Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple -- Dr Seuss

Today I would like to ask you 3 questions

1. What 3 things are you proudest of accomplishing in 2009?
   
   They can be big things, small things. Things that are important just to you, that made a difference to your family or made the world a better place.
   
   
2. What 1 new thing do you want to accomplish in 2010?
   
   This should be your number one priority, the one thing you focus on every day and that you want to have finished by the end of next year.
   
   It can of course be something intangible like being a good partner to your loved one, or being a good parent. But I presume this is something we all strive to achieve.
   
   So, make your goal different from your family. Make it something that is part of who you are, the dream you have. Something like hiking through Nepal and setting up a charity, starting your own business or learning a new skill.
   
   You do not have to know the HOW. But you should be very clear on the WHAT.
   
   
3. What is your 2010 Word of the Year?
   
   Since I heard about and met Christine Kane, I learned about how resolutions have a tendency to fail because they only address the DO level of your life (quit smoking, loose weight - the classic to do's for a new year).
   
   Christine started selecting a word to guide her through the year which puts you and your actions much more in the BE level of your life. The word you choose becomes the guiding force throughout the year - it grows with you, changes meaning and goes much deeper than a simple 'I need to get more organised'.

Think about the above questions for a while and leave me your answers in the comment section.


Here are my answers:

Things I am proud to have accomplished in 2010:

1. I am proud to have found a satisfactory level of work-life balance. I work 4 days a week, which allows me to be implicated and professional at work without being too stressed. It also allows me to be at home on the afternoons my kids are free. Thanks to my parents who love to babysit, I have one afternoon per week for myself.
   
   
2. I am proud to have finished my first picture book for children together with a brilliant illustrator. It shall be launched as an e-book early next year. You can have a preview here as read by little Elsie who also teaches you to draw Rufus and Lele.
   
   
3. I am very proud to have started two amazing projects:
   
   • I set up some creative workshops to cater to my own lack of creativity at work. I ended up being asked to set up a pilot workshop on creative thinking with my company's HR. The pilot will take place in February.
   • I worked out a concept to bring the corporate to charity. By organizing team building activities with and for local charities, the beneficiaries are not only the community and the company but also the helping employees.

The one thing I want to accomplish in 2010:

I want to start my own business. I have an idea and it's of course closely linked to the above mentioned two projects. All I have to do now is figure out a way to make it happen. That's what 2010 is all about :-)

My word of the year 2010:

CREATE :

My word for 2009 was serenity and although I am not serene every minute of my life, I have achieved a level of serenity that make me happy. I am still flipping out from time to time and my kids can drive me up the wall. But I also know how to calm down, how to get back to being serene.

The projects I started this year were all about creativity. And I want to make creativity the red thread leading through 2010. All I want to do is create. Whether it's art, photography, a good home, children's books, a loving relationship, my blog, creative thinking workshops, the charity. I want to be the one who creates the way all these things look, work and feel. I want to make them all colorful and individual.

I want to continue creating this world around me that's fun, happy, loving...ME.

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In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful -- Alice Walker

WEIRD

From his birth they knew something was off,
the doctor said so with an irritating cough.

He was slower than other kids his age,
he could so easily work himself into a rage.

His mother told him she loved him every day,
trying to keep others' harsh comments at bay.

When he grew up kids would make fun of him,
saying 'you're weird' and pushing him at the gym.

He talked slowly and walked in a funny way,
hence becoming everyone's easy prey.

They sent him away to live in a special place,
where he was allowed to move at his own pace.

There were other kids who thought he was funny,
making the new place suddenly seem sunny.

'Am I weird?' he asked his teacher after a while,
'Weird and wonderfully beautiful.' she said with a smile.

(c) Mindful Mimi - December 2009

Thanks to for prompting this poem on the theme of Weird.

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To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am. -- Bernard M. Baruch

She is turning 40 next week.

She has been reflecting about what that number means. Whether it should mean anything at all.

It is different from when she turned 30.
Then it was all about finding the man of her dreams or not, about ever having babies or not.

She had made her peace with a life without them.
Until she met the man and had two lovely babies.

Now it's more about finding the right balance between work and family.
About a purpose in life that has to be more than just a 9 to 5 job in sales.
About all sorts of forms of creating: painting, writing, photographing, educating, combining creativity and charity, creativity and the corporate world, and potentially turning all that into a business.

She does not feel 40. She didn't feel 30 either. She never really felt her age.
Forty is middle age isn't it?
She doesn't feel like she's in the middle of her life.

She is a wife, responsible for love, laughter and support in a partnership.
She is a mother of two, responsible for their lives, their education, their happiness, their well being, their health.

Somehow she still can't believe that.

Somehow she still feels like a kid - even more so now that she has someone to jump around with.
Somehow she still feels like a teenager - though she is no longer lost or insecure (well, not that much anyway).

She wonders whether other people feel like this too.
Or whether they have it all figured out.

Forty doesn't seem old all of a sudden. Maybe 55 is when you start to be old?

She feels comfortable, at ease with herself.
She has figured out that life is about the journey, not about getting there.
She has learned that the now is all we have.
She has experienced the positive impact of complaining less, of intending more.

It doesn't always work. She doesn't always manage.
She has a nervous breakdown or a crying or screaming fit from time to time.

The difference at forty is that, instead of hiding and feeling sorry for herself for a week, instead of blaming her life on other people, instead of thinking this is the end of the world, now, she accepts it, notices it, learns from it, forgives herself and gets up again the next day.


What did you realize when you turned 40? or 30? or 50? or...?

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Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls -- Joseph Campbell

So many people spend their days moaning, complaining, criticizing, gossiping, blaming.

We seem to connect a lot of things that happen to us to outside circumstances:

- My colleague prevents me from doing my job properly
- My partner makes me feel like shit
- My parent's upbringing is responsible for my depression
etc.
- If only I were thinner, then I would find a boyfriend and I'd be happy.

But it's all a question of attitude really.

If you think these things prevent you from being happy and successful, then you are right.
If your mind accepts that you are a victim, then you are.
If you make others responsible for your happiness, then they are.

And as Oprah so rightly says 'We teach people how to treat us'. So if we behave like a victim, we become one and people will treat us like one.

If however, we choose to decide that we will just use such walls in our life to learn from them, to change our outlook on them, to change our attitude and behavior towards them, then these walls will become doors.

What is it that makes you itch about your colleague? And why? Often our reactions say more about ourselves than they do about other people.

We cannot change other people, we can only change ourselves and our attitude towards them.

Sometimes that means speaking up, confronting, fighting.
Sometimes that means being happy despite the behavior, because we realize it is not that important.
Sometimes it means breaking up, looking for another job, moving away.

Sometimes it simply means you have to change a little thing and things start shifting.

Sometimes the easiest way to fight the negative is to surround yourself with lots of positive.

Look around you. What bothers you? What drains your energy? Do you know why?

Do you know how to switch from a complaining victim attitude to an action taking attitude?

What can you do today to make a little shift?

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A picture of you

Have you ever been asked to provide a picture of what you consider to be your passion/hobby?

Would you consider this an easy task?

I came across so many questions and thoughts:

• a picture is something defining
• one picture is limiting
• how much do I want to show?
• will people know it's me when they see this?

So below is ME. Or at least a big part of me.

I decided to provide a mosaic using the Mosaic Maker:

Go to Flickr.
Type your hobbies into Flickr Search.
Use only the first page of results, and pick one image.
Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

Show me your mosaic:

Photo credits:

1. Let your creativity grow!, 2. Color Me!, 3. the 'i got a new camera' shot, 4. Acoustic Guitar, 5. Roadwork girls, 6. Lime & Teal, 7. write me a letter..., 8. Winding Road!, 9. Just another Saturday morning.

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Departed

Is it the time of year?
Or why is death so near?

Leaves are falling,
the earth is calling.

The sun is not bright anymore,
rain and fog have the winning score.

The trees look faint,
there is no color to paint.

Those who are sick get weak,
prognosis seems bleak.

Leaves fall and return in spring,
people go and just leave an empty swing.

It balances with each souvenir,
of the person we have held so dear.

A moment spent happy with laughter,
never to be forgotten thereafter.

(c) Mindful Mimi - November 2009

Thanks to for prompting this poem on the theme of Departed.

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True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The last few days I have been very creative painting. To the point that there are paint stains on my nice white keyboard :-)

In line with a painting I did a while ago, below is the result of recent creative outpour.

And here is a painting done by my sons today.

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