I bought a chalkboard mug, and thought Hmm, how could I make good use of this? And thus was Tea Chat born! I hope you guys will join me on occasion in a random little tea break chat sesh, and I welcome your thoughts on topics we can talk about -- but today, we're chatting Inspiration and Motivation. See you in the comments!
(And you'd better believe when I twee.t this out, I WILL be using the hashtag #TeaChatwithBookRat. ^_^ )
I've always been passionate about books and anything to do with reading. It makes my heart happy and after a lot of soul searching and weighing options, I decided to become a librarian late last year (when I originally went to school to become an ESL teacher). But aside from books, I'm interested in drawing, anime/manga and music. When I was young, I fancied the idea of becoming a cartoonist but I don't have the ability to create pictures in my mind and then draw it--but I am very good at copying lol. I've also played the violin on and off for years; I'm no Paganini but I'm decent and I'm hoping to eventually pick up piano at some point in my life. I've also dabbled in writing poetry when I was younger but after reading so many books, I'm considering actually sitting my butt down and writing out the stories in my head. However, I struggle with that when real world things like bills (and ok, netflix and youtube) keep intervening. As for motivation, I'm very visual so calenders and marking things off or using stickers keeps me going. Have you heard of the calender/sticker method that Victoria Schwab uses? ---> http://ow.ly/KkGnT I also found a blog post on Erin Bow's site where she mentions "don't break the chain" (basically you write for 15 min every day) --> http://ow.ly/KkGyD
I hope you don't mind that I linked these posts :) but I find these types of set ups really helpful and I get a sense of accomplishment when I cross something off a list or put a check mark :D Anyway, I loved this video! I happened upon it just as I was drinking my cup of tea so it was serendipitous ^_^
A good chunk of my friends work as librarians and I have definitely thought about going that route. Still might, even if only part time. I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wanted to learn violin, and it is still on my bucket list of things to do. An yes, I'm very familiar with the sticker method, and I've been meaning to take it up for awhile now. I think something visual like that would be really helpful, AND it's like a little reward to yourself each day when you get to put your stickers one. lol!
Oh yay! I bought Fedora a chalkboard mug two Christmases ago, so I could leave him love notes Monday mornings when I go to work (and he's still asleep). And practice my horrible art skills. ;) (also, fellow good tea drinker, have you tried Harney & Sons? We adore their tea, all of it, and highly recommend it)
Believe me, you are NOT alone in too-many-interests-not-enough-time side of life. I think we all "suffer" from that. Past passions for me: stamping art, cross stitch, writing, costuming, archery, LARP, SCA, renaissance faires, history, orca whales, crochet, video gaming, baking. Current passions: Uhmm....reading. And making mineral makeup. As it turns out, owning a business and having a full-time job take over one's life. I miss writing, but I don't know how to get back into it. Help? I miss making things with my hands (aside from Printcess makeup), and regularly baking and such. So the timing of this Tea Chat is pretty perfect.
And I agree completely with jovial competition! If there's a goal I need to reach that others are also chugging towards, I almost always complete the project. That's honestly the ONLY way I've found to complete a project- I've tried small goals (which only works for me with writing, oddly enough) and peer pressure and taskmasterness and I'm way too good at justifying slacking off for that to work. I try to stick to the old "how do you eat an elephant" adage, so I don't feel guilty if I only get a small amount of a project done at one time, but keeping up the motivation to finish a thing (aside from the guilt I always feel) is difficult. And I haven't found any self-rewarding goals that help me keep up with that. Maybe once our Seattle cat cafe opens, I can set a reward of "30 minutes with kitties on Saturday" or something.
(and I'm already starry-eyed over Sandy, commenting above there, because VIOLIN! *le sigh*)
I SO want to learn archery! A friend's dad bought her a (pink!) bow awhile back, and we've been meaning for ages to go out and learn to use it sometime... I mean, she's played with it a bit, but we have plans to get our Katniss on. lol!
As Sandy mentioned, a lot of people are proponents of writing 15 minutes a day, every day. Fifteen minutes is NOTHING, but at the end of the week, you've got over 2 hours of writing done. That adds up!
I've always been passionate about books and anything to do with reading. It makes my heart happy and after a lot of soul searching and weighing options, I decided to become a librarian late last year (when I originally went to school to become an ESL teacher). But aside from books, I'm interested in drawing, anime/manga and music. When I was young, I fancied the idea of becoming a cartoonist but I don't have the ability to create pictures in my mind and then draw it--but I am very good at copying lol. I've also played the violin on and off for years; I'm no Paganini but I'm decent and I'm hoping to eventually pick up piano at some point in my life. I've also dabbled in writing poetry when I was younger but after reading so many books, I'm considering actually sitting my butt down and writing out the stories in my head. However, I struggle with that when real world things like bills (and ok, netflix and youtube) keep intervening. As for motivation, I'm very visual so calenders and marking things off or using stickers keeps me going. Have you heard of the calender/sticker method that Victoria Schwab uses? ---> http://ow.ly/KkGnT I also found a blog post on Erin Bow's site where she mentions "don't break the chain" (basically you write for 15 min every day) --> http://ow.ly/KkGyD
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind that I linked these posts :) but I find these types of set ups really helpful and I get a sense of accomplishment when I cross something off a list or put a check mark :D Anyway, I loved this video! I happened upon it just as I was drinking my cup of tea so it was serendipitous ^_^
A good chunk of my friends work as librarians and I have definitely thought about going that route. Still might, even if only part time. I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wanted to learn violin, and it is still on my bucket list of things to do.
DeleteAn yes, I'm very familiar with the sticker method, and I've been meaning to take it up for awhile now. I think something visual like that would be really helpful, AND it's like a little reward to yourself each day when you get to put your stickers one. lol!
Oh yay! I bought Fedora a chalkboard mug two Christmases ago, so I could leave him love notes Monday mornings when I go to work (and he's still asleep). And practice my horrible art skills. ;)
ReplyDelete(also, fellow good tea drinker, have you tried Harney & Sons? We adore their tea, all of it, and highly recommend it)
Believe me, you are NOT alone in too-many-interests-not-enough-time side of life. I think we all "suffer" from that. Past passions for me: stamping art, cross stitch, writing, costuming, archery, LARP, SCA, renaissance faires, history, orca whales, crochet, video gaming, baking.
Current passions: Uhmm....reading. And making mineral makeup. As it turns out, owning a business and having a full-time job take over one's life. I miss writing, but I don't know how to get back into it. Help?
I miss making things with my hands (aside from Printcess makeup), and regularly baking and such. So the timing of this Tea Chat is pretty perfect.
And I agree completely with jovial competition! If there's a goal I need to reach that others are also chugging towards, I almost always complete the project. That's honestly the ONLY way I've found to complete a project- I've tried small goals (which only works for me with writing, oddly enough) and peer pressure and taskmasterness and I'm way too good at justifying slacking off for that to work. I try to stick to the old "how do you eat an elephant" adage, so I don't feel guilty if I only get a small amount of a project done at one time, but keeping up the motivation to finish a thing (aside from the guilt I always feel) is difficult. And I haven't found any self-rewarding goals that help me keep up with that. Maybe once our Seattle cat cafe opens, I can set a reward of "30 minutes with kitties on Saturday" or something.
(and I'm already starry-eyed over Sandy, commenting above there, because VIOLIN! *le sigh*)
I SO want to learn archery! A friend's dad bought her a (pink!) bow awhile back, and we've been meaning for ages to go out and learn to use it sometime... I mean, she's played with it a bit, but we have plans to get our Katniss on. lol!
DeleteAs Sandy mentioned, a lot of people are proponents of writing 15 minutes a day, every day. Fifteen minutes is NOTHING, but at the end of the week, you've got over 2 hours of writing done. That adds up!