Musings and creative projects

'This is my life'

2010-01-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

‘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 :)

2010-01-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

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?

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.
Using and developing skills in composing/ arranging
Freedom to experiment
I am an able and confident sight-singer
Opportunities to perform (singing)
Going on a Tobin Music course to learn new exciting teaching skills
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
I am able to stand in front of a large group with presence and authority, so that everyone feels safe and in good hands
I am practicing sight singing every day
A winter walk in the South Downs
Lots of spring/ summer/ autumn walks in the South Downs
Get a drivers license
Go on a ‘proper’ holiday with my man
Learn more English and Danish folk songs
Teach a good, enjoyable course to my new EFL (English as a foreign language) group
Create a good ‘final project’ with my EFL group, so they feel they achieved something together in their music lessons!
Be more brave in my relationship ‘speak the truth faster’ – and ask more questions, rather than making assumptions
Explore and accept/ integrate some of my ‘shadows’ with the help of my therapist.
Get better at playing the piano
Get better at playing the guitar
Get better at playing recorder
Find time to actually practice vocal technique
Write a musical
Crochet beautiful tops and accessories for myself and for presents
Create my own funky and fun/stylish crochet patterns
Bake some amazing cakes
Try some interesting new, healthy recipes
Make sure I spend some time outdoors every day
Sow curtains for front room
Have thriving plants in my window box
Grow a few vegetables/herbs in the flat come spring
Make ‘healthy sweets’ from fruit/veg/dried fruit
Write some beautiful heartfelt songs
Perform with my man singing harmony vocals for him
Get permanent employment at the school I work in, or something even better for me
Learn about the healing property of speech
Learn in depth about the temperaments as per Steiner pedagogy
Find ways of integrating what I’ve learned from mainstream teacher training with the Steiner curriculum
Make videos of all the rhythm exercises I work with and share them on my teaching site
Get my own blog for all my non teaching musings
Have a great relationship with my students (Mutual respect, productive, everyone feels safe in the room and can share their ideas)
Get regular massages
Do yoga regularly
Share creative moments with others (music/ craft/ art shared)
Go and visit my friends in Copenhagen
Go to some Latin American countries
See more of the world
See more of England
Make funky crochet cushion covers
Make soft toys (sow and or crochet)
Make new clothes from old (alterations- sowing)
Attend crochet/ knit evening with other creative people
Visit Lewes folk club again, bringing both some English and Danish folk
Visit the other folk night in Lewes
Make sure I get to see ‘my girls’ in London and Scotland
Visit Findhorn again
Do ‘experience week’ in Findhorn
See more of Laurence
Be more in touch with Eva
Be regularly in touch with my mum, dad and sister
Have my mum and dad visiting me
Visit my grandmother on my own
See some great concerts in London/ Brighton and Lewes
See some theatre and or dance performances
Have a little more money than I need to spend every month
That more of my partner’s music will be used for films etc that pays!
That people come and use my partner’s studio and his skills as engineer/and arranger
That my partner gets some guitar students
That my partner and I learn to tackle stress better, and communicate in a more open, loving way
A juicer
A really good hover
That I manage to exercise daily
Feeling fit
Recording more with my partner
Meet with the other trainee teachers outside of school time
Submit a crochet pattern to Interweave crochet