Imperfections

I really liked Carolyn Rubenstein’s blog post on how things don’t have to be perfect. I immediately wanted to add to the list. But then I decided to set it aside, save the link, and take a stab at after a little while, when I no longer recall what Carolyn wrote.

Things may still coincide, but here’s my own list of what doesn’t need to be perfect in my life. Easy to keep in mind, harder to accept. But I’m working on it.

 

It doesn’t have to be perfect…

… your dreams.

… your writing.

… your decisions.

… your love.

… your outfit.

… your advices.

… your pictures.

… your art.

… your thoughts.

… your feelings.

… your words.

… your relationships.

… your timing.

… your beauty.

… your days, your weeks, your years – your life.

 

What about you? What doesn’t need to be perfect in your life right now?

Money resentments to let go of

I had to think long and hard to answer this question. And I’m unsure of the “right” answer. But I resent high prices, and unappreciative people.

Guess one of my problems is that I’m always struggling financially. And as such, offer low prices for my crafts. I’m always weary of raising the price of refrigerator magnets for example because I figure people won’t buy them.

In April, I felt courageous and told clients how much their order messed up my time off “regular” work as I had to work on this freelance wedding favor order. One little heart took 15-20 minutes (not to mention the 30+ minutes of drying) and I was at it all day long Monday-next Saturday, I might as well have slept in my kitchen. It was beyond stressful!

I felt courageous and told the clients I wouldn’t mind if they reconsidered and paid full-price for the order (I have a 10% off policy for orders above 50 pieces and theirs was 120 – I add extras too in case anything should happen to them). They didn’t care.
But I felt so much better from asking. I’d rather regret doing something than not having tried at all!

So now, I went back and updated the prices of my crafts. I made sure I raised them high enough to repay my efforts. Yet low enough for people to still buy them

 

Now it’s your turn. What money resentments do you have…that you could let go of?

 

*Blog post inspired by this question from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.

How do you say what you do?

I really like the bio from my blog, but that was easy to write. Emphasis on the “write” part there. For me, everything is easier in writing. I’ve been attentive at this for a few weeks, and am finally starting to adjust my way of answering the question “What do you do for a living?”.

I generally said “I craft, tutor, babysit (and write).”

Now wouldn’t the following sound so much better?

“(I used to be a floral artist – and still am at heart.)
Currently, when I’m not, as some phrase it, “wasting time” writing, my day job consists of tutoring English, running my freelance plaster crafting business with an emphasis on wedding favor orders. I am on the writer’s staff of Milliver’s Travels, and an Associate Editor of Friday Flash Dot Org. To keep myself buys in the afternoons, I also babysit a little girl.”

(Actually, it does sound sooo much better. I tried it out when I went to a middle-school reunion a couple of weeks ago.)

A little bit of tweaking to that first answer and no one suspects how low my actual income is

 

Your turn, cause I’m really curious: How do you say what you do?

 

*Blog post inspired by this question from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.

My favorite piece of advice that I’ve been given

Hmmm… advice, both asked for and unrequested, comes along on an almost daily basis.

From the most “basic” grandma-type of advice which I generally cringe from after hearing it three times a day, to the most eloquently phrased (let’s use the following, for the lack of a better word) professional advice we read on the internet and from books.

My own personal favorite? I think it’s quite a few (hundred and beyond that) people’s favorite. It comes from Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird” and reads:

“What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here – and, by extension, what we’re supposed to be writing.”

It is the best advice I could’ve gotten at the time of my reading her book last year. So much so, that I talked about it before, in my guest post “Life and writing are messy – but you’ve gotta love the challenge!” on Fear of Writing.

And you know what? I love it so much, because it’s an evergreen piece of advice!

 

*Blog post inspired by this question from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.

My relationship to excitement

Oh, yes. I count down. Lay out different outfits until finding the best choice. Pack my bags ahead of time. Make lists. And I imagine everything in great detail. 

My enthusiasm for upcoming things is quite boundless. Excitement does mean more fun, more to be excited about. However, I try to keep myself in check to a (at least a very) small degree.

Guess I’m just afraid of disappointment…

 

What about you? What is your relationship to excitement?

 

*Blog post inspired by this question from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.

What would you like to stop doing?

In no particular order, I’d like to stop:

• procrastinating
• making excuses for not creating more time for theater and opera, walks, reading, writing and everything else that I love
• worrying about anything and everything that doesn’t have a good reason to support said worrying
• putting myself down if some items on my to-do list don’t get crossed off
• staying up too late – no matter what the reason
• losing patience
• doing things for others when it’s not my “job” to and it isn’t even appreciated
• letting stuff pile up until not having done them drives me crazy
• underselling myself
• letting small, unimportant things upset me

To actually stop doing them will take a while, but I think I’m on the right track.

Your turn, what would you like to stop doing?

 

*Blog post inspired by this question from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.

Revolutionizing, burnt boats and my super hero name

What do you want to revolutionize?

Will have to agree with Danielle, whose question inspired this answer, and admit that my heart has a long list of things that I would like someone else to revolutionize. I won’t go into it all now, that doesn’t get anything done anyway.

As for what I’d personally like to revolutionize? My answer to that would be: my surroundings, and I’ll do that by simply being here.

Because the truth is, my being here is a revolution in and of itself after nearly being denied staying on this earth a couple of years ago.

~~~

What boat do you need to burn? a testimony to your future

I need to burn the boat of relationships past.

It was a sturdy, reliable vessel. It brought me to where I am today even if the waters tested its solidity and efficiency through more storms than I would have cared for. We’ve weathered through them all – family disputes, failed romances, toxic friendships. It has taught me so much through the entire journey!

It also brought me to where I am today. And as far as I can tell right now, this is where I want to be. So I am lighting a match, with gratitude.

~~~

What’s your super hero name?

My superhero name is Estrella Azul.

It is my pen name, a name I chose for myself in 2007, a name I love. A name which consists of the things I love; stars and the color blue. Since I received my blue starfish pendant it also represents my love of the sea, the ocean, the beach.

My special power is love, I think, that is my default setting. As for what else I could say about it all, I think my warning label sums it up very well.

 

 

*Blog post inspired by this, and a few past week’s questions from Danielle LaPorte’s The Burning Questions Series.