2018: I'm in no hurry

Every year I sit down and write up my intentions for the year, usually with lists of things to achieve and so forth. So it is late January and all I have are brief notes I made on New Years Eve afternoon in Hawaii.

• Be tougher/tighter with money so I have more money to do stuff like this (Hawaii) with. Cause you can't take it with you!
• More musical performance - see and do
• Be still more
• Flaneur More
• Swim More
• Say goodbye to aneamia

Sounds good to me!!!

So 2018 is actually going to be a very busy year for me, at least in the first 6 -7 months for work.

I will continue to work with SEEN@Swansea, the exhibition space on top of my regular library work, which is a lot of work in itself, but I am getting better used to juggling the two now, so that won't be an issue.

On top of that council and indeed the library the undergo a restructure, and I will be part of the change group assisting with all of that. AND I am part of the team rolling out our new Library Management System (LMS: Computers). Plus attempting two small TAFE courses, on curation, and with my fellow managers, Building a Professional Culture. So I am going to be all systems go at work.

To get through this without falling over, I need to really look after myself and get my work/life balance, well balanced!

And so my Hawaiian thoughts are really going to help out. 

I love good zen, feeling zen, and being calm. In Hawaii, I found a level of zen and calm, I have never achieved in my entire life. Unless you have been to Hawaii, you won't know what I mean, but let's say, it is perfection.

I can't say I have kept it up, cause I'm not in Hawaii, but it is in my soul, and easily plucked out.

And in Hawaii, no one seems to be rushed or in a hurry, hence my theme for the year, 2018: I'm in no hurry.

This will apply to all my work commitments, I will be as swift as I can completing what I need to do, but I will not rush, no point.

And I certainly will not rush my non-work time. 

To achieve a balance, I will need more down time than I had in 2017, more couch time, more sitting under trees and daydreaming, more doing nothing.

This will help me achieve most of my little list and help me with my work/life balance and to keep that nasty black dog, and it's friend anxiety, at bay.

And by doing less, I will save more money. I had a very spendy year last year, and at times felt stressed about lack of enough money. Mostly to do more stuff, so my point of saving more, is to fit in more of the types of adventures I like to do, travel, concerts etc.

More musical performance, is to see more live music and to continue with my lovely choir and use my own musical instruments more, guitar, uke, flute. This will help my zen, as I find all of this relaxing.

Be still more is self explanatory. Flaneuring is to explore neighbourhoods with no real purpose, just wander and see what you can find and learn, I love to do this, I find it very relaxing, plus good exercise. Swim more is also relaxing. So all of these work nicely together.

Say goodbye to aneamia shouldn't be too difficult, just keep up with the steak and tabs, should be there by mid year!

And you know that is enough, sometimes, it is nice to just be and let things happen as they are meant to. Leave it up to the universe, not to plan out your entire life, but to just enjoy things as they happen.

As John Lennon said, Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. So this year I won't be planning too much, just the odd weekend away, or concert to go to, other than that, I just plan to be still.

And I think that's enough.

NOVEMBER ROUND UP

Ahhh, November you were good to me! I started the month still on holidays and with a lovely meander, flaneur style, to Carrington. I have discovered the word flaneur or flaneuse recently and love it. It means to meander or wander with no real destination in a town or city, just exploring, seeing where things lead you, maybe learning a bit of it's history and occasionally stopping to sit in a cafe or park to watch the world go by. It would appear I have been a flaneur for most of my life, lol, as this is exactly what I love to do when I am in cities, at home or abroad. 

And so I flaneured Carrington, a suburb that has gone through a lot of changes and still has some industrial sections to it. But what a glorious mix of old style homes and cottages, wide streets, relatively quiet and a range of lovely cafes and shops to look at. All unique and not too many, I highly recommend a stroll and lunch there, I was even tempted to move there.

The following day I headed to Morpeth prior to dinner at the Hinton Pub for my brother-in-law's birthday, I wandered and took pics, lovely at that time in the late afternoon, loads of Jacaranda's and gorgeous old homes, I could live in Morpeth easily. Then I headed to Hinton which is equally as picturesque.

And the day after I headed up towards Nelson Bay for more beautiful staycation scenery. I met my friend T and we had lunch at Little Beach Boathouse, right on the water, stunning day, great food, and fun chatter.

On my last day I decided I wanted breakfast on the beach, and that was a little challenging with all the work going on, but I got there and fluked a park and sat at Nobbys watching the world go by, and having one of their fabulous bacon and eggs rolls.

Then I was back at work and the month flew by, so much going on with setting up the Dinosaur exhibit, unlike anything I have ever done before it was huge! For those that don't know we have opened an exhibition space in the vacant area next to my library and I am helping to manage the space, recruiting volunteers, and organising all the events, plus general overseeing of projects. This time we curated the entire exhibition, which was so much fun, but more work than I can ever remember doing. It opened to great fanfare, social media buzz, and lots of people through the doors.

During the same time, I started working on another large project, working on the commissioning of a new library management system (lms or computers for the library), which was something very new and I will continue to work on and off on this until we roll it out in April/May. This will include helping to train all the library staff in it's use. I also resumed work with my colleagues on our interior design of the libraries...oh yeah, and you know, regular work!

No wonder I am tired, speaking of which, I have finished my myriad of tests for why I have aneamia and nothing! So, it's just me, it would appear I am special, lol, well, we bloody well knew that already. SO back on iron tablets and waiting for them to kick in and tiredness to take effect, will be little while yet.

I have managed some lovely social occasion despite being busy and tired. J and I caught up at Morpeth, for a lovely wander round the shops, walk, and lunch at the Morpeth pub.

And C and I celebrated her birthday with brunch at Maitland Art Gallery, a wander of the exhibit, Morpeth and the Harry Potter shop after, and Beaumont Street for birthday cake, as always a long, chatty, and laughter filled day.

A finished her degree, so we had a family celebration for her at the Fire Station Hotel, great meal and well done to be the second person in our family with a University degree!!

As usual, the latest reviews, and some pics: