Happy new year all! I'm a bit slow in the new year uptake but I think that's part of the beauty of January :) We've had a lovely time over the holidays, catching up with family in Wollongong, visiting the beach and generally just indulging and being indulged :)
January is a bit of a wily enigma around these parts. Sometimes she's cool and drizzly and others you are sitting on high 30 degrees temps for weeks in a row. At the moment, we're sailing (like bugs through mud) through the later. It has been a hot and dry start to the year. There were a couple of days where we got evening thunder storms but, sadly, even they seem to have fizzled under this oppressive heat and beat it too. Not that I'm complaining too much - one of the best parts of surviving a long, cold (snowless) Canberra winter is looking forward to the scorcher summers. It's like the summers of my childhood, long, dry and sweltering. Ahh, sweet, hot nostalgia.
Unfortunately January is carrying the rather unflattering tags of 'extreme' and 'catastrophic' at the moment, especially in regards to bush fires. It's a wicked, wicked time and I hope you are all safe. People and animals alike :)
But January is pretty special for other reasons too. You know, that whole resolutions thing. It's that time of year when you think, this is something I want to do, something I need to do and now is the perfect time to do it. It is a wonderful time to be mindful, as in thinking of the now, planning ahead is important yes, but so is taking the time to be mindful of today, of right now, this minute. If life is getting too busy for you, then make a plan to slow down. If the kids' schedules are making you feel like you're more of a taxi driver than an engaged mum (or dad) with the time to sit and connect with your kids then be mindful of what this is doing to you and your kids and make the plan to cut back.
My resolutions have been quite simple this year. If you guessed finishing Orpheus as being one of them, you would be right :) I've nearly finished planning the trilogy - did I tell you that the one book is now branching out into a trilogy?? that one book that I've been writing for five years and still haven't finished?? What can I say, I like a challenge ;) - and once all the links, kinks and twists have been worked out I can finish planning the first book and get down to more writing. Which I'm very excited about. I've got a notebook which I've covered with pretty scrapping paper, because I believe if you're going to have goals and dreams you may aswell write them down in something pretty, something that you want to look at everyday, something that inspires you. So my goals are written down in there, plus it's big enough to hold notes and plans for the stories.
Another big plan is to finish decorating my study. I mentioned that the process had begun but only in the last week or two since the festive season have the paint brushes come out and the real work begun. And seeing as it's so hot outside this is a perfect indoor activity. Except for the bored kids. And the baby needing feeding and attention. And the fact that anytime after 3pm the study is like a sauna, going face to face, toe to toe, mano a mano, with the full force of the setting sun - one of the joys of a westerly-faced house! But at least the room looks pretty now as it goes to battle - like a golden fleece (dreamy cream of be exact) blazing proudly. The painting is nearly done and I'll post pics of the final room when it's done. Cannot wait!! Am getting mighty sick of internet-ing on the dining table.
Speaking of golden fleeces, in other areas of my life I've decided to join up with Edie's classical book club at lifeingrace and although I'm a bit behind I've got my copies of the Odyssey and the Aeneid on hand ready to help me through these hot, lazy days. I've also downloaded some free podcasts from iTunes from BBC 4 on the topics. As Orpheus is set in the Renaissance, a time when the classics were being revived I consider this book club a pleasure rather than a chore. She has also read Antigone by Sophocles, a text I read in high school, and Plato's Republic, a book that I'm familiar with seeing as it was a part of a college philosophy course I taught a couple of years ago. So I'm really excited about exercising my brain in this way again and already am really enjoying the Odyssey. If you're thinking about giving yourself a classical training, or going back to read all those books you didn't get round to in high school consider joining a book club, Edie's or another, or maybe even set one up for yourself. There's nothing better for your brain, your imagination, your mental acuity, your intelligence, your understanding of the world, your conversation skills and your sanity than reading a good book. Any book will do, doesn't have to be classical.
As I mentioned earlier, January inspires being mindful. This year my eldest child, my only son, is starting kindergarten. This really hit home when yesterday we went to the shops and bought black leather lace up shoes, and realised that he doesn't know how to lace up shoes :) With this monumental event taking place in our house, I am aware of the effects it will have on all of us. My two year old daughter will be losing her best friend, her everyday play mate and will be gaining a lot more one on one time with her mother. I will be having my two girls (one two years nine months, the other three months) at home and am interested to see how our days run on this - will there be less trains and cars, more dolls and babies? Or will my daughter continue to play with those things she plays with her brother, in a way to still connect with him even when he's not here? I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to finding out. I'm also sad and in a mild disbelief that my baby is going to be gone five days a week. It's a big jump from the the two days a week preschool that he did last year. A huge jump. And I suppose I'm also mindful that with him starting school our house and routine need to be simple and calm so as not to overwhelm him too much. Last year I read Kim John Payne's Simplicity Parenting and it resounded so deeply within me. It is everything I attempt to do as a parent and stay at home mum. This January I've been thinking a lot about the simple life (not to be confused with easy) and am planning a post about it soon.
January has unearthed another wonderful find for me. An Australian blog called Che and Fidel.
Jodi is a mother of two and despite having wonderful giveaways she also documents the slow and simple (not easy :) life her family has in the north east of Australia. A lovely blog that I am happy to find as so many of the blogs I read are Ameriacn. I love to be able to connect with other Australian bloggers. She is also working on something called the 52 Project. It's a portrait a week of any subject of your choosing and if you're into photography then this is definitely a fun, simple and worthwhile project to link up with. I'm not doing it, simply because I don't post pictures of my kids on my blog and can't think of anything else I'd like to photograph for a year but my good friend Sophia is and I'm looking forward to following her and others through their creative process.
Wow this post is starting to border on essay proportions so I'm going to leave it there. What are you planning for or mindful of this January?
If the bush fires are on your doorstep I hope you take care.
Happy 2013 friends!!
That one was me being a bit spesh. I like it!
Crazy cockies!