There is definitely some vacuum-like action going on in the world around me. The kill-me-now workplace has sucked me in and is refusing to spit me back out, much to my disapproval. Will I stand for it? Hell, no! I will endeavour to spit, scratch and kick my way out (if it comes to that). However, I would much rather a more civil approach like bowing out and moving on to better pastures in a non-confrontational/low-drama kind of fashion. At present, I’ve been spending a lot of my free time job searching but I contacted a temping agency to see about my options for switching sectors and gaining experience through temping. They seemed really positive and requested my CV, so we shall see how it goes. Watch this space…
In terms of self-improvement, still watching those Marie Forleo videos. Only wish I had a spare £1,500 for B-school! The good thing is that a lot of the advice for getting started thinking like a modern, creative entrepreneur is totally free. I guess it’s worth looking at for next year’s intake if I’m any closer to honing in on what I want to develop, business-wise. For anyone wanting to learn more about Marie Forleo and her advice on marketing with a heart, her videos are here. I know I talk about her a lot in these blogs at the moment but I’m only just beginning to focus on an interest in business development and I really love her life-coach approach to money, business and personal development as well as the sources she draws upon. “Yay” for strong, female role models!
I’ve also been mulling over this whole website shenanigans. What benefits are there to having your own domain name? Is it possible to add things like tracking codes and coloured text if you don’t have your own domain (like a free wordpress package, for example)?
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reaching out and trying to build a network of fellow creatives for me to draw upon, which I think is working quite well. I love reading the posts I’ve been coming across, as well as finding lots of invaluable advice on how to approach creative projects (and even life!). I particularly love shanjeniah‘s idea of a ‘Play Jar‘! I can’t wait to start making one of my own – though it may be a Play Box or a Play Tub – but still with the same intention of enjoying life through creativity and exploration of the world around me. In fact, I’ve found lots of thought-provoking insights peppered throughout her posts, but that’s for you to discover.
Guess what I watched yesterday? ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild‘! Oh my. What a beautiful film! Yes, I did indeed cry. I also made notes – it ran to about 89 minutes (89 pages) as well as my own guess on what I feel matches up to the beat sheet according to the story arc I observed. I quite enjoy this ‘excuse’ to watch a movie. I’ve not watched a film at home in about 6 months prior to starting this exercise of analysing films! The last film I watched for fun was at the cinema and it was called ‘Nebraska‘ but that was about a month ago, I think. What I loved most about ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ was actually the closing statement: That we’re “little pieces of a big universe”. It doesn’t really matter where you’re from, what your culture is, what experiences you’ve had… I think anyone can identify with that.
In terms of writing, I’ve been making notes on ideas but there’s been no ‘serious’ writing yet, though I know I’ll get to it. Just trying to get caught up on my studies so I don’t fall behind. I have started sketching out the bare bones of a new project though, entirely different to my normal stuff and something I’m aware will probably take a couple of years to flesh out (mostly because I’m the guinea pig). It essentially falls within the genre of a self-improvement though I’m not so sure if that’s where it’ll stay. It’s a long way from now though, and it may end up essentially a guidebook to the workshops I’d like to develop but, for the purposes of these blog updates, I shall refer to it as a novel. I know it’s going to flit between friendships, life and business (work-life balance?) but no idea what the end result will be yet. I may just refer to it as Down To Business (DTB) so I can separate it from other projects.
So, whilst I haven’t yet achieved what I hoped to this week, I still have a few days yet to pull it back. I’ve managed to rid myself of one post-it’s worth of tasks and activities on sustainability (FutureLearn), with just two post-it’s remaining for that. Once I’m caught up there, I can then move onto outlining my next assignment for my English degree, bang out some pages on the LITD script (currently at 16/100) then there’s time to play on research/exploration of the new project and/or other interests. Such as reading or learning something new.
I hope everyone’s having a great week filled with adventure!
Regards,
Callie.
callieweylin 