What things did you learn in January 2016? 20 things I did.

With one month of 2016 gone already and nearly half of Feb…

Yikes! Here are some things I learnt:

1. That writing a book is flippin’ hard. If I thought of using the other F- word for how hard it is, this would be about the right time to use it but I’m not a big F-word user in writing. The point is that it’s so much harder than I remember it being the first time round.

1. 2. That telling anyone that you are writing in response to the inevitable,   ‘so how’re things going this year?’ is probably NOT a good idea cos’ they’ll ask you about it and you’ll have to explain and sometimes this can make you unnecessarily grumpy.

3. That you don’t need to keep paying to get educated. Or register for another degree. Just go to the library. Or go online and read until just before your eyes pop out their sockets. Talking to people also helps you to make sense of stuff you’re reading but not always. Either way, just read.

4. That growing older is a privilege and not a right and therefore complaining about it is really not cool.

5. That there are fabulous thought-provoking things out there and one of the most exciting blog posts I found was called the RawFoodFamily. Here’s the link: http://www.thesundancefamily.com/5-steps-to-manifest-anything-you-want/It made me want to pack up my surburban life and move to Thailand to live on the beach and lead a simple life.

6. That telling others what you’re thinking about is also mostly also another BIG mistake. Sometimes just thinking and dreaming about things is enough. Chances are seriously slim that we are going to become another Sundance family. For starters, we are not big raw food eaters though this is the least of my concerns.

7. That synchronicity is a really powerful force – if you are aware of it. I picked up a book called Happiness in the Home by Gretchen Rubin for 10 bucks at the St Luke’s Hospice stand outside a UCT Summer School lecture recently, only to be passed by a car with the number plate called Gretchen (I mean, what are the chances?) about an hour later. So of course I looked her up and she’s got some interesting stuff to say I thought. And she’s a New York Times bestseller nogal with TONS of followers. And she looks so damn happy. It’s an easy skim read. I did it in about 2 hours.http://gretchenrubin.com/.Here’s her link too! She seems to do lots of stuff to make people happy. Good thing.

 

 

 

 

 

8. That buying Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic was probably the BEST thing I did in January. In fact, I feel so connected to this woman that I’m going to refer to her as Liz whenever I mention her in my life again. I doubt she’ll mind.

 

9. That even though the many fires in January in Cape Town are frightening and horrific and all, they also result in pretty incredible flower displays a few months on.

10. That there is nothing at all, nothing even comes close to the feeling of an all- round happy family.

11. That if you read inspiring quotes, you’ll be reading for the rest of your life. But you’ll probably be more thoughtful too.

12. One of the best I’ve seen this last month was this:

It’s not about finding yourself but rather about creating yourself.

13. That teenagers haven’t yet understood the term nostalgia or sentimentality.

14. That making lists of things like this are useful to assess where you are in this world, this life.

15. That if you want to live an exciting life, just be interested in something. Actually in truth this is not a January learnt thing.

16. That I’m probably never going to get my house sorted and de-cluttered.

17. That the children don’t care about clutter anyway.

18. That you either are or are not ever going to be a kindle reader. I finally bought one and have NO desire whatsoever to spend any time on it. Even if travelling. Any buyers?? #brandspankingnew.

 

 

 

 

19. That containing your children’s disappointment is one of the tougher things that parents have to do.

20. That in January in Cape Town, the sun already sets earlier and rises later by a minute almost every day.

#notimetolose