.Watching the resurgence of the vinyl experience come back to mainstream spoke to my cassette tape and CD upbringing. Being a romantic by nature, any chance to luxuriate in the knowledge of art, be it food, dance, music, film, plays, atmosphere, nature - any of it, I will take it.

Since purchasing a flueance turntable, I have followed a few values to keep this hobby intentional.

One New Vinyl a Season.

As with anything in this day and age, it would be easy to begin collecting as many records as fast as possible for the display recognition, as well as the clout, but for me, it’s imperative that each added record has meaning to me, merit musically, adds to my atmosphere and creates conversation. Adding only one every season allows me to think each new one through and enjoy the luxury of each new listen.
***gifted vinyls & an annual Christmas album notwithstanding

The Album must be an EXPERIENCE.

Each new album must be musically and or lyrically an impactful experience. We all have individual tastes in music, and what speaks to one of us may not speak to all of us, but it must at least speak to me and have a throughline that one can follow within the whole album.

First Listening Sessions.

Upon purchase of a new album, the first listen is accompanied by a beverage (whiskey or wine are my favourites), a sit-down, and reading along with the music of the lyrics. These nights open up much discussion about art, life, love and all the natural and raw things music often finds a way to discuss and explore.

As children, we naturally live by our values.

We live emotionally open, follow our passions, explore new ideas, and ultimately seek connection with those we love and care for.
We don't fight or argue this with ourselves.
We simply do.

Why is this so hard to do as we grow up?

Our true sense of self and our true values become intertwined with expectations, societal norms, financial constraints and ultimately 'fears'.
Fear of not being taken seriously, fear of rejection, fear of missing out, fear of losing our value.
Yet…

How much value can we genuinely hold if we are not living to the true values of our inner selves?

Begin broadly.

1. What do you value in life as a whole?

• Moving my body

• Spending time with loved ones

• Reading

• Nature

• Meaningful work

• Eating well (both for health & enjoyment)

  2. Categorize into daily, monthly, and seasonal values.

How do these values show up in your routine? Do you value reading every day or on the weekends? Do you want to be in nature once a week or just once a month? Do you have hobbies as values that may fit best into autumn? (Puzzles, dance class, baking?)

3. Expand.

Fill out your days, weeks, and seasonal categories. It helps to put all the possible values down and edit after. Often, we don’t know what we value or have as an expectation/routine for ourselves until we fully meditate on and see it all in front of us.
Other values could be: keeping up on chores, storytime with the kids, date nights, and getting to work on time.

4. Reflect and Edit

As you live out your daily/weekly values, edit along the way. See what's working and what isn't. Often we expect too much from ourselves and must be humble enough to realize we have bogged ourselves down with too many expectations, either from others or ourselves. Be realistic. How much can you fit in a day? How much can you honour during a week or month? And for what you value, you may find that you can move that value from a daily routine to something less often or vice versa. Enjoy learning about yourself along the way.

Maybe there is something you thought you valued that you don't. Perhaps you find that what you value during some parts of the year, you don't value other times. Maybe your values change depending on where you live, your job, etc. Be at peace with course correcting and making adjustments.

5. Lean into your values.

If you change them quarterly or monthly, let yourself enjoy the values you create and meditate on them daily.

*Some practical applications:
I keep a list of my daily, weekly, and seasonal (currently, it's Autumn) values in my notes app. I use it as a guide as I move throughout the day, week and month. I put a star beside the ones I have honoured, reminding me of the ones I have ignored or am realizing may not fit during this season of my life.

Kaitlyn Adair from Rebel Film Productions graciously invited me on her series ADHMe to discuss the in’s and out’s of self regulation and what it looks like to be productive.

Ep.2 Description
ADHMe episode two: Productivity

I talk with @byamygrace about productivity, tuning into self, and how to have one seriously organized week!

Amy’s self-regulation practices:
-Monday to Friday:
Wake up at 6am (have everything prepared the night before so wake up is cared for)
Block the day into 4 hour chunks and theme the blocks in a way you like. (Amy’s were glow up, production, creativity, and connection).
0 inbox-organize emails

-Weekend:
24 hours unplugged, free time

-Once during the week: write night, make it a thing.

-Be present to self. Reflect, consider, action.

Link Here <—-

my desk this summer it seems….

I am starting to see a pattern.

In life there are seasons of action, seasons of growth and seasons of waiting.

There are also seasons of constant inturruptions.

I would say that for me, 2020 thus far has been all of that and more.

Most recently, a season of waiting and constant interruptions.

A laptop needing up to two weeks of service, a trip to the E.R., recovering from Kidney stones, scheduling major life changes and appointments (all good changes), and least of all, a cat who most certainly wants to sleep on ones work chair at all hours of the day while one tries to make a borrowed laptop fill the void. (if you do creative work, you know that software, subscription services are all part of ones daily routine. Trying to make do without those programs is a bit of a slog. )

It can feel infuriating when you realize time is being wasted while you wait for things to resolve. A kidney stone to pass, pain to recede, paperwork to go through, a laptop to be fixed and yes, even a house tiger to admit defeat in who gets the chair as she ‘slomps’ away with a chirp of dissapointment.

It can also be an opportunity.

To enjoy life, to think more, and connect with both colleagues and friends alike in a new way.

Things I have enjoyed in the waiting:

Reading. Having the library open again has given me new reading enjoyment and movtivation.

Routine Skype calls | A colleague / good friend of mine started a bi weekly Monday chat routine and it has been huge in helping us suss out our creative energy, thoughts and plans for our projects.

Reordering my thoughts | Forced time away, even if scattered has a way of expanding the mind outside the box. Re-imagining what is, to what could be.

So while I am impatiently waiting for my own laptop, for our life changes to occur and in a time when so much seems to be ‘up in the air’, I will be working on my ability to enjoy the process of the waiting and find growth here. Be it in a hospital bed, at the beach, or simply… admitting defeat and letting the house tiger sleep peacefully while I drag the old borrowed laptop to the floor by the rotating fan.

“In every job that must be done,
there is an element of fun.
You find the fun and Snap!
The job’s a game.” - Mary Poppins

I didn’t realize that as we introduced our almost five-year-old to the musical Mary Poppins that the songs would become something of a little lesson to our hearts. Finding our lives restricted and altered by a death in the family and COVID-19 pandemic shutting our provinces and cities down on unprecedented levels.

There is an air of unknowns and worries. There are also many things that I am doing to further my work.

I have made a few commitments this spring to help me with the honouring of and getting a handle on specific projects I have on the go.

Getting up at six am four mornings a week and writing for two hours.
Learning how to use a Sony A77.
Learning how to use Final Cut Pro editing software.
Setting aside time for the creative muscle to be challenged differently: daily walks, ukulele and piano practice, weekly baking.

If there were an overarching intention for this new season of Spring 2020, it would be to embrace my love for creativity. To renew how I interact with it in all, it’s forms. In all it’s expressions.

“The honey bee that fetch the nectar
from the flowers to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro
Because they take a little nip
From every flower that they sip
And hence
They find
Their task is not a grind.” - Mary Poppins