It is always exciting when a magazine drops through the door and you open it to find an article you wrote – and that was certainly the case when I received my copy of Where Women Create Business. This is the second issue of this fantastic magazine from Jo Packham (published by Stampington), which dives into the business wisdom behind some of the most exciting creative businesses out there, run by female entrepreneurs. If you would like a copy, check out our giveaway below!
After many months of brainstorming, note making, pondering, prototyping and tea drinking, we are thrilled to unveil our brand new website, designed to help you choose your path and change the world. We will be with you every step of the way.
Originally this site started as a blog, and then we added pages, and courses, and interviews, and all sorts of other bits and pieces, but the company grew faster than the website and it wasn’t a real reflection of who we are and what we do. Hopefully that is much clearer now with the new site, and you will find it much easier to navigate your way to all sorts of resources, advice and encouragement to help you do what you love for life. Please take a moment to start at the beginning – on the home page here – and see how it works for you.
Check out…
We have big plans for Do What You Love in 2013, including a brand new members’ area coming soon. We are so grateful to you for being part of this extraordinary journey. Stay tuned for more goodness in the coming weeks and months!
In celebration of the launch of the new site, we are doing a week of giveaways (see below) and sharing a brand new free resource ‘Zen for Ten’ – a free 10-step guide to help you take steps along the path to doing what you love. This was written during our six-month sabbatical in Japan. Please share it with anyone you think could benefit from it. Get yours HERE.
We want to inspire a movement of people doing what they love, and are committing to help you and others make the tough decisions and big leaps needed to do that, and then to stay inspired and on top of your game once you have done it. If you know of anyone who is stuck, unfulfilled, bored or feeling that there is more to life than what they are doing right now, please point them towards https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com!
It’s your life. Live it!
(PS Huge thanks to Jo Klima at The Darling Tree for all her work on our new site!)
All this week we are giving away cool prizes here on the blog to celebrate the launch of our new site. You can enter as many of the giveaways as you like – just pop back to the blog each day to enter:
Today’s giveaway PRIZE: Win a FREE PLACE on the Do What You Love e-course (starts October) worth GBP £109
TO ENTER: Take a look at the course description here and then pop back and leave a comment below explaining where you are in your journey right now and why the Do What You Love e-course would really benefit you at this point. Please be sure to include your full name and country in your comment. Then share a link to this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter including the words @DoWhatYouLoveXx #dowhatyoulove
DEADLINE: This giveaway will close at 12 noon GMT on Tuesday 13 August 2013. Any comments left after then will not be counted. **THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. FIND OUT WHO THE WINNERS ARE HERE**
THE SMALL PRINT: There will be one winner who will be chosen from the entries after the deadline, and announced on this blog shortly afterward. The competition is open to anyone over 18 anywhere in the world. There is no cash alternative. Our decision on the winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into. By entering you agree for your email address to be added to our mailing list but you can unsubscribe at any time.
We are so excited to share the news that our free design magazine MOYO has been viewed by over 1 MILLION people! As we are busy working behind the scenes on our anniversary issue (due out in late August), we just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped make MOYO – the world’s first magazine dedicated to surface pattern design – such a roaring success! We look forward to bringing you more inspiration, business advice and opportunities to showcase your design work over the coming months. In the meantime, if you have missed any of our previous issues, check them out here:
Nihon to Nihongo (On Japan and the Japanese language)
On arriving in Japan our first journey was to travel several hundred miles north from Tokyo on the overnight bus to Yamagata. My first discovery was that I was no longer a crazy student prepared to rough it to save a few quid, and the cheap option of the overnight bus was not proving a good decision! They are not designed for men in their 30s over 6 foot tall.
Yamagata is a prefecture located in the northerly Tōhoku region on Honshu Island. It borders the Miyagi region, which suffered a horrendous ordeal during the 2011 Asian Tsunami.
We arrived around 6am to be met by freezing temperatures and about a foot of snow. Had we packed right? My flip-flops and shorts were not providing much comfort at this point. Luckily we were welcomed in Yamagata by old friends, who quickly made us feel at home.
The reason we had journeyed North to Yamagata was to meet Kyoko and Adachi-san. They had been a couple that Beth had spent a year living with when she worked in Japan. (If she ever decides to write a book it will certainly blow your mind). Life’s accidental twists and turns can be both so brutal and beautiful. They are very close to this day more than 13 years later.
I remember Adachi-san telling me that his favourite part of the day was returning from work, opening a can of lager and watching the football. He was an avid Yamagata Montedio (J2 team) fan. I was discovering that life really wasn’t much different on the other side of the world!
For me, most importantly they were Beth’s friends, great hosts and I could not have asked for a better start to my new adventure. Oh, and they spoke good eigo (English) as well, which helped. Today I am honoured to call them my friends too.
But then things started to get a whole lot trickier when we left the comfort of their home and headed out into the big wide world in Kyoto…
….Arriving in Kyoto
“The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.” – Frank Herbert
For those of you who have never been to Japan, I cannot recommend a more beautiful or diverse place. It is a wonderful experience. However, it isn’t without its fear factor, mainly the language. I was not expecting the impact being essentially illiterate would have on me.
I am ashamed to say that in the first couple of weeks in Kyoto I wanted to find the quickest exit out (but couldn’t read the signs…) I was completely overwhelmed by road signs, menus, instructions and advice in a language so different to our Roman alphabet that it could be left by an alien race.
I could not believe how dependent I became on Beth. A new start was all well and good but I felt like a child again, unable to fend for myself, and I did not like it. I could not wait for school to begin so I could start to get to grips with the language.
We arrived in Kyoto and settled into our new apartment quickly. It didn’t take long to furnish our 12 square metres. A small rice cooker, two bowls and some chopsticks, done!
I had two weeks to get accustomed to my new surroundings before school was to start. Right then. What was I going to do now I have all this free time? I sat for minutes in front of Google thinking what should I type in and then I suddenly realized that I should get up and go outside! Why did I think I was going to find my answers generated by a search engine? What was I thinking? I don’t even like computers that much.
I soon discovered all the simple pleasures that Kyoto had to offer and there were plenty. Bike riding through the temples (in fact cycling anywhere), exploring weird and wonderful places, exercising by the river, reading, cafes and restaurants, onigiris (rice balls stuffed with things like tuna and wrapped in seaweed), Starbuck’s caramel frappucinos (a new one for me) and most importantly loads of free time!
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
One of the beauties of Kyoto was getting under its skin and understanding Japanese life (which can take time). Kyoto was a maze of streets consisting of houses, restaurants, shops and cafes.
Peeking behind the norens offers a world of discovery as you find small family businesses tucked away in wooden buildings selling everything from calligraphy brushes to kimonos to pots and pans.
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” – Plato
One particular Friday afternoon will always stay in my mind. School had just finished, the heavens had opened and the rain was cascading down the busy rooves. I took off my trainers, placed them in my bag and set off home on my bike, barefoot. Within seconds I was soaked. The ride lasted approximately 20 minutes. I loved every single moment of it.
I felt cool, alive, young and free. At the few places along the route where I had to stop for traffic lights, feeling the warm tarmac under my bare feet was very relaxing and such a unique feeling.
We can’t feel like this all the time but we have to give our lives the opportunity to present such experiences. It was Kyoto in all of her majesty. The rain felt purifying as if it was washing away every care and worry I may have had. I spent the whole journey just laughing out loud all on my own. I felt like a ten year old playing outside. Priceless!
When was the last time you discovered your inner child?
Today just do something just for fun. You might enjoy it, and perhaps find out something new about yourself!
Until next time…
Mr K
Six years ago, without even knowing it, I was completely lost. My career was going OK, but I had stopped dreaming and I had little to no ambition. I seemed to live only for weekends with the boys and a few holidays dotted throughout the year. Looking back I can see that I had everything the wrong way round.
Then a girl walked into my life and changed everything. Beth was to become my saviour, my purpose and my direction. It sounds dramatic but it is true. She reignited my passion for life. Little did I know it right then, but life was about to get a whole lot more interesting!
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide
I have written on this blog before about our sabbatical in Japan last year. The decision to go was certainly one, which became the catalyst for huge change and even greater self-discovery.
We primarily found ourselves in Japan because Beth loves the place, the culture, the language and the people. And she is the most important thing in my life so not to share this passion would have been like not acknowledging a part of her.
My initial motivation for going had been to share in this love, to experience all the things she held close to her heart and hopefully, somewhere along the line, pick up a bit of the lingo. I needed to communicate with her friends better than just politely smiling and nodding my head. And to be honest, I couldn’t wait for six months off work.
But in the end it became something much more significant than that. The extended time away from home and work also became an opportunity to ask myself a lot of questions that I had never dared ask before.
I remember sitting on the banks of the Kamogawa River and taking my notebook out of my very masculine bicycle basket. I opened it up and then just sat there, pencil primed for what seemed like an eternity until I started to write. I think the pause was more to do with being flooded with ideas. It took a while to filter through the waterfall of cascading thoughts and focus on the moment. What was on my mind now? This is what I wrote:
Who am I, Where am I
When I was 12, is this how I imagined it would be at 35?
No, not unless astronauts trained in Kyoto!
I then started to write down as many honest thoughts regarding myself as I could bear to admit:
“Sometimes the best way to figure out who you are is to get to that place where you don’t have to be anything else.” – Unknown
Without doubt I am blessed with great family and friends. But there is more to it than that. I needed to answer the questions…
These are deceptively simple questions and I was really struggling to answer them.
My thoughts went automatically to sport and more specifically football (soccer), but what about ME? How was I going to make myself feel proud?
I decided to look back to my earlier childhood before sport became all encompassing. This took many chats, coffees, beers, runs, bike rides and lots of listening to music. It is amazing what can provoke memories and what you actually forgot you used to do. Isn’t it strange that to move forwards more often than not you have to look backwards?
“You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.” – Jerry Gillies
I decided to start by getting myself really fit and healthy. This was an aspect of my life that has always been a form of salvation for me. But ever since I turned 30 I had been in denial. My body doesn’t respond and recover as fast as it did in my 20s and I soon realized I needed to sacrifice a little bit more than I used to in this quest. I definitely struggle to enjoy everything around me if I do not feel good in myself. This was actually my first recognition of who I am as an individual. And getting fit again was an important first step on the road to doing what I love.
How about you? Who are you? Where you thought you would be? Have you thought about this lately? It would be great to hear about your journey too.
Until next time…
Mr K
Dear Orchard House,
It is with a little sadness that I write this goodbye letter, as you have been such a good friend these past three years. You have provided us with a cosy home, spaces to live, work and play, a relaxing sanctuary, walls filled with laughter and three happy Christmases. Today we are moving on to live near the sea and will miss you. If we could put you on the back of a lorry and drive you to Brighton we would, but English houses aren’t built that way…
You look a little empty with all our things removed from every room, but soon you will be filled again with new furniture, new people, new laughter.
Since we bought you we have grown a business, got engaged, married and pregnant, hosted many friends and some fun parties in the garden, made plans, decorated and redecorated, cooked many roast dinners and had many adventures. Thank you for your part in that.
Every home is a piece of our story, and you are no exception. We hope your new residents will be as happy as we have been.
Xx
And just when we thought this year couldn’t get any better…
… we discover we are having a baby! Life will never be the same and we couldn’t be happier. This feels like the most important adventure of our lives – 17 weeks and counting. It is hard to put into words what it feels like knowing there is a little person growing and developing in there. We love this little baby so much already!
The baby’s due date is December 11, which means it will be a Christmas baby. Our favourite time of year just got even more special…
This is a completely unknown world to us and we know we have so much to learn.
If you have children how did you feel when you found out? And what is your best advice for nurturing a happy baby? We’d love to know!
I appreciate that the majority of you who read this blog are female. I just hope by sharing a few thoughts and experiences with you I can provide a little insight to the male perspective. This may surprise you but we are not always the most vocal or the best at communicating. That hasn’t been our role! But trust me, we certainly have our own personal insecurities and issues. I am sure this is true of the men in your life as well.
Change! This month’s theme is certainly a very fitting topic for me to begin my blog adventure with you. I guess that this blog is a change in itself.
To ‘love to change’ though is certainly a strange concept at the off-set, as most changes are inevitably difficult at first. That said just because it is difficult does not mean that we should not embrace change. We all just need to find the courage to do so.
“Change will never happen when people lack the ability and courage to see themselves for who they are.” – Bryant H. McGill
I have made some huge decisions in the past two years. All of which have dictated big changes in my life. Basically because it needed to change and change it certainly has!
I must stress that there was nothing particularly wrong with my life before. In fact if I’m honest my life has been pretty good. I have great family and friends, I have been lucky in health (touch wood) and six years ago my greatest inspiration walked into my life (my now wife – more on that later in the month). I found myself in a good job with plenty of career opportunities.
My moment of epiphany occurred around two years ago. It was in the winter during an early drive to work through the rain and sleet that I questioned…. What am I doing? Why am I doing this? Where am I going?
Answering these questions had been easy at one time. I was going to work like most people to primarily earn some money. These questions became much more difficult to answer once my girlfriend (now wife) started her company ‘Do What You Love’.
The concept was brilliant and the scope almost limitless. Who wouldn’t want to do what they love? But while I supported her endeavours, the cynical male in me was thinking “But very few people, especially guys with families to feed, are that lucky!”
Throughout the months prior to my a-ha moment I witnessed how many people were actually changing their lives in positive ways directly because of ‘Do What You Love’. I was becoming one big contradiction. I was sat across the table from the person helping so many people change their lives yet I was too stubborn to accept the reality of my own life. I was not doing what I loved, in fact far from it! As the months went by I was even beginning to hate what I did.
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading” – Lao Tzu
Did I really want another 30 years of feeling like this? No.
So what was I going to do about it?
I could moan about it and do nothing, which at best is a momentary escape or I could put my male cynicism aside and accept that I needed to make changes. Ultimately who else other than me is in charge of my life?
“There are two primary choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, or accept responsibility for changing them.” – Dennis Waitley
I decided to take a six month sabbatical and go and live in Kyoto, Japan with Beth, both for a change of scene and to find some time to think. A little drastic I admit. The truth is the destination could really have been anywhere. The point was I needed time away from the daily grind to give myself an opportunity to take charge of my life.
“It is never too late to be what you might have been” – Mahatma Gandhi
Later this month I will share what happened to my outlook whilst taking that all important time out. For now I’d like to know what changes do you know deep down you need to make? Or what changes have you made recently – and how are things different now?
And if there are any men in your life in a similar situation to me, try to encourage them to talk about it or at least think about it. Please don’t be surprised if it is a difficult subject for them to talk about. Maybe they just need to take some time for themselves to reassess. Just because we never raise the topic doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking about it.
Until next time…
Mr K
Me and my BFF Heather heading off on my hen do a few weeks back (more on that coming soon!)
Hello 36! It’s my birthday today, and I am celebrating with my bestest buddy and our two fellas. We were born on the same day (honestly!) and used to always celebrate together, but this will be the first time in several years we have got together on our joint birthday and I cannot wait.
The weather forecast is for glorious sunshine, and the sea is calling. I am hoping today will be full of laughter and fun as we enter into our ‘late thirties’.
A year ago today my man proposed, and ever since this last year has been such a huge one in my life (sabbatical on the other side of the world, wedding, honeymoon and all sorts of other adventures). But as so much of that is coming up on the blog in the next few weeks instead, today I am just going to say this:
(1) I feel happier in my life right now at 36 than I ever have
(2) I am grateful for so much – family, friends, shiny new husband, adventures, business, YOU and more
(3) I want you to celebrate with me, so all this week I am doing some crazy giveaways here on the blog. Here’s what’s coming up:
WEDNESDAY: Giving away a free place on Part A of Make Art That Sells with Lilla Rogers! (plus a fab interview with Lilla that you don’t want to miss!)
THURSDAY: Giving away a free copy of Tara Leaver’s new book ‘Creative Spark: (re)igniting your creativity with everyday wisdom’ (and I share a great interview with Tara too)
These giveaways will be open from the time they are posted until 12 noon GMT on Saturday 11 May 2013, so be sure to check in every day and enter! You can enter as many of them as you like. GOOD LUCK and happy birthday me!
As I am sure you know, today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate what women bring to the world, and highlight the challenges faced by women in all walks of life.
When I worked at UNICEF this was a day to bring attention to the important role of women in society, and to highlight the fact that women all over the world are still abused, denied education and other human rights, and held back from their true potential.
Young girls I met on a UNICEF field visit to Azerbaijan back in 2007. By now they may be mothers themselves, or have left school to work. I wonder what their lives are like these days?
It is often said in the developing world that “If you educate a man you educate a man. If you educate a woman, you educate a family.” I love men, but women definitely do have a very special way to form bonds with others, nurture those around them and to tap into their intuition and use it as a tool for good. At UNICEF, and in many other organisations and communities all over the world, women are helping women build (or rebuild) lives, families and societies. And that is something to celebrate.
Today I also want to take a moment to celebrate YOU – each one of you…
… who plays so many roles in so many people’s lives
… who loves and nutures those around you
…who offers a shoulder to cry on, or a warm hug just when it is needed
…who encourages others to dream by chasing your own dreams
…who digs deep and shows courage, bravely carving new paths
…who recognises that IT IS UP TO EACH OF US
…who shows your daughters, granddaughters, mothers, sisters, friends that it is OK to create the life you want
…who chooses, every day, how to be in this world, with kindness, laughter and light
Why not reach out to a special woman in your life and tell her what she means to you today?
