Dear Friday, 25.May.2012

It’s nearly Saturday, and I have a few thoughts to share; longer than a tweet-sized letter this time.

One of my favorite sights: Used-books stall in the heart of the city

The other day I overheard an elderly couple talking on the bus. I was standing next to them, waiting to arrive at the next bus stop so I could step off.
The man was telling the woman how today’s youth doesn’t read anymore. How he’d stay at home when he was a teenager and young man just so he could finish "just that last paragraph".

I can relate. I smiled.

He noticed, then asked me "Why are you smiling, miss?"
I answered that I wasn’t listening on purpose, but liked that he cares; and that some young people still read – like myself, I just finished book no. 12 for 2012; already started two other ones (no. 13 & 14).
He was impressed and told me to keep at it. I thank him, and said I will.
I saw him on the bus again today. We said hello and "talked books" like we were old friends.

I love how books can bring people of all ages together!

 

What are you reading today? (Optional: How manieth book for 2012?)

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.

Dear Tuesday, 15.May.2012

To me, Spring tastes like: fresh salads, grilled yumminess, strawberry soup and avocado deviled eggs.

What does it taste like to you?

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.

Dear Saturday, 05.May.2012

Dear Saturday,

So far, we seem to not be too fond of each other today.
But let’s try and make the rest of it work.

Love, Estrella

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.