What is it about water that
relaxes the mind,
calms the soul,
opens the eyes?
***
Sent with love from the Lake District
CONNECTION + COMMUNICATION Page 20 of 21
Winning Marie Claire award…
A few months ago I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the UK’s 16 most exciting young female entrepreneurs, and awarded a place on glossy magazine Marie Claire’s groundbreaking Inspire & Mentor programme. Brainchild of Marie Claire UK’s editor Trish Halpin, the programme pairs participants with some of Britain’s most successful and influential businesswomen, including interior designer Kelly Hoppen, founder of ethical clothing company People Tree Safia Minney, and fragrance guru Jo Malone.
It felt like all my Christmasses had come at once when I was paired up with an incredible mentor – Kanya King, founder of the MOBO Awards. Kanya has been helping me strategise for my new business, and has been an incredible voice of support and constructive challenge.
My mentor Kanya King (Image courtesy of MOBO)
I met with Kanya for another session in London yesterday, and it made me realise the importance and value of having a mentor who has been there, done it, and come through shining. They can help you see the bigger picture, share industry knowledge, steer you away from or around obstacles, inject fresh ideas, give you a totally different perspective, and also, perhaps most importantly, remind you that you really are making great progress.
I came away from yesterday’s session energised and inspired. Thank you Kanya, thank you Marie Claire.
Everyone needs a mentor – have you found yours yet?
***
Welcome!
Welcome to my new home!
Do take some time to have a look around, pour yourself a cup of tea and stay for a chat – I’d love to know what you think of the new place. I hope you’ll come and visit me often!
After nearly a year at the old place, I decided it was time for a fresh start to coincide with the launch of the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreats. Registration is now open for the first retreat, which will take place in a stunning countryside venue in Yorkshire, England in May. More about this very special event here.
Besides a new home for my blog, I wanted to create a space to share inspiration and tools to encourage more people to do what they love. This space will also play host to the first Do What You Love e-course (launching in early spring).
Thank you to all of you who have provided amazing encouragement and support along this road, including everyone who followed my old blog. It is wonderful to be able to share the experience with you and I hope you know how much your friendship is appreciated!
2011 is full of promise and opportunity – and I hope you will join me for the adventures along the way.
Beth
***
Thank you to Jessica Swift for the logo and ‘look’, thanks to Christine Castro at darling for the website design, and to Brianna Privett at Utopian for building it
***
What will you make of 2011?
It’s nearly 2am and I can’t sleep. Rain is pounding on the skylight and the air is filled with the sweet fragrance of camomile tea.
This isn’t how I planned to start my first post of 2011, but there is so much swirling round in my head it is hard to think straight. Ideas, plans, and a buzz of excitement about the possibilities. But also the shadowy doubts (are my dreams just too big?), endless to-do lists and looming deadlines (Already? It’s only January 5th!).
Running your own business tends to do that to you. I wrote on Facebook earlier today that I love not having a real job, in the 9-5 sense of the word. And I really do. But when it’s not 9-5, in your head it can end up being 24/7.
I have spent the past few days hidden away working on my plans to make 2011 a big year (of course those dreams aren’t too big!). It’s going to be a long and winding road but I just know the view from the top will be amazing, if I can just make it there (and enjoy each step along the way).
How about you?
- What kind of a year do you want 2011 to be?
- How are you going to make sure it turns out that way?
Wishing you a very special year filled with adventure and discovery!
***
By the way, I have been busy working with some talented folks on a shiny new website for the Do What You Love retreat, and my blog will be moving there shortly. So excited to share this with you – stay tuned for the new address – I hope you’ll join me there very soon.
What’s in a blog name?
Tell me, why did you give your blog the name that you did? I am often fascinated by blog names, and wonder whether there is a story behind them, or whether they just popped into the writer’s head when they were creating their new space. Here are a few names I love:
Pilgrim of the Moon
There is a sweet love story behind this name but you’ll have to ask Judit if you want to know about it. I find this name is really dreamy.
Shin Shin
The name means ‘honest heart’ in Japanese, and Maki describes her blog as ‘little notes to my honest heart’.
Nectar and Light
Home of polaroid photographer Jen Altman, to me this name evokes a summer day – sugary sweetness and sunshine
Tangled Sky Studio
I used to love playing that game where you try to find pictures in the clouds, and this makes me think of a sky tumbling with clouds
Doorways Traveler
The title of Lisa Field-Elliot’s gorgeous photography blog suggests possibility, adventure, the unknown…
My own blog title ‘Do What You Love’ came from a deep belief that the world would be a better place if more people were doing what they love. More time spent on things that make you feel alive, connected, expressive and happy can only enhance the experience others have when they interact with you out in the world. Through this blog I wanted to give myself a space, and a kind of accountability, to do what I love (creating, having adventures, sharing stories) and put it out in the world.
How about you? What is your blog name and where did it come from? What other blog names do you love?
On friendship
This week I was visited by a wonderful old friend.
She is exactly 12 years older than me which,
being one full cycle of the Chinese horoscope,
is apparently very lucky
When I first moved to Tokyo,
a young stranger blinking in the bright lights of the big city,
she gave me a place to sleep,
a fellow English girl in Japan
(Let’s not talk about the fact I had only known her a week,
and ended up staying in her spare room for four months.
I was nicknamed ‘the little squatter’..)
When I wanted to change jobs,
she gave me awesome career advice
over a bagel on a park bench
(and then introduced me to my next boss)
When I left the city for a round-the-world voyage
she let me leave all my junk at her place,
and lent me her beloved suitcase
When I returned from my adventures,
tanned and exhilarated but with nowhere to stay,
she opened a bottle of champagne,
threw me a party at the cutest little restaurant in town
and gave me her key (again!)
When she had her first baby girl,
she made me her godmother.
What a gift.
She has an amazing talent for making small things feel big and special
and is so generous with her energy and kindness.
I wish everyone had a friend like her.
Yesterday she came to visit.
We caught up, told stories and laughed until late.
My turn to pour the drinks and give her the spare bed.
I am not sure if she realises just how treasured she is.
Where would we be without friends?
Have you thought about yours lately, about why they are so special to you?
Time out
Spent the day on the water today.
Taking a break from it all,
getting caught up in the excitement of a yacht race,
seeing the beauty of the land from the water,
hearing the call of the gulls
and clearing out the cobwebs
as the sea breeze rushed through my hair.
I spent my childhood on the coast
and it feels good to reconnect with the salty air and open skies.
***
The power of photography
“When we look with our eyes, from our hearts, through the lens, it’s a completely different photo and something really powerful can happen” Jen Lemen
Check out this awesome video of Jen’s story on her journey from happy snapper to $50,000 world photography prize winner…
***
And if you are in the mood for wishing, please help me make a dream come true here!
A dream about to come true?
I do believe in the power of wishing, and of visualisation, to help make things really happen (like it did here a few months ago). But sometimes some things just seem that little bit too big and too important to say out loud. I always have a niggling fear that speaking about the dreams you really really want to come true will somehow jinx them, and make them not come true after all.
That is why I haven’t mentioned anything about our dream house until now.
My man and I have been living together for some time, but in his place, not in our place. To his eternal credit, when I moved in he let me change a few things around (read ‘new wooden flooring, new doors, new paint on every wall, new furniture…’) and we have been happy here. But for a long time we have wanted a home of our own, that we chose together, with a little garden, space to spread out, and maybe even a nice big studio for me(!).
And then, all of a sudden, a couple of months ago, we found it. The perfect house for us, right now.
And then one serendipitous thing after another happened, which brought us closer to actually buying the house. And guess what? If all goes to plan, it will be ours next Thursday!
I cannot tell you how excited I am about this!
There is something very comforting about a house, with actual staircases. Having lived in a flat for so long, I cannot wait to go upstairs to bed! And downstairs in the morning, to make a brew and then sit in the garden having breakfast and chatting to the birds.
So please, wish hard for us that everything goes right and we get the keys next week, as is supposed to happen according to our dream. And then I can invite you round for tea!
Are you living your best life?
Friends are so precious, and losing one is so painful. An old university friend of mine was killed in a hit and run accident on holiday last week. I wanted to take a moment and use this space to honour his memory. Part of me feels this is too personal to share, part of me thinks it is too important not to. I hope you don’t mind.
Matt was one of life’s good people. I hate it that I have written that in the past tense. He should have had much much more time.
He was a big strong rugby player with a heart to match. I have been reminiscing about a big adventure we shared several years ago when I joined him and two other guys on a crazy road trip around New Zealand. We were three strapping lads and a wandering girl with a rucksack bigger than herself packed into a tiny car. We got stuck (in a ford), got drunk (on cheap beer), got lost (in the mountains), and I even got a shoulder ride into town. Those boys gave me the courage to do my first terrifying bungee jump, and wisely advised me not to look down as we sped around narrow mountain paths. We traversed a glacier, ate mooncake at a stranger’s party and hung out on a kiwi farm. But more than anything, we laughed. A lot.
Along with the gripping shock and hollow sadness of losing a friend to a freak accident comes a deep questioning and reflection on our own lives.
- Do we tell those we love that we love them enough (and do we love them enough?)
- Do we really spend our precious moments doing what we love, making ourselves happier and bringing more happiness to others as a result?
- Do we pick up the phone, write that letter, get on that plane, live that adventure, follow that dream?
- As Oprah would say, are we living our best lives?
I’ve been here before (in my very first post on this blog), but I am back again.
It shouldn’t take a tragedy for us to do just that, but often, sadly, it does. There is nothing anyone can do or say to make loss any easier to handle or understand. There is no fairness, and no reason. Three are many questions, but no answers.
To honour and celebrate the big life of my friend, I want to revisit that question and commit to making a few small changes (and maybe a couple of big ones) that will allow me to completely and absolutely say YES, I am living my best life, every day, every hour, every minute.
Won’t you join me?
Goodbye MD, you will be missed so very much