Kelly Exeter always tells me amazing and useful things.

I say ‘me’ but she actually tells all of us, it’s just that the things she chooses to say seem to be all about me. She has a knack of doing that thing that Sylvia Plath once said about being “a voice speaking from my own soul”.

Yesterday she gave me some great things, all of which have been running around my head all night. I had a night of wakefulness and what seemed like non-stop dreaming, so I know there was a lot to process.

One of the things that stuck with me was the concept of space. Of how two things simply cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time. The blog link was about thoughts, and how we can’t have a positive and a negative thought at the same moment, so we need to prioritise just how much mind-space we want to use up with junk.

I’ve expanded the idea to consider our physical space, the toy cupboard in particular. Take this lego on my floor right now for example:

They say there is an average of 67 blocks of Lego per person on Earth. I think we have more than our share.

There are so many of those pointy little foot-stabbers in that bucket, that it is overflowing. The Evils get the bucket out most days, and most days I have to shove it all back in the cupboard and close the door quickly, lest it all come tumbling out.

Me: Liam, I think we have too many toys, and waaay too much Lego. We can’t possibly fit another toy into that cupboard and the Lego bucket itself is overflowing. You can’t possibly use it all, and in fact I think you only ever use the top layer. Perhaps we could give some to some kids who don’t have any? The way it is right now you can never get a new toy, because two things can’t occupy the same space at the same time. You need to clear out, in order to make room for new things to come into your life.

Liam: I like the old things. I don’t want any new things. Other than computer games, and I have heaps of space on my hard drive for those.

Me: But there might be new things, new opportunities and experiences you don’t even know about yet, and you’re limiting yourself because you don’t have space to fit them into your life.

Liam: Don’t worry, I can get a bigger box.

So there you have it, the wisdom of Liam. No need to clear out the clutter, just get bigger, improve, stretch, create new boundaries.

Someone once said, “The mind, once expanded by a new idea, can never regain its original dimensions.”

Expand.

Oh, and he also solved the problem of getting to the bottom layers.

And that’s not even all of it!

Do you have Lego that appears to be breeding?

Do you have space for new stuff?

…From The Ashers xx

I am the world’s worst best procrastinator.  I put off everything that I can, until it becomes painfully impossible to ignore it any longer.  I create situations where I have a feeling of ‘something hanging over my head’, that gets so heavy and cumbersome that it pushes me forward and threatens to crush my lungs .  It is only then that I do it.

I did it today.

In fact I did two ‘its’.

Together, they took three and a half hours, tops.  Two things that had been squeezing the joy out of my evenings, as I would plant my lazy bum on this very comfy couch and make deals with myself about how I would get up and at least start one of them soon/next ad break/after writing this next blog/as soon as I finish this cuppa.  After sufficient time had elapsed and it would become obvious I wasn’t even going to start them, I would skulk off to bed, vowing to get up at 5am and eat the frog.

But I never ate those frogs.  And of course I never got up at 5am.

The only frogs I eat are choccy

So like I said, today I made a deal with myself that I would do just one of the maligned tasks, and then strangely, I felt so relieved and energetic after one, I did the other.  They weren’t even difficult.  And now I can breathe fully again.  Just like that.

That’s not to say that that is the end of tasks that require my attention, but having those two millstones removed has created a space and a freedom that I didn’t even realise was being so choked off.

I’m writing this blog to share my relief and elation, so that I might come back here some day, should I ever get to this level of procrastination again, and remember how wondrous it felt, to be like Nike.  I’m also writing this in case you too are putting off some reviled task, with the futile hope that it will go away.  I want you to get a sense of how BLOODY GOOD it feels once it is done.  Of how you can completely relax your shoulders.  Of how you can take your time over dinner.  Of how you can savour your evening, instead of wishing it away.

Kelly Exeter shared a tip one day: if it takes less than a minute to do, do it right now.  (I’ve changed that to two minutes).  It has lead to a life with much less clutter.  Previously I had too many jobs ‘for later’ stored up in my head.  Ten simple jobs that could be done in the moment can add up to a lot of mess.

The other thing that helped me today was to really get into the feeling of euphoria once the first job was done.  I’m trying to create a cell memory of that in my mind and body so that I can try and access it next time the old pleasure/pain strategy of putting things off until they are stressfully urgent tries to rear up.

I don’t know if this new strategy will be the end of a lifetime of procrastination and cramming, but stranger things have happened.

I’ll let you know.

What are you putting off?

Will you start it today?

…From The Ashers xx

Oh yeah, it’s Hit Time… Here they are, the hits of the week:

1.  The quote of the week.  It’s not a newie of course, but I was having an internal whinge one day this week, and it popped up in my Instagram.  It’s from ‘A League of Their Own.”  I think it bears remembering.

2.  A fab girly lunch today for the launch of Nikki Parkinson’s new book, Unlock Your Style (you can get yours here, even if you missed the launch).  It was held at Berados (a fancy word for, well, fanceee), and as always the service was impeccable and the food: delish.  Nikki was gorgeous and funny, and very down to Earth, which I guess is what you would expect from a Sunny Coast girl, but still, it was nice to see, and wonderful to be there to help get a book written by an Aussie Blogger on it’s way.

I went with a fun group of ladies: Bigheart, Barbiegirl, DownToEarth, Arty, Lovely, LeadMeAstray and Buzzybee.  And then, of course, there was me: Little Truthful One.  See if you can guess who is who:

The eight dwarves ladies

And here are the rest of the hits of the lunch-launch:

The Stylish Nikki

Books ready for launching

Did I mention there was dessert? Oh YES there was. It was a veritable health food with all that fruit..

3.  Watters, the Happy little Jappy Chappy.  As you know, we have been having a ball with out little fella.. Sunday is just too close (we want to keep him).

It was even more fun tonight because a friend who is a Japanese teacher came over and was able to have a big chat with him, so we found out all sorts.  Yes, he is having fun here, No, he doesn’t want sushi for dinner, Yes (little bugger) thinks he is a better dancer than me, Yes, he liked meat pies, but best of all, he dissed us over the Evil Geniuse’s bedtime.  We have been putting them to bed LATE this week at 7.30pm, but apparently Watters thinks this is ridic and is lying in bed awake for hours (apparently).  Sorry Watters, but when in Noosa….

4.  Decisions.  We all know we have to make them.  We think and think and list and agonise and then, somehow, we make a choice.  It seems that the bigger the decision seems to be, the harder we make it for ourselves until we can be paralysed into indecision.  Yet strangely, as Kelly Exeter points out in her book Your Best Year Yet, we will be happy with our choice.  That is how we are wired.  So why do we even stress about it?

Who even knows?

Regardless, a big cheers to making choices.  And even more, for living in a country where having choices is possible.

5.  The sound of the waves outside.  As I’m sitting up here, super-late (I’ve had a big work-day), I can hear the smashing waves.  Swell must be picking up.  I’m not a good surfer, so it’s not like I need big waves.  I just love the sounds.  Reminds me of Summer Hols down the coast.  Long days.  Sand in your bathers.  Peeling skin on your nose. Hot chips with gravy.  Melting Choc chip ice-creams.  And the comforting rhythm of the sea.

Got any hits?

Have you got your copy of Unlock Your Style or Your Best Year Yet, yet?

…From The Ashers