So it’s kinder to my Bank Balance to Blog instead of randomly trolling through the internet, getting distracted by pretty Stationery and daydreaming of holidays to far off continents.

Having said that, I’m writing just before a Bank Holiday – which means three days off work and only scatty internet connection on my phone. So I might be back to go – to come back again next Tuesday – So bare with me…

Next week – On Tuesday 27th August will be the starting date for my next Blogging challenge – 100 Days of Gratitude – which isn’t as long as the 365 challenge (I can do that much math) but I feel, in some way that it will be more significant and perhaps a little more challenging, because instead of writing any old random crap that pops into my head – I have a theme – a theme which I hope will help me appreciate the small things in life which can make a big difference.

That said – it does not mean that you wont be getting my usual brain vomit on random crap alongside this challenge – because my mind just doesn’t shut up and there is always glorious glorious music to share!

Taking a Break

BUT!

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… Made it …

… *PHEW!* …

Blogger Recognition Award

Well, this was a lovely surprise, from the very beautiful and very talented
Suzi Tench over on the Rainbow shining My Colourful Life Blog! It is so lovely to be recognised, by someone so brilliant and creative.

Many Thanks for this wonderful award x

There are some rules that go along with the nomination. It is by no means required to make a post if you are nominated, but here they are!

• Thank the blogger(s) for nominating you and give the link to their blog!
• Write a post on your site, displaying the award, that describes why you started your blog.
• Write 2 pieces of advice you have for new bloggers.
• Nominate (and notify!) 15 more bloggers that are awesome.

How I started:

Possibly around 2014/2015 – as a way to showcase my writing for my University Course – As this was actually suggested within the course and at the time, I wasn’t even sure what a blog was, but I decided to give it a whirl and it kinda just took on a life of it’s own!

Two pieces of advice:

…WAIT – You’re asking ME for Advice? *falls about laughing* – Honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing half the time – I get an hour a day, to face that blank screen and scribble down whatever comes to mind that day. I don’t think I’m a professional or structured blogger – I’m just persistent.

1. I’ve included a few ideas here, which might be interesting: What has one year of blogging taught me? and …
2. …Write – Just let those words flow and be magnificent!

My Nominees:

… If you’re reading this, You’re Nominated! – Because you’re all Awesome!

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Dreams & Meditation 

I’m teaching myself (slowly) to Meditate again, with some interesting results:

I found the tree in the library again as before and felt this was a comfortable place to start… 
The leaves, as before, were the last pages of each book… However this time I discovered a door within the trunk of the tree, this was ajar and a feminine voice invited me inside. There was no light, nothing, blackness… The floor sloped down and I felt like turning back… Again a woman’s voice urged me on, insisting I needed no eyes to see, to trust my feet… The ground under my feet felt warm and soft like fresh compost and continued to slope downwards in a spiral. Until at last my feet felt cold stone under them and I was astounded to find myself within a cavern under the tree. There was a light now from above and looking up I saw billions and billions of stars, I felt like I was between earth and space. Truly breathtaking I’m sure I felt tears down my face… 
I remained for a while admiring the stars within a cavern roof, I laid down on the stone floor and felt like I had come home, that this is where I belonged to be… 

Last night I found myself going from the library by climbing up the tree. Because I wanted to see what was around me. Climbing up I found myself standing on an island of paper pages at the base of the left foot of a stone sphinx. By the base, I mean just under the foot. The sphinx told me that it was the guardian of the threads. And indicated that I should follow a door in its tummy. This lead to a wooden spiral staircase, leading up only. Encouraged by the voice of the sphinx (which was neither male nor female and I’m not even sure it spoke English, but I could understand it) I headed up the wooden steps to finally climb out the top of its head. 
The view before and around me was astounding. I was stood upon this stone head which was connected to many many many similar stone heads by thin web like strands. These strands reached out beyond the horizon, where the strands crossed there were marked by stone heads. 
I’m not sure what I’m looking at here. I can only feel emotions at this point as I am unaware of being in my body. At first I was afraid, I felt alone and insignificant in the great scale of things. Then as I became aware of the interconnections of everything and that I was part of everything witnessing everything together I felt at peace, at one with this wholeness. I felt like crying and maybe would have if I had been in my body. 
I choose to return at that point as I felt too overwhelmed to continue. 

After looking forward to meeting the sphinx again, I focused on the point where my last meditation ceased. Yet this time I found myself elsewhere entirely. I was stood instead in a clearing at the heart of a forest. In the dead of night. I was surrounded by darkness and midnight sounds of an alien forest. Nothing quite like I’ve ever visited. I felt reluctant to leave the security I felt within the clearing, yet a light, blue and clear shone through the trees and its beam was directed straight towards my third eye. To my astonishment the third eye opened and my normal eyes were struck blind. But with the sight from my third eye I could make out the details of the whole forest. But only by the aura. Like you get in that photography they do at fairs. So the whole forest was lit up in a variety of colours and hues. This also enabled me to make my way through the forest with ease and head in the direction towards the beam of light. 
The forest opened out onto a beach, my third eye sight allowed me to see everything in crystal cut clarity and the energy of the waves near reduced me to tears. 
The beam itself came from a lighthouse out into the ocean upon a similar mound where I was lead to in the last meditation. The light at the top of the lighthouse was shining from what appeared to be a typical image of the all seeing eye. 
I’m afraid my meditation left me at that point as pins and needles in my foot drew me back and for a split second, I saw my foot in the same way I had viewed the forest in my meditation, the aura disrupted by the pins and needles. But it didn’t last long and neither did the pins and needles. 

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Morning Magpie Mayhem

So there I am, cleaning my teeth, sorting out my hair and other miscellaneous bathroom activities, when I’m suddenly aware of a lot of Magpie chattering furiously in the trees outside.

There’s a family of Magpies who live nearby and such excited chattering isn’t unusual… What is unusual is to find a juvenile Magpie on my kitchen floor. Just sat there, with the cat about two foot away…

The Magpie looks bewildered, like how did I get here?

The cat looks equally bewildered, now what do I do with it?

Me – big stomping human feet stuns everyone into a panic of activity. The Magpie flies towards the window (the closed half not the open half) The cat flies after the Magpie – I yells at the cat – cat goes through the open window and sits ready outside for what he hopes is an easy catch – naughty kitty!

I’m left with a fluttering chattering panicky Magpie – after a couple of attempts, I finally catch it carefully, with its wings wrapped around its body safely from damage and I get a good peck on the finger for dare manhandling it.

I can’t let it go out the front window, as the cat is still lingering – so I carry it carefully to the side hatch and plop it down carefully upon the pontoon outside. With a fluffy of feathers it heads directly to its awaiting family, still chattering in the trees … after a while, they all fall silent, reunited.

The cat is left bemused and I’m left with a small amount of bird poop to clean up and a single Magpie feather, which I’m keeping…