Tag Archives: culture

Fortune Cookie

An Abundance Mindset

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I really struggle with having an abundance mindset, but I’m trying. An abundance mindset is not believing that just because someone gets something it means you don’t. Even though my rational brain states that it’s not true, my emotional brain always tries to scream ‘mine’ and get me to run to the corner and hide.

I think I can firmly place how this all began. As a child, I played nicely and looked after my things. I’ve always been very careful with my ‘stuff’. I don’t consider myself to be materialistic in the sense that most people think; I don’t want fine art, the best things, or even things that are better than what everyone else. I’ve no desire at all to keep up with the Joneses. I just like my stuff to be my stuff. I’ve had been that way since I can remember. Then, when I was six, my baby sister was born and came into my life like a tornado (which, in fairness, she has pretty much remained ever since) and as a baby / toddler had no qualms about breaking my stuff or smearing it in melted chocolate that she had refused to relinquish from her grubby little fist for six hours.

Thus began the concept of ‘mine’. If I share, it will be taken from me and destroyed.

Of course, as an adult, take that attitude too far and you simply become cynical and bitter. So whilst I’ll probably never be great at sharing with the other kids, that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy for them when they have achievements and blessings in life. It might mean overcoming the worst parts of my nature, but I’m determined to give it a try.

Now give me my blog back. It’s mine…

World’s Cutest Library, Banks Peninsula

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I have officially found the world’s cutest library:

 

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How adorable is that? It’s in Tai Tapu village, which you can find on the main road out of Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula. In a country whose European heritage is actually not that old, it was quite a find. The building itself is not actually that old (1932) but having spent so much time in a place where pretty much everything has been levelled, I was thrilled to find it at all.

Plus the lady in their was lovely, offering to take out a book for me in her name. She was happy for me to just meet up with her in Christchurch and hand it back over at some point when I was done with it. This was the Kiwi friendliness that I remember from last time.

Plus, there’s a nice cafe on the corner, so you can completely justify making the trip if you have a nice brunch. Calories are free when you support local libraries, honest.

New Job and Writing

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Next week I will begin the tricky balancing act of starting a new job with that of being a writer.

Essentially, it is starting a new full time role in addition to becoming self-employed and starting a business. Many people would not think of being an author as also being an entrepreneur, but in a lot of respects it definitely is.

There is the act of content creation and development, marketing, accounts and finance, as well as any legal elements that might be included. Depending on how much available time there is after a full day at work, this might eat into virtually all of what would traditionally be considered ‘free’ time.

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Of course, actual number of available hours is only a part of it. Time is only valuable if you have the mental energy to use it effectively. That is why some times you can get more done in a single hour than you can get done in an entire day. It becomes about leveraging that mental energy to make the best use of your time to get things done effectively. It may also be having the courage to admit that you are doing a job poorly and it is worth stopping now before you make a bad thing even worse.

This is what I will try to remind myself of over the next few weeks, when I feel as though my writing is not progressing as fast as I would like. I always commit myself 100% to an employer, something I believe to be vital if you want to be credible and trustworthy as a human being. Obvious caveats apply if your employer is treating you unfairly, of course. But my free time is the the time where the hardest fought battles will take place, because honestly, watching TV is just easier than locking myself away and editing.

I guess the hardest fought battles are the ones most worth winning.

Things To Do In Queenstown: Gondola and Luge Experience

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Queenstown is adventure capital of the world according to most people you speak to over here. Home of the bungy jump, zorbing and plenty of other high adrenalin activities. If you want a quick thrill in the southern hemisphere, then this is definitely the place to come. Just make sure you have adequate insurance, of course.

For those who want to do something a little more sedate, but without wussing out completely, then the gondola and luge experience is a good combo. It is definitely the best way to get spectacular views over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu:

Queenstown Horizon

 

There is always the option to walk to the top, but for those who are short on time or fitness, the chair ride to the top is an equally spectacular way of getting to the top. Once there, take the time to walk around and take in the views. There are plenty of different angles to take awesome photographs from.

The luge comes in two flavours: gentle and speedy. Confession: I went on the scenic route both times. I actually found I was enjoying the views way more than the speed on the first time round, so dispensed with my original intention to try both. Slower gave me more opportunity to enjoy the experience. Given that there were some seven year olds on the speedy track, my gut feel was that it didn’t strictly fall under the term ‘extreme’ anyway. As you can see, the tracks are fairly wide and well maintained.

Queenstown Luge

For those who don’t have too much time to spend in Queenstown, I would definitely include this in the one day experience. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great overnight during my stay, otherwise I would also have taken advantage of the star gazing experience also on offer.

 

Canada Totem

Road trips: San Francisco, Vancouver, Alaska

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So, I have been on the road now for the best part of a month. The purpose of this was twofold: for writing research and for pleasure.

It has been, without a doubt, a very interesting and busy few weeks. Having flown from New Zealand back in time, we covered San Francisco, Vancouver and surrounds, as well as Alaska. One thing has certainly be cemented this year, and that is the fact I am clearly more of an outdoor person than a city person. Which is not something I think I ever really realised before. Whilst I’ve never felt compelled to move towards the big lights, I could never really say I was much for tramping in the woods either. Perhaps it is something that is becoming more defined as I get older, or perhaps people are becoming less appealing? Who knows.

Canada Totem

 

I’ve certainly got a notebook full of ideas and places, characters that are calling out to me to be written. Turns out the Fieldnotes books are the perfect size for that length of stay. So the trip itself was definitely a success.

The next month will definitely be a busy one as I try to do something with it all…

Plus, I finally purchased a fountain pen in my bid to get back to handwriting some of my work. I’m loving it so far and can really notice the difference, compared to banging out the words on a computer. Review to come shortly.

 

When A City Falls: Film review of the Christchurch earthquake

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Firstly, I really enjoyed this film.

Secondly, I’m not sure I could have watched it if I had actually been in Christchurch for any of the earthquakes. The trauma of it would simply have been too much. All credit to those who were there and braved this film anyway.

When A City Falls

 

Opening with scenes from before the first September earthquake in 2010, I saw the Christchurch that I remember from my travels a decade ago. Calm, relatively peaceful. Actually quite English, in all the ways it used to market itself as.

For me, the power of this film comes from the fact there is no narrator. Other than a few captions to give some sense of date, the raw footage is allowed to tell the story itself. Gerard Smythe and his team put together film that did not shy away from the painful reality, but nor did it seek to sensationalise it. Over the course of a year, you see people get up, dust themselves off, only to be knocked right back down.

It doesn’t take long living in this city to know all these places and be able to relate to it on some level. The aftereffects of the earthquakes touch your lives daily here; there is no escape. Having seen this film, I have nothing but admiration for the people who, unlike me, are not outside observers to the aftermath, but the ones who still can – and often do – relive it like it was yesterday.

Link to the trailer can be found here: When A City Falls

Saying Goodbye to the Pallet Pavilion, Christchurch

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I have said in previous posts that one of the most encouraging things about being in Christchurch is the inventive and creative ways they have come up with using the devastated empty spaces left over by the earthquake. The Re-Start Mall is still one of my favourites, but closest to me is the Pallet Pavilion. Sadly, this came to an end this weekend.

 

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The Pallet Pavilion is exactly what it says on the tin: a community event space built out of pallets. Part of the GapFiller project, it was one of many temporary pieces of architecture created by volunteers to utilise a space that would otherwise have remained a dull and depressing piece of waste ground.  It has also been a lot less temporary than first intended; so popular that it has been kept open until the cost has simply become too much.

Being halfway between my apartment and the library, I have probably walked past this structure more times than anywhere else in the city. From the moment I arrived it became part of my psychological landscape. I know that the next time I walk past it will be gone and that’s going to be a sad thing. But it also means that there is progress. The city around me is rebuilding even as I sit here, three months in, and it is ramping up to an even faster rate.

Created by a population that was coming together and building something out of nothing, I hope that spirit continues on as winter comes and the fourth anniversary of the biggest and original quake – a cracker with a magnitude of 7.1 – rolls around in September, with so much still left to do.

Gorgeous Daily Planner

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Despite the fact I’m currently on a writing sabbatical, I still have a lot to do each day. Get up. Get dressed. Drink Coffee, that kind of thing.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t treat myself to a little reward every now and again. Whilst out and about, I stumbled upon kikki.K – an amazing stationery store (international shipping appears to be available).  So, in a true effort to combine creativity and productivity, I bought myself this notepad:

notpad

 

There are just enough fun elements in there to keep it interesting and reduce the friction of looking at a boring old ‘To Do’ list. I like the idea of tracking water intake as a default, as this is a habit I try to keep up with – a handy little reminder is always good.

It’s impossible to deny that this is aimed at a female market, but as I’m a woman I don’t massively care. There were no real male equivalents though, even though the concepts on there are just as applicable. I know many men who are trying to drink enough water, narrow down their top three priorities and manage an ever-growing task list. I am not sure they are so intentional about rewards, but then maybe I’m the one perpetuating gender stereotypes here too?

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Anyway, after all the hard work of writing this post, it’s apparently time to reward myself with a glass of wine…

Book Review: My Spiritual Journey by The Dalai Lama

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Having joined the library as a ‘must do’ after my move, I decided to use the opportunity to get hold of books that I might not have taken the time to purchase when I was living back in England. As with the rest of this move, it is all about embracing the new.

Which led me to picking up My Spiritual Journey by The Dalai Lama. Disclosure: I am not a religious person. I was not brought up in a religious family, but was always told to go out and see for myself what was out there.

That said, the most interesting bit of the book that I found was not actually to do with religion or the spiritual journey of The Dalai Lama (although it was informative and excellently translated into English). No, for me the most interesting was his role as the spiritual leader of Tibet. I have always been fascinated by the intersection between religion and politics and this was an excellent example. Although obviously biased, this was well enough written to make me feel moved on behalf of the Tibetan people.

Likewise, the destruction described of the natural environment of Tibet – which I am assuming to be true given what we know about Chinese industrialisation and deforestation as a whole – left me feeling extremely sad that this would be the case.

Overall, I would give this 7/10 – the loss of marks mainly due to the repetition of several of the key themes. Not one to be dismissed if you are a person of a different faith, as the tone of this book throughout is entirely inclusive.

Re-Starting The City

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One of the amazing things about being here in Christchurch is the way the locals face dealing with the substantial aftermath of the earthquake. The rebuild process is a slow one for sure, but it is approached with inventiveness and good humour wherever possible.

One of the brightest examples of this is the Re-Start Mall. What do you do when you have no building to host your retail outlet? Why, you take a shipping container, paint it a bright and cheerful colour, then just set up shop anyway!

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This kind of optimism and ingenuity is evident everywhere in the city, but this is one of my favourite places so far. It is vibrant, friendly and the epitome of the ‘just get on and do’ spirit. It also shows how, despite the financial and commercial impacts, the sense of art and culture is equally part of the rebuild process. There is a definite feeling that when times are tough, it is more than money that gets you through here. It is the community and the humanities that are playing a significant role – and the writer in me just loves that.