'This is my life'

‘This is my life’

Narrowing it down

- Specific intentions and goals for 2010

• this is my health:

I feel supple and agile in my body, I feel energized and strong. My breath is free, my voice is strong and clear and rounded.

- I get out for regular walks

- I do yoga more often

- I take herbal and homeopathic remedies

- I eat healthy foods and drink lots of water

• these are my relationships

I speak my truth in a straightforward, blame free way. I am respected and valued. I am inspired by my relationships, and I in turn inspire others. There is a sense of everyone around me wanting to give and share and enjoying the energy that creates. I am deeply grateful for the gifts the people around me bring. I am in a loving relationship with a man

- I trust that my ideas are valuable and I share them and try them out

- I trust that my thoughts and feelings are important and I share them in a straightforward blame free way

• this is my abundance

There is enough money in my life for me to be able to go on holidays every year somewhere nice, and take all the courses I want to take, and have regular massages, reiki, therapy sessions and instrumental lessons

- I work in a well paid job

- I support my partners business plans

• this is my creativity/purpose

I write songs and arrangements. I sing and I play for myself and others. I teach and I find new innovative ways of engaging and motivating learners, who have fun in my lessons whilst learning. I collaborate with other colleagues on exciting projects. I am an integral part of a community, and my creative ideas are having a great positive affect on the community. I am valued, respected and inspired and also very grateful for each person who is part of this community, and appreciative of their gifts. I also create beautiful clothes and other items from my own patterns and from other people’s patterns.

- I paint and collage JUST FOR ME- JUST FOR FUN!

- I take risks and try out new ideas in my job

-I find ways of sharing my ideas and gifts with others

• this is how i practice self-love/self-care

I acknowledge and celebrate my successes. I allow myself to feel my vulnerability. I allow all of my emotions to be, without judging them.

- I have weekly therapy sessions

- I record successes and do a gratitude journal

- I allow myself to rest and play!

• this is how i experience happiness/adventure

I go on holiday. I go far long walks in wellies. I create fun new projects. I am open to meeting and connecting with new people. I see live music and other live performances. I meet dear friends. I go to art galleries and museums.

- Yurt Holiday booked for May this year

- Joining ATC swops on the marvelous message board

- Recording successes for my next assignment from ABC!

Dreams come true...so far :)

This post is about acknowledging some of the achievements of my life so far, in order to create a sense of 'I can do it' - of daring to dream and to take steps to make dreams come true

So... These are some of the dreams come true in my life so far:

Visiting Ghana, West Africa for a 4 month drumming and dancing course
Traveling on my own for the first time. Learning about a different culture, making friends in Ghana, Learning 6 traditional Ghanaian dances, with the drum-patterns and songs belonging to them. Singing with a local choir there. Visiting various parts of Ghana. Seeing exotic animals in the wild. Visiting a jungle and a cocoa plantation.

Living in Copenhagen
Making a living with a flexible job, whilst also taking some time to prepare myself to study music. Having some interesting lovers, and experiencing some different cultures in Copenhagen. Seeing lots of interesting concerts/ theatre and dance.

Moving to the UK

Studying Music
Getting an HND in Jazz and a BMus in popular Music performance
Learning lots of Music theory and performing techniques
Having Piano lessons and singing lessons
Learning how to use various music soft-wares on the computer
Learning skills to help me as songwriter/arranger

Performing Music
Being in a Chamber Choir and a Soul choir and performing with both
Being a Dancer in ‘funkollektif’ in Brighton, and doing various performances
Being in a Jazz band with regular performances
Being in a Latin band and recording and performing with them
Learning to play Latin percussion
Performing my own original songs as a duet in small London venues

Being in a relationship
Learning lots of things about how to have and how not to have a healthy relationship- through trial and error
Having a boyfriend who I find inspiring, gorgeous, creative, and who can be so good to talk to

Having great sex

Having healthy, yummy eating habits
Continuously adding new and brushing off old cooking ideas to make sure eating keeps being inspiring and lovely. Having a great organic veggie box.

Becoming an intermediate crocheter
Making larger, more complicated projects e.g. Cardigan


Becoming a qualified teacher
Doing a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) and qualifying to teach Music to ages 11-18.

Being a Teacher
Teaching keystage 3 and GCSE Music for two terms at an all boy’s school. My class 11 all did very well in their final exams!

Getting a Job as Music Teacher in a Steiner school
Studying Steiner- finding out about bringing teaching/ spiritual development into alignment- working with like minded people
Leading class 8 choir (SATB)
Working with some younger classes too

100+ Dreams for 2010 and beyond

So I have joined a group of creative dreamers under the capable leadership of Andrea of ABC creativity: http://www.abccreativity.com/

And was encouraged to start this new year by creating a list of 100+ dreams, small and large, the very achievable and also the 'silly' ones and the really BIG ones...

I am not quite done- this will be a list to keep adding to, but so far, here goes...

considering the following categories as a prompt:

• health
• relationships
• creativity/purpose
• abundance
• self-love/self-care
• happiness/adventure
• 
  

What do I want to do, be, or have?

1. Creative collaboration in my work-life- My ideas are heard and valued, I am treated as an equal – I am inspired by and I inspire my colleagues.
2. Using and developing skills in composing/ arranging
3. Freedom to experiment
4. I am an able and confident sight-singer
5. Opportunities to perform (singing)
6. Going on a Tobin Music course to learn new exciting teaching skills
7. Going on a conducting course – I am a confident conductor of choirs, I enjoy leading a choir, and the choir members learn effectively from me and enjoy singing the songs I bring
8. I am able to stand in front of a large group with presence and authority, so that everyone feels safe and in good hands
9. I am practicing sight singing every day
10. A winter walk in the South Downs
11. Lots of spring/ summer/ autumn walks in the South Downs
12. Get a drivers license
13. Go on a ‘proper’ holiday with my man
14. Learn more English and Danish folk songs
15. Teach a good, enjoyable course to my new EFL (English as a foreign language) group
16. Create a good ‘final project’ with my EFL group, so they feel they achieved something together in their music lessons!
17. Be more brave in my relationship ‘speak the truth faster’ – and ask more questions, rather than making assumptions
18. Explore and accept/ integrate some of my ‘shadows’ with the help of my therapist.
19. Get better at playing the piano
20. Get better at playing the guitar
21. Get better at playing recorder
22. Find time to actually practice vocal technique
23. Write a musical
24. Crochet beautiful tops and accessories for myself and for presents
25. Create my own funky and fun/stylish crochet patterns
26. Bake some amazing cakes
27. Try some interesting new, healthy recipes
28. Make sure I spend some time outdoors every day
29. Sow curtains for front room
30. Have thriving plants in my window box
31. Grow a few vegetables/herbs in the flat come spring
32. Make ‘healthy sweets’ from fruit/veg/dried fruit
33. Write some beautiful heartfelt songs
34. Perform with my man singing harmony vocals for him
35. Get permanent employment at the school I work in, or something even better for me
36. Learn about the healing property of speech
37. Learn in depth about the temperaments as per Steiner pedagogy
38. Find ways of integrating what I’ve learned from mainstream teacher training with the Steiner curriculum
39. Make videos of all the rhythm exercises I work with and share them on my teaching site
40. Get my own blog for all my non teaching musings
41. Have a great relationship with my students (Mutual respect, productive, everyone feels safe in the room and can share their ideas)
42. Get regular massages
43. Do yoga regularly
44. Share creative moments with others (music/ craft/ art shared)
45. Go and visit my friends in Copenhagen
46. Go to some Latin American countries
47. See more of the world
48. See more of England
49. Make funky crochet cushion covers
50. Make soft toys (sow and or crochet)
51. Make new clothes from old (alterations- sowing)
52. Attend crochet/ knit evening with other creative people
53. Visit Lewes folk club again, bringing both some English and Danish folk
54. Visit the other folk night in Lewes
55. Make sure I get to see ‘my girls’ in London and Scotland
56. Visit Findhorn again
57. Do ‘experience week’ in Findhorn
58. See more of Laurence
59. Be more in touch with Eva
60. Be regularly in touch with my mum, dad and sister
61. Have my mum and dad visiting me
62. Visit my grandmother on my own
63. See some great concerts in London/ Brighton and Lewes
64. See some theatre and or dance performances
65. Have a little more money than I need to spend every month
66. That more of my partner’s music will be used for films etc that pays!
67. That people come and use my partner’s studio and his skills as engineer/and arranger
68. That my partner gets some guitar students
69. That my partner and I learn to tackle stress better, and communicate in a more open, loving way
70. A juicer
71. A really good hover
72. That I manage to exercise daily
73. Feeling fit
74. Recording more with my partner
75. Meet with the other trainee teachers outside of school time
76. Submit a crochet pattern to Interweave crochet