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Start Before You’re Ready

Sep5

It’s been 5 weeks since I returned from my 4-week long West Coast tour. INSPIRATION OVERLOAD. I had so much clarification while I was on my trip. The world seemed new, fresh and optimism poured over me. I felt like I was in college again.

I had the idea that I would write and draw sooooooooooo much while there, but like usual, I didn’t make the time. There was too much going on. And living in the moment felt really refreshing. HOWEVER, I did jot down lots and lots of notes, and they are really helping me stay focused now that I’m back in the daily routine.Rereading them helps me access those feelings of hope and clarity that come so easily when you’re gazing at stars in Northern California, but not so easily when you’re trying to cram in 1001 to-do’s while your baby takes a nap. 

I look at my post-it note (titled NEW MISSIONS) every day when I wake up and every day before I go to bed, just to check in and remind myself where I’m going. And little by little I am working on each one of them.

NEW MISSIONS:
1) Start before I’m ready (That’s what I’m doing right now! I keep saying I want to wait till everything is perfect before I start working on my blog and website, but I just keep procrastinating. So here it is in all it’s imperfect glory.)

2) Surround myself with energy-boosting people, find “my” people. And the opposite – stop wasting time with energy-draining people. This applies to online and in real life.

3) If something isn’t working try doing the opposite or stop doing it. (I read the idea of doing the opposite onGretchen Rubin’s site. It’s AMAZING how much sense this makes. I can’t believe I never thought of problem solving this way before.)

4) Do more energy-boosting activities.

5) Get a house cleaner at least 1-2 times a month (This will open up more time for other activities and also give me peace of mind. I realize that having a messy house affects my mood. I really hate having a messy house. Maybe because I work from home? I’ve tried not worrying about it but that strategy hasn’t worked for me.)

6) Invest in my skills and my business

7) Bicoastal +1 (Being bicoastal is not really a new mission for me. But I have realized I would also like to add one more place a year to spend time exploring.)

(A few of these ideas first came to me from http://www.blacksburgbelle.com – I love her thoughts on time management and building a passionate-filled business.)

Monkey Loves Ice Cream – Limited Edition Gocco Print

Aug9
Monkey Loves Ice Cream print from La Sirena
Story behind the print:

NYC July weather was reminding me of five years ago when I was performing in a music and dance festival in Nepal. It was pretty much the same sweaty heat, but we had to wear costumes and stage makeup. Ugh. My friend and fellow dancer, Trisha, told me “just relax into it, you can’t fight the heat.” I kept recalling and repeating those words over and over in my head.

Because of the heat wave I was thinking about Nepal every day. It was an amazing trip and experience that now seems like a dream. One of my favorite surreal moments was visiting the ancient Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. There were monkeys running around all over. But not just monkeys, I was told they were holy monkeys. AND not just holy monkeys, but MONKEYS EATING ICE CREAM. But not just that, they were monkeys eating ice cream OUT OF A CONE! I don’t know why but this totally blew my mind and kinda freaked me out. Maybe it’s cause they looked a little too human and it seemed so strange to be happening right in the middle of this beautiful ancient temple. Anyways, I made a sketch of it shortly after I returned and now I’ve finally made a print.

Want your very own monkey? Catch him here.