March, 2010

What would you like to know?

Have you met Marisa? She is the super-talented artist behind Creative Thursday and the Life in the Fishbowl ecourse, and is undoubtedly one of the most genuine people i have ever met. After a few Skype dates we finally met in person at Squam last September, and as time has gone on we’ve discovered we were born 24 hours apart in February 1973 – how nuts is that?

What we also share is a crazy passion for our online classes and a commitment to making them the best they can possibly be. Marisa and I both get a lot of email queries from peeps asking our advice about e-courses, so we’ve decided to work together and create something we hope will be really useful: a downloadable podcast on how to create and run an online class with integrity & passion. There will also be a full transcript of the podcast to print out and keep and the whole thing will be available for purchase later this year.

Marisa and her partner Sean are about to spend a month in Paris, but before they get there she’ll be swinging by my place to get to work on our project – and this is why i’m typing these words: if you’ve been thinking about creating your own course, what would you like us to cover in the podcast? What would be most useful to you? What do you want to know about running an online course?

We’ll be putting everything we know into this package and we want to make sure we’re addressing the questions you’d like answered, so please send ‘em over! Drop me a line, including the subject header ‘aquarian questions’ :)

Thanks so much!

March, 2010

How to fall in love with you: step three

This next step is a timely one for me as I've been needing to actively do it the last few days, which in turn has been a good reminder that it's all very well me talking about how to do this stuff, but walking the talk is still a daily practice. Because i don't think we ever really get to a point where we love & support ourselves, no questions asked, no more doubts, tra la la the world is a magical place filled with rainbows and unicorns.

Some days the world is a crappy place. Some days it just sucks to be breathing the same old air.

Despite the great news from the Impossible Project, this week i have been on a downer (still am, actually), the unfortunate combination of some end-of-project blues, hormones, bad weather and some unexpected criticism which i wholeheartedly take on the chin while also feeling it as a punch in the gut. There are some days when i wish i could 'go to work' and then come home, because right now work is my whole world – there is no separation between where i end and where work starts. It's all the same thing. Which is not healthy, i know, but it is what it is. All of this is so important to me; my work IS me; it's an emotional thing.

Anyways.

When the blues hit it's even more imperative to be kind to myself, particularly when it's so tempting to kick myself while i'm down. I mean, i'm already down there – why not heap some more doubt and insecurity and crap on my head? Some days i really do have to drag myself from breakfast to dinner to bed to just get through the day in one piece – who has the energy for that happy skippy claptrap i see on the internet? But when i can muster some kindness, i try to make an effort, however small, to do something nice for me… because it does help, even when i am at my most resistant.

Over the years I've watched friends with kids keep treats and games in their bag so when they're away from home there's always something to keep the children occupied and comforted; as adults we need the equivalent of this. Our own bag of comfort. In mine I have: books that lift me up, new songs to be found on iTunes, sofa + blanket + DVD, a hot bath, a Chinese take-away delivered to my front door (did this last night and it did help), my journal where i can rant or sob or attempt gratitude lists. I also have friends and a sister I can email or call and talk it through with, but when they are not around, i only have me to turn to, and if i'm finding it hard to sit through the fear/discomfort/pain/upset i let myself switch off with a film and a gigantic cup of tea. I let myself be distracted. Because as much as i want to always be brave and feel any shittyness i am feeling, sometimes it's okay to just push it to one side and let it run out of steam on its own.

Sometimes being your own best friend, aka falling in love with yourself, is knowing when it's okay to just let yourself off the hook, being kind and gentle, especially when you feel broken. And an early night helps too, because nine times out of ten things look a bit better in the morning.

Ps. no baby yet. He is running late!