Note to new readers: This post is part of my 30 Days of Writing Practice. I am allowing blocks of 10, 20 or 30 minutes of my day solely to putting my swirling thoughts on paper. No going back to edit which will only serve to stop the stream of consciousness. My writing buddy Kat and I (Wruddy for short), we call it writing from the heart. Please read my introduction for the full story.
7.01am
In bed. Early morning when my head is the clearest.
It’s a Saturday. My bed is warm. I don’t want to get up because I know it’s cold cold downstairs. Wookie. My very Wookie is going to work today. He doesn’t normally work overtime, or on weekends. Today is one of those rare quarterly events at work. Some sort of server maintenance that had to be done regularly. I decide to do free flowing today. No set topic. Just turned the 20 minute timer and see where the fingers and mind take me. If I write something remotely interesting then I am a happy camper.
I pause. Not knowing what to say next. I decide to get up and look out the window. Wow. There’s a streak of orange sunrise above the house across the road. It’s going to be another fine day. It’s a lazy weekend today. I have to take the boys to get their haircut done this afternoon. Oh. I have to cleanup the 4th bedroom because my dearest mother is arriving back in Sydney next Saturday. Her bed is full of my crap. Stuff I need to sell on eBay. I had an eBay phase you know. Sometime back in 2005-2006. It was an obsession at that time. I started selling unwanted stuff around the house. Most notable was the kids’ playpen. Not used, mind you, because Gabo hated it. The first time we settled him into it, age 1, he climbed out. The playpen sat in storage for ages, waiting for my no.1 gal to have a baby so I can pass it on to her. Alas, I couldn’t wait any longer. I sold it on eBay with no drama. The buyer came to collect it at home. Easy peasy. The playpen wasn’t the first item I sold though. The first item was one of the boys’ soccer boots which saw only one soccer season. I put up a used soccer boots with shin guards for auction. I cannot believe that it sold for $25. I may have paid $50 originally for it. That got me hooked. I sold used kids’ clothing and anything I can see around the house. An old bike, old toys, anything I don’t use anymore. That frenzied obsessive selling phase I need to revisit. Pronto. I’ve dragged my feet for too long now. Because I have accumulated enough junk and used stuff that someone else will be able to use.
Phases. I have plenty of those. I flit from one interest to another. It’s all good. It’s part of learning and going through life’s Highway 101. Let me think. I had the gardening phase. We built three garden beds in the backyard and I bought books and tools. And I planted vegetables. I had the running phase. 3 annual City2Surfs so far. A fourth 14K funrun this August. I find that my gardening suffered (I potter around the garden on Sunday afternoons) because I have to train on Sunday afternoons too. There are other things I do on Saturday afternoons. I was in quandary. Should I garden or should I run. I did both. But running was a priority. The vegetable garden suffered. Heck, all my plants suffered. I made peace with that. Because I can only do so much in a weekend.
Ariel and I had the stock options phase. Recently, we had a blogging phase. Oh that phase was so much fun. We had plenty of website ideas. I’ve written it down on our whiteboard. Ha. I’ll take a picture of it. He setup his adoboanco. I setup my MGB (myGloryBox). MGB was originally simply Glory Box but someone else already owned that domain. Good thing I had the foresight to add “my” instead of finding a new name. I wanted to form a community website called Fil-Aussie Mums. Because there simply isn’t one. Not that I know of anyway. Just Pinoy mums. Ideas. Exchanges. School stuff. Migrant support. I also wanted to build the special needs website for Special Needs Filipino families. A Sydney getaways website. A property for newbies website. We attended workshops and paid seminar fees to learn how to blog. Learn. Learn. Learn. Ariel created his Unix tips website called Solaris Commands. It was so simple. All he did was cut and paste his actual admin codes and that was his post. It became his dumping ground of notes. He bought a domain name for it. There was also the family trip to California called fromlosangelestosanfrancisco. Ha! I loved what Ariel did to this site. I provided content, he built the site. Heck. I loved every single day of that trip. I can relive it anytime.
And share with you. I will not get the joy of sharing if I simply wrote in my journal. I have a great desire to share what I know. For what? To inspire? To educate or to entertain? Show and tell? All of the above. If I appear to brag somehow, I only do it to push and motivate that it is possible for you too. Most of all I get a certain kick when I get complimented and thanked. A rush that I don’t get from any other source. And do you know when I hear that I have inspired someone, I am motivated to give more. It’s the circle of giving. I decide to embrace this part of me wholeheartedly; get rid of all self-doubt and holding back. This year, 2013.
There. It’s out. I bare my heart and soul. I am a share whore. Ok let’s tone it down. I am a share junkie. Make no mistake. What I write here in MGB is simply the ones I choose to share and MGB is not all of me. On top of that I get to write. Write. It is probably what I do best right now. Right here. For 18 days. I am currently going through a writing phase.
So, phases, my darlings. We all have those. The key? Ride it. Ride the phases like there’s no tomorrow. Ride it as far as it takes you. And why the heck not. This is what my Wruddy tells me. Something that I have been doing all my life but not really seeing it for what it is. Don’t resist. There could be a pot of gold at the end of the ride. And if there isn’t? You will have learned a thing or two. Better yet. You will have lived. So, my angels. Live extraordinary lives. Open doors. Get out of your comfort zone. Ride that effing bike that has been gathering dust in your garage. If you feel inspiration to draw or sing, go for it. Life is too short to merely…exist. Read everyday. Learn new words by reading that free newspaper at work. Get some sun, let’s go sago na!
Learn always learn. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals.
Never stop exploring <<< Use this mantra for the rest of your life.
From my heart to yours,
ChaR-G
This is one of my very favourites. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians’ What I Am. She sings “I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know if you know what I mean.”
Anna says
Oh Char! I love how you’re opening all these experiences and inspiring people. Yep. Phases are like that. They come and go. I had an eBay phase too. I also had a thought about supporting migrant Filipino families in terms of the where/what/etc. Why don’t we do that together? A Sydney project. Anyways. I need to be like you. Let’s go sago!