Day 31 - The cleaning bug got me!

　

The cleaning bug strikes me

 at the weirdest times.

Often it’s at 9pm,

rarely during the day

and sometimes in the middle of the night.

I can happily ignore the mess in my house on a day to day basis and wait until the bug strikes, then it’s surprising how much cleaning and tidying I can achieve in a small amount of time. And it's not unusual for me to do the laundry if I wake at 3am and can't sleep - which is very rare these days.

I honestly don’t know how I’m surviving on only about 5 hours sleep per night lately, but after hitting hay at 2am last night I can’t believe my high level of energy today.

I had the children running around the house with me putting things back into place to re-create order under this roof. "Work before play"... a great motto in our house and the kids were even folding sheets!

Along with all the general housework I took the opportunity, while the bite of the bug was with me, to work with my daughter to clear the crap from her bedroom.

　

　

　

OK... Now you can go and play Wii.

　

　

Crap cleared: Unwanted craft and toys from my daughter’s room.

Day 31 observations:

• All in good time ~ Tomorrow is another day ~ Strike while the iron’s hot ~ Whatever ~ Just Do It!

Day 29 - Precious books and the need to write.

　

Crap cleared: children's books

I stood mesmerised before the gondola of books. I don’t know what had drawn me to this section of the department store because I was there to buy a gymnastics leotard and a couple of roll-under-the-bed plastic storage containers. The pictures on the covers, the titles, the authors, the words were all calling to me. I could feel their power and I wanted to become one with it.

And of course the title of this piece of fiction jumped up at me: "The pile of stuff at the bottom of the stairs". I’m sure Christina Hopkinson could just as easily have replaced stuff with CRAP in her title. I skimmed through and read a few random pages and found I could enjoy her content.



This pic is totally unrelated to the blog...
I just thought the browns and greens of my
courtyard looked especially pretty this morning!
(110cm outdoor clock by i believe in this) )



I cannot remember the last time I bought a work of fiction. Other than a couple of gardening, craft, finance, cookery and medical books and magazines, my bookshelf is 80% self-help. What I read is all about improving myself; trying to become a better person; trying to find happiness, direction and fulfilment and an understanding of life. Titles like: First things first, Don’t sweat the small stuff, Instant Calm, The art of happiness and Freedom Is; and books from authors such as Stephen Covey, Edward De Bono, Eckhart Tolle and Mike Robinson. In the past when I found time to read, it was not really an enjoyable, relaxing journey into a make-believe story, or even an adventure to captivate imagination with messages to learn and grow from. Science fiction!... why would I waste my time! My reading was always all about trying to figure out how I can fix what is wrong with me.

There are still bookmarks in most items on my bookshelves, identifying the spot, part way through where I stopped reading. I usually do not finish a book. For some reason I lose interest or don’t find the time. It has to be really engaging for me to read through to the last page.

What I have recently discovered is that you need to be ready to receive the information you’re reading. For example, I started reading Eckhart Tolle’s The power of now last year some time, and I don’t think I got passed the first few chapters. I was not open or ready to process and understand the messages. Last week I started reading his more recent book A new earth - create a better life and it is really resonating so true for me, I can hardly put it down. Likewise, with my other recent reading from James Redfield and Mike Robinson, I’ve sped through to the end, soaking up all the wisdom on offer.

I can relate this to the process of clearing the CRAP.

You need to be ready for it.

For how long has my mother been trying to get my father to clear all of his crap out of their garage? No matter how many times she asks him and punishes him for not doing so, he’s not going to clean up his crap until he is ready. And for how long have I had that mountain of financial paperwork building up and daring me to tackle it? Not ready yet... I'll save that one for another day!!

When the time is right on your journey of life, you will be able to face your crap, process the issues associated with it, and move forward. When the time is right, the information you need will present itself to you.

While staring at all the shiny new books, the title and content of my very own masterpiece came to me. I have been contemplating a literary work that will benefit my children, but this idea is now shaping into something that could reach a wider audience. I felt the force of those books today telling me that it’s time to start working on that project.

So today I decided to clear the crap from my bookcases, but I didn’t get very far. My books are way too precious to part with. I was easily able to cull the children’s shelves and now have this pile of kids books to donate.

　

　

Oh, and I bought the fiction book about a pile of stuff and look forward to a leisurely read.

　

Day 29 observations:

• I must not let fear of the unknown prevent me from trying something new - just commence the writing and see where it takes me.

　
　
　

　

Day 19 - Yeah, i believe in this - but it may be time to let it go.

Crap cleared: items from the warehouse
 

My frame of mind effected the number of sales that I had at the market today.

Once a month I attend a local village market to share my i believe in this home decor, wall art and giftware. There’s really not enough foot traffic to make it a financially worthwhile event, but it’s a safe environment to take the children with me and it provides a chance to ‘get rid of’ some stock. I say it like this because I have stock from a previous venture that I need to move and no real means of distribution at the moment, other than an online store that I don’t put a lot of energy into.

I was so happy to see this gorgeous time piece go to a woman who fell in love with it and said she had the perfect spot for it in her home.

　

Winston Clock  107cm x 98cm  $99.00

　

It was raining during market set up, so a negative cloud was already hovering overhead. It’s so horrible to get everything wet, and the freshly mown grass was sticking to the tent walls. I couldn’t put any cardboard boxes or cane baskets on the ground. Then after unloading the gear, as there were fewer stall-holders than normal, I decided to relocate my tent to a better position. Well, I found out later that the new spot where I planted the tent was right on top of a green ant nest!

　

People must have thought the ants were in my pants

with the way I was prancing around inside and around my stall -

but the movement was only to try to stop them

crawling up and biting my feet and ankles.

And they hurt so much!!

　

Well... then my daughter got bitten... She reacts badly to any insect bite, but the screaming and carry-on that followed a green ant bite was just awful. I had only had a few sales and was really starting to question why I put myself through the drama and hard physical work of setting up tent, tables and stock and packing it all up again. Not to mention the fiasco that comes with having to take the kids along with me. It really is an effort - particularly when there is only a small amount of sales.

I also started to face some kind of internal paradox due to my current crap-clearing process. These items, however beautiful to decorate a home, may one day be considered by the purchaser to be their crap!

Maybe it’s time I finally let go of this retail arm of my business?

And then my daughter started whingeing about her thumb. She was hurt yesterday and now has three stitches - her first big injury. Her constant whingeing was effecting my vibe and ability to interact with customers. So we had a chat about positivity and sending out good energy. Soon after she had settled and we found an activity to keep her happy, I became happier and I began making some good sales. Amazing how one persons frame of mind can effect the surrounding atmosphere.

　

Here’s a few more items that went off to lovely new homes today:

　

　

Falling Flowers  100cm x 47cm  $75



Bodice  67 x 30 x 9cm  $55

 

Fern in Pot  100cm x 82cm  $55

　

   Day 19 observations:

• I need to continually work on not letting other people’s issues effect my internal being. I must incorporate a protection process into my daily morning routine.