The Art of being Organised

Image courtesy of www.present&correct.com Over the last while I have slowly, and I mean very very slowly, been getting things organised again. It feels like it all just slid away over the last few months and despite some half attempts to put it right it just never felt sorted. So today, having found myself awake since 4am due to fits of coughing as a sticky cold and throat infection loses it's grip, I am finding an energy returning. It feels alien, and yet it feels oh so good. So one of the first things I tend to do in a bid to organise my space, is to change my space. This can have mixed results and takes effort. Luckily the heavy lifting and moving about occurred before the cold, so at least that moving chore is over and done with. What did get left aside was a massive pile of papers, tons of pencils and oversized folders with no home. As an artist, it is amazing how much paper you can accumulate and it really takes time to go through and edit it down properly. Some bits of paper are throw away scribbles and warm ups, but there are some gems that help you see your progress and development, and my version of tidy can sometimes mean chucking everything. In my early morning internet browse I came across this site called www.present&correct.com. It was like a rainbow shone straight into my room and onto the screen. It is a nerdtastic site for all things to do with being organised. One item in particular is what has sparked this new revolution to set my files in order. It is the tiered pencil case which holds 4 levels of compartments and keeps things in their place. It spoke to me and reminded me how much calmer and balanced I am when my space is in order. That goes for the files on my computer too, they're in need of a revamp and the hard drive wouldn't mind the clean up probably. So in light of my return to some energy, I am aiming to clean, organise and put files in order. Perhaps it might be good use of your time to look around and see what mess you're putting up with. What drain on your energy is occurring that could be fixed with some time and attention? What type of space are you working in right now? Is it clean, clear and uncluttered? Do you know what's on your PC? All I do know is that there is an art to being organised, and it is worth practising it.

Holistic Fair, Kettle Hotel, Swords

Just a heads up that Katie Burtons Flower Remedies will be featuring at the above event, and will be promoting a range of remedies as well as other products infused with various remedies. I highly recommend that you take some time to go visit this if you can, as it looks like it's going to be a really varied and interesting fair. You can check out her facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flower-Remedies/143670662390938 and her website is www.flowerremedies.ie (for some reason bloggers links are not working so please copy and paste links into your browser)

What are you forgetting about yourself?

As we get older and more responsibility appears at our feet, it is very easy to start sacrificing aspects of what you do or enjoy in order to get other tasks done. I can only imagine what this must feel like having a family to contend with as childrens needs will almost always come first.
One thing that interests me however, is how certain aspects of ourselves are dropped without us even knowing it. When was the last time you read a good book or listened to your favourite music? How much would you consider this a frivolous time waste or a luxury of spending time in a way that you don't have?
It amazes me how many times we allow this to happen, until one day we wake up so to speak, and find ourselves with a lost sense of self. It happens. It then takes effort to revisit what made us excited about the world, and in doing this we see how many small pockets of joy we discarded in order to look after someone else or just get the job done.
I've attached a link which reminded me very strongly of the importance of retaining aspects of ourselves that bring us joy. In this case it is music, and the simple act of hearing some songs that were from a mans youth, puts him back in that state of happiness.
It's very easy to let things slide and give up joyous things unconsciously. It's even more important to salvage these jems and ensure they're part of your every day being so you remember who you really are.
LINK - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDXuCE7LeQ (and if that doesn't work check out the side bar for the youtube video of 'Old Man in nursing home reacts to music from his era'.