Thirty Habits With Paper Tams

Thirty day projects seem to be a popular trend. The idea is to add good habits/changes into your life over a thirty day period. A popular method I’ve heard about is adding one each day and at the end of the time period, you will have added thirty new habits.

While the idea is very attractive to me (I like the number 30 and often delude myself into thinking I can completely reinvent myself in 30 days), I made the decision to take this a bit slower. This year I do hope to incorporate thirty new habits into my life, but I’m going to tackle it over the course of the year. By December, my hope is I will be able to maintain these habits for thirty days straight.

Do I have a list of things I’d like to change and incorporate into my life? Absolutely. Who doesn’t love a good list? But before I set things in stone, I’d like to give a few shout outs to other creators who have inspired me to set out on this journey. This project idea has been brewing for a while and allows me to incorporate many of the ideas I’ve picked up along the way. Thank you to Thirty Chic Days by Fiona Ferris, The Artist Way by Julia Cameron, Lessons From Madame Chic by Jennifer L Scott and Diane in Denmark YouTube channel. And thank you to all my YouTube viewers who gave me such good feedback on my Bon Vivant On A Budget endeavors.

Here’s my list:

1. Wake up at 5am (I’ve been doing this since Jan.1)

2. Establish a morning routine

3. Go to bed by 10pm

4. Establish an evening routine

5. Drink more herbal tea

6. Do more with less (this will really test my creativity)

7. Read at least 20 minutes before bed

8. Incorporate a weekly long hike

9. Write more (hence this blog)

10. Create and maintain a garden of intention

11. Create a sanctuary at home (this one ties in to No.6)

12. Cultivate serenity and calmness in my life

13. Seek out the arts

14. Incorporate fruit into my meals

15. Incorporate more salad into my meals

16. Meal plan - more home cooked meals

17. Create and follow a budget

18. Take care of my nails

19. Quality over quantity

20. Continue to curate my wardrobe

21. Listen to more classical music

22. Celebrate family

23. Be more positive

24. Smile more often

25. Monthly artist dates

26. Don’t wait to be rich to feel good

27. Visit friends

28. Use my good things

29. Make health a priority

30. Say less, love more

If you are interested in doing something similar, please feel free to join me on this journey. I’ll be posting updates and ideas on my Instagram channel and using the hashtag #30habitswithpapertams.

Forces

For the past few months I’ve made the conscious decision to get up by 5am each morning. I’ve started the day with various activities including meditation, hot yoga and simple tasks I need to catch up on in order to stay somewhat ahead in this game called life.

Today was no exception. Naturally, I awoke at 4:44am and began with a cup of green tea. Next I went on with knocking out the tasks needed to make sure I could keep this blog up and running. I realize its been almost a year since I posted anything, but I have been feeling a bit of a tug to write again.

My focus this week is on the uncontrollable forces of life. So many variables are pushing at me these days and I thought I would share my theory on when we should allow ourselves to be leaves on the wind.

My theory is this: If forces are pushing us to better ourselves (i.e. be a better artist, companion, parent, worker, etc.), I believe we should just let go and roll with it. Sometimes this is hard, but this is the precise moment creative thinking can benefit us. I’ve found that in most cases, forces taking us out of our comfort zone make us better. However, there are times when your gut tells you forces are simply trying to push you out of the way with no concern for your well being. It is in these rare times we must stand firm and simply push back.

Creativity is a muscle, in my humble opinion, and exercising it regularly gives us the strength we need to understand the difference between letting go and pushing back. This is why we draw, paint, write, bake, garden, design. Creativity hones us. Trust your gut, my friends.

Becoming Loose

The first quarter of 2018 is almost over and I've been hustling. I'm always busy at the beginning of the year with things like post holiday clean up, taxes, professional certification renewals and winter garden projects. I can't believe I've managed to find any time to do anything creative. But this year I've got a new project management system and it's working for me. 

My journaling, gardening and artistic endeavors have come together into one notebook and I really like the way it's shaping up. There's more creative flow in my life and less rigidness.  I'm doing less, but accomplishing more. I can't explain it. 

I think part of it has to do with maturity and spiritual growth. Letting go of what no longer works is one of those life lessons that has taken me a long time to learn.  And I'm finally at a point where I understand what it means to embrace my feminine, right brain self. 

Very little is planned in my life right now. I just have an ongoing list of ideas I'd like to implement. If I lose interest, the ideas are tossed. If they pull me deeper into the rabbit hole, I fall freely.  Life is too short or at least that's my current perspective.