Just a little 'bloggette' today as I've got a quite a bit on and am finding myself dashing here and there and having to rush things, which I don't like! As the classes have started this week, everything seems to have gone up a gear, so although I like to be busy there have been some complicated days when I have had try and squeeze more things than I'd like into less time than I'd prefer! But compared to some people, I know my life is fairly calm. But I'd like to aspire to a more calm, serene kind of lifestyle, with everything happenning in a sedate and civilised manner, with out a single hair ruffled or out of place!! Ha ha! I know that's unlikely, but I can dream about it, can't I?
So today I've been preparing for the radio show, and then Peter rings to say he is having problems with the mike recognising the IPod, so we might be back with the clunky old CD player again. His computer hasn't really got enough Ram and is now refusing to acknowledge the extra memory we've bolted on and there's a danger it might just collapse in a gasping heap when we try to broadcast!
But before I go to Stratford to broadcast, I've also got to dash off to deliver a key and also have to prepare for the Gypsy troupe meeting tonight! ...And my head is still swirling with ideas to promote my work and myself, as well as the various jobs I have to do with forward planning various events. Urrgh.... think I need a visit to the pub soon, for a large glass of wine therapy!
Friday, 21 January 2011
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Breaking into a Trot!
After a very busy day I'm having a bit of time out, and these days that usually means Facebook, Ebay, or even Blogging!
Had a good class with my lovely Tuesday lunchtime class. We had two new ladies, and I hope I didn't frighten them off as for some strange reason I got all energetic and did a very lively session which had everyone gasping for breath! Think it might be that I'm feeling quite energetic myself....after having an enforced rest over Xmas! Have a feeling that by the end of the term I'll be taking it a bit more slowly!
Then had to rush off to Bishops Tachbrook to teach a group of ladies from Age UK jewellery making. It was pretty hard work as some of them had difficulty with their dexterity, but they really enjoyed it, and everyone went away with either a pair of earrings or a choker. Good job- but I'm knackered.......those oldies wore me out! Just as well I have tonight off....I need a lie down!
Tomorrow I have two classes in the evening, but after last weeks of fiasco of only two participants turning up for the beginners, I'm not sure if that class is going to run after this week. The improver/intermediate class however, is very healthy and bouyant.... but they are all self confessed Belly Dance addicts so that's no surprise!
Lots happenning at the moment, my head swirling with costume buying, fabric and trimmings buying, cutting out, as well as forward planning for several events. Everything seems to be kicking off at the same time. We don't usually have a hafla this term, so the Feb one is an added stress, but to be truthful it's kind of sorted itself out as most of the performers and attendees from the cancelled Xmas hafla are coming along. I suspect I'm just suffering from shock after being in sloth mode for so long....!
Had a good class with my lovely Tuesday lunchtime class. We had two new ladies, and I hope I didn't frighten them off as for some strange reason I got all energetic and did a very lively session which had everyone gasping for breath! Think it might be that I'm feeling quite energetic myself....after having an enforced rest over Xmas! Have a feeling that by the end of the term I'll be taking it a bit more slowly!
Then had to rush off to Bishops Tachbrook to teach a group of ladies from Age UK jewellery making. It was pretty hard work as some of them had difficulty with their dexterity, but they really enjoyed it, and everyone went away with either a pair of earrings or a choker. Good job- but I'm knackered.......those oldies wore me out! Just as well I have tonight off....I need a lie down!
Tomorrow I have two classes in the evening, but after last weeks of fiasco of only two participants turning up for the beginners, I'm not sure if that class is going to run after this week. The improver/intermediate class however, is very healthy and bouyant.... but they are all self confessed Belly Dance addicts so that's no surprise!
Lots happenning at the moment, my head swirling with costume buying, fabric and trimmings buying, cutting out, as well as forward planning for several events. Everything seems to be kicking off at the same time. We don't usually have a hafla this term, so the Feb one is an added stress, but to be truthful it's kind of sorted itself out as most of the performers and attendees from the cancelled Xmas hafla are coming along. I suspect I'm just suffering from shock after being in sloth mode for so long....!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Izzy Wizzy, lets get bizzy!
This week my classes start in earnest, so I am having to finally drag myself out of my Christmas snow induced torpor and get into gear. Had one of my 'worry' dreams last night, all about turning up late for an important performance. Those dreams are a sure sign I'm feeling a bit stressed, but I suspect it's just because I've got very lazy and have slowed down much more than is good for me!
So, there is lots on the work front to sort out, design, organize, promote and attend, which gives me the illusion that I'm busy and then I feel happy cos I think I'm doing something useful! As well as the classes this week I also have a performance (with some members of Miramar), a jewellery making workshop to prepare and teach, the radio show to research and present, a choreography to finish, research for class content and a couple of troupe rehearsals... well that should keep me out of michief! And.... not forgetting forward planning for both the Belly Dance Spectaular (shopping for fabric on Saturday), and Le Petit Souk! I'd better not look too closely at that list... otherwise I might get a little bit scared! I must confess to being a serial list maker...always have been. I suspect it's a futile attempt to try and organise myself, or to try and look as if I know what I am doing and am achieving something! Well, if it makes me feel better, what's the harm?!
Went to Tai Chi class this morning- it's a great antidote to the stresses of life, and helps me to calm down a little. I've always had a love/hate relationship with it, but I know it does me good, so I persevere, and it helps that Sid is the teacher, as he would make me feel guilty if I didn't go! But I have found that Tai Chi has had a big impact on my life as it's contributed and helped me in my drama, clowning and dance careers. In fact a lot of my Belly Dance teaching is underpinned by Tai Chi principles. And I also know a couple of other belly Dance teachers who have studied martial arts and you can see it in the way they dance and move...it gives them a beautiful centredness and fluidity which other dancers don't generally have. So I would thoroughly reccommend any dancer to try Tai Chi or another martial art to compliement their dancing... it really makes a difference!
Now I am begginning to feel slightly guilty that I'm waffling on here , and not getting on with all that work. Better go...ta taaa for now!
So, there is lots on the work front to sort out, design, organize, promote and attend, which gives me the illusion that I'm busy and then I feel happy cos I think I'm doing something useful! As well as the classes this week I also have a performance (with some members of Miramar), a jewellery making workshop to prepare and teach, the radio show to research and present, a choreography to finish, research for class content and a couple of troupe rehearsals... well that should keep me out of michief! And.... not forgetting forward planning for both the Belly Dance Spectaular (shopping for fabric on Saturday), and Le Petit Souk! I'd better not look too closely at that list... otherwise I might get a little bit scared! I must confess to being a serial list maker...always have been. I suspect it's a futile attempt to try and organise myself, or to try and look as if I know what I am doing and am achieving something! Well, if it makes me feel better, what's the harm?!
Went to Tai Chi class this morning- it's a great antidote to the stresses of life, and helps me to calm down a little. I've always had a love/hate relationship with it, but I know it does me good, so I persevere, and it helps that Sid is the teacher, as he would make me feel guilty if I didn't go! But I have found that Tai Chi has had a big impact on my life as it's contributed and helped me in my drama, clowning and dance careers. In fact a lot of my Belly Dance teaching is underpinned by Tai Chi principles. And I also know a couple of other belly Dance teachers who have studied martial arts and you can see it in the way they dance and move...it gives them a beautiful centredness and fluidity which other dancers don't generally have. So I would thoroughly reccommend any dancer to try Tai Chi or another martial art to compliement their dancing... it really makes a difference!
Now I am begginning to feel slightly guilty that I'm waffling on here , and not getting on with all that work. Better go...ta taaa for now!
Sunday, 16 January 2011
The Ordeal at the Opticians and Flu Jabs flim flam
I know I appear to be seriously addicted to blogging at the moment, but it's partly as I have the time to write at the moment...and with all the stuff I have lined up for this term just around the corner, I thought I'd better squeeze in a few entries while the going is good. Mind you, when I used to have a blog on MySpace I found writing a great outlet for all my stress, although I'm not sure my readers thought so! So some serious moaning and whinging might occur...you have been warned!
Spent two hours at the contact lens clinic yesterday....hmpf! I'm due some new lenses, and as I have a very high prescription I go to a specialist in Birmingham... and he has the most up to date state-of-the-art equipment you can find in the country, as he proudly told me! Anyway they said 40 mins, so Sid sat patiently in the waiting room, but in the end he fell asleep..which is just as well considering the time it finally took. I had to have the pressure measured (for Glaucoma- my Mum had it), a special scan (in case of retinal tears or detachments), various computer pictures taken, and a full sight test by two different people (at least they are thorough!). And in between all that glasses on, glasses off, contact lenses in, contact lenses out, glasses back on, old lenses back in...phew! What a palaver...BUT I'm very grateful I was born now, and not 100 years ago as with my poor level of sight my life would have been very limited and not very nice...and what guy would have looked at me with glasses like bottle bottoms! So... with all of that, really no time for any proper shopping (much to Sid's relief), although I had to bribe him with a visit to Nero to even get him into any shop!
But on the way home we started talking about the flu jabs the government have been trying to persuade people to have. As dyed in the wool hippies and wierdos we are advocates of alternative therapies and complimentary treatments and lifestyle, so we were both horrified to discover that these jabs contain amongst other things, formaldehyde (used for preserving dead bodies), mercury (a known poison), aluminium ( suspected of contributing to Altzheimers Disease), and the stuff you put into screen wash. OMG! WHY would you want to inject those poisons into your body? And some research Peter did for the radio show stated that in fact it has (unsurprisingly) made some people ill...where's the logic in that? Call me a cynic, but I suspect the government is trying to get rid of all those expensive jabs they ordered for the flu epidemic that never was last year, and are deliberately widening the band of those they recommend to have it, at the same time as playing down the fact that deaths from flu this year are just the average expected! A much better option in my view is swilling down some Echinacea and Vitamin C, but only if you get any symptoms. But to be honest, it really needs a completely different approach to health in this country. I like the Chinese model where people visit their doctor regularly to keep them from getting ill in the first place! The doctors would consider themselves failures if their patients got sick! I feel it's really my own responsibility to keep well, and therefore am prepared to spend money on regular treatments and therapies that are designed to keep up my levels of wellness. My favourite for some years has been Homeopathy, which can treat not only physical symptoms, but also emotional and spiritual states too, and it's changed me from an anxious, angst ridden mess, into the gorgeous woman you see today! Well, OK, it can't actually give me a facelift, but it has helped my confidence no end!
Anyway, my classes start in earnest next week, so I may find I have little time for blogging....but we'll see. But what with the Belly Dance Spectacular looming closer, and my 10th Anniversary Hafla on 5th Feb, not to mention the forward planning I need to do for the souk, you can see why I might be a bit busy!
More next time.........
Spent two hours at the contact lens clinic yesterday....hmpf! I'm due some new lenses, and as I have a very high prescription I go to a specialist in Birmingham... and he has the most up to date state-of-the-art equipment you can find in the country, as he proudly told me! Anyway they said 40 mins, so Sid sat patiently in the waiting room, but in the end he fell asleep..which is just as well considering the time it finally took. I had to have the pressure measured (for Glaucoma- my Mum had it), a special scan (in case of retinal tears or detachments), various computer pictures taken, and a full sight test by two different people (at least they are thorough!). And in between all that glasses on, glasses off, contact lenses in, contact lenses out, glasses back on, old lenses back in...phew! What a palaver...BUT I'm very grateful I was born now, and not 100 years ago as with my poor level of sight my life would have been very limited and not very nice...and what guy would have looked at me with glasses like bottle bottoms! So... with all of that, really no time for any proper shopping (much to Sid's relief), although I had to bribe him with a visit to Nero to even get him into any shop!
But on the way home we started talking about the flu jabs the government have been trying to persuade people to have. As dyed in the wool hippies and wierdos we are advocates of alternative therapies and complimentary treatments and lifestyle, so we were both horrified to discover that these jabs contain amongst other things, formaldehyde (used for preserving dead bodies), mercury (a known poison), aluminium ( suspected of contributing to Altzheimers Disease), and the stuff you put into screen wash. OMG! WHY would you want to inject those poisons into your body? And some research Peter did for the radio show stated that in fact it has (unsurprisingly) made some people ill...where's the logic in that? Call me a cynic, but I suspect the government is trying to get rid of all those expensive jabs they ordered for the flu epidemic that never was last year, and are deliberately widening the band of those they recommend to have it, at the same time as playing down the fact that deaths from flu this year are just the average expected! A much better option in my view is swilling down some Echinacea and Vitamin C, but only if you get any symptoms. But to be honest, it really needs a completely different approach to health in this country. I like the Chinese model where people visit their doctor regularly to keep them from getting ill in the first place! The doctors would consider themselves failures if their patients got sick! I feel it's really my own responsibility to keep well, and therefore am prepared to spend money on regular treatments and therapies that are designed to keep up my levels of wellness. My favourite for some years has been Homeopathy, which can treat not only physical symptoms, but also emotional and spiritual states too, and it's changed me from an anxious, angst ridden mess, into the gorgeous woman you see today! Well, OK, it can't actually give me a facelift, but it has helped my confidence no end!
Anyway, my classes start in earnest next week, so I may find I have little time for blogging....but we'll see. But what with the Belly Dance Spectacular looming closer, and my 10th Anniversary Hafla on 5th Feb, not to mention the forward planning I need to do for the souk, you can see why I might be a bit busy!
More next time.........
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Radio Show & Skype
Well, the radio show didn't go quite as planned...Peter phoned me to say that the elderly computer we have been using just wasn't coping well with all the load we were subjecting it too, so we were having to find ingenious (and temporary) ways around various problems, and this meant there was a greater risk of the whole thing freezing up or crashing! So, we decided to cancel our guest, as it would have been mortifying if that had happenned while interviewing her, especially as it would have been her second attempt to be interviewed by us (the previous attempt had been at SCR when the electrics went down). We decided to go ahead anyway with the material we had already prepared and talk through the slot we would have used for the interview. When Peter and I get together we can waffle indefinitely, so there was no problem filling the allotted time! We also switched the webcam on for the first time! Peter has been resisting this for some time, but during various upgrades it had got switched on permanently... and I wasn't about to switch it off, was I? I love the limelight! It was pretty distracting to start with, and then we both went into silly (very unprofessional) kiddy-with-a-new-toy mode and started messing around when the music was on...oh dear! Think we are going to have to make some decisions about that for the future....But it would be useful to have when we have a guest that does something visual, or that benefits from a demonstration. It's all a very steep learning curve!
And whilst in the pub last night (first visit since Xmas, before you start making any comments!), I told Sid about my thought about promoting Belly Dance via Skype, and after throwing around a few ideas I got quite enthusiastic about it. I tried to launch it a few months back, but had directed it towards existing Belly Dancers, and I had no takers, though some interest. But with petrol prices going up I wondered if potential new students might welcome the chance to learn at home, via Skype. AND in theory I could teach anyone, anywhere in the world! Despite my previous lack of success I still think it's a great idea, so am putting some energy into it. I do feel that doing this sort of stuff via the internet is the way forward...I suspect that in the future more and more people will be staying at home and doing more on the web, like shopping, entertainment and learning things.So....watch this space.
OK gotta go now as we are off to Brum for a contact lens appt and to visit and old friend. Toodle Pip sweeties!
And whilst in the pub last night (first visit since Xmas, before you start making any comments!), I told Sid about my thought about promoting Belly Dance via Skype, and after throwing around a few ideas I got quite enthusiastic about it. I tried to launch it a few months back, but had directed it towards existing Belly Dancers, and I had no takers, though some interest. But with petrol prices going up I wondered if potential new students might welcome the chance to learn at home, via Skype. AND in theory I could teach anyone, anywhere in the world! Despite my previous lack of success I still think it's a great idea, so am putting some energy into it. I do feel that doing this sort of stuff via the internet is the way forward...I suspect that in the future more and more people will be staying at home and doing more on the web, like shopping, entertainment and learning things.So....watch this space.
OK gotta go now as we are off to Brum for a contact lens appt and to visit and old friend. Toodle Pip sweeties!
Friday, 14 January 2011
The Letter and Treasure Maps
OK!! Yippeee! I'm back! After fiddling about for a couple fo weeks trying to get back on here, I'm rather embarrassed to admit that the problem was because I was putting the wrong email in the sign in box....DOH!
Anyway, moving swiftly on.....I wanted to talk about Treasure maps and The Letter. My Insipration Spot on the radio today is all about The Letter, an idea that I picked up from my good friend Maggy Whitehouse who is a very wise woamn. The Letter is a concept that shares most if not all it's precepts with Cosmic Ordering, as no doubt many of you will know what that is.
So, the idea is that at the end of the year/beginning of the next, you write a letter as if you were sending it to someone the following December, telling them what kind of a year you have had. So instead of the usual Round Robin, you have a wonderful message about positive events. You need to think of all the marvellous things you would love to have happen in the next year, and write them down as if they have already happenned, and you need to phrase it in very positive terms...so no 'I managed to do this..' or 'against all odds this happenned..' It really makes you realise just how many negative or limiting phrases we use every day! The Universe is ready to give you what ever you need...it is only your ego that stops it. This is because the ego limits us in order to protect us- often based on old messages we learnt as children, but our higher self is limitless. So if we let go of the ego and allow our imagination to go wild...anything is possible! But be careful not to limit yourself too much or be too specific...for example, if you say 'I got a blue turbo charged Micra', then you are not allowing the Universe to give you something better or different. The Universe is wiser than us, and although we think we know what we want, sometimes it knows better! So 'I got a fantastic blue car' allows the Universe to maybe give you a blue Bentley, rather than a Micra! And you need to write your letter to a friend who you know will be sympathetic to what you are doing...you don't need to send it, but having someone to direct it to will give it energy. Maggy says you can email it to her (you can find her on Facbook). Then you put the letter away, and forget about it, therefore allowing the Universe to get on with the business of dealing with your requests unhindered by you! The exciting bit is getting it out again in Decmber and seeing how much of it came true!
I cam across a very similar idea many years ago, but this time it was called a Treasure Map. Instead of a letter, you took a large piece of paper, and covered it with pictures and words about what you wanted for the year / in the future. As with the letter, it had to be full of positive statements, and not too specific, and at the bottom you had to put the phrase 'this or something better, to the highest good of all concerned'. Then you put it up on the wall so you saw it every time you passed by. I did this treasure map, and admittedly I was a bit too desperate and couldn't leave it alone and worrited over it too much! I asked for stacks of money....and wondered why I didn't get it! It probably would have been better to have asked for a windfall, or maybe a better paid job. However, a couple of things DID work out. I'd asked to go to the Findhorn Foundation and wanted to meet Eileen Caddy...and I did just that...went on a course with her! And...while asking for work abroad I'd put up a picture of a group of people having fun together in the sun......and blow me if one of the people in the picture turned up on the Eileen Caddy course! Wow, that was weird!
Anyway, this has got me all excited about the idea again, so I'm off to write my letter!
And if you are interested, I'll be talking about it on The Alternative Show this afternoon 2-4pm on www.ustream.tv
See ya later!
Anyway, moving swiftly on.....I wanted to talk about Treasure maps and The Letter. My Insipration Spot on the radio today is all about The Letter, an idea that I picked up from my good friend Maggy Whitehouse who is a very wise woamn. The Letter is a concept that shares most if not all it's precepts with Cosmic Ordering, as no doubt many of you will know what that is.
So, the idea is that at the end of the year/beginning of the next, you write a letter as if you were sending it to someone the following December, telling them what kind of a year you have had. So instead of the usual Round Robin, you have a wonderful message about positive events. You need to think of all the marvellous things you would love to have happen in the next year, and write them down as if they have already happenned, and you need to phrase it in very positive terms...so no 'I managed to do this..' or 'against all odds this happenned..' It really makes you realise just how many negative or limiting phrases we use every day! The Universe is ready to give you what ever you need...it is only your ego that stops it. This is because the ego limits us in order to protect us- often based on old messages we learnt as children, but our higher self is limitless. So if we let go of the ego and allow our imagination to go wild...anything is possible! But be careful not to limit yourself too much or be too specific...for example, if you say 'I got a blue turbo charged Micra', then you are not allowing the Universe to give you something better or different. The Universe is wiser than us, and although we think we know what we want, sometimes it knows better! So 'I got a fantastic blue car' allows the Universe to maybe give you a blue Bentley, rather than a Micra! And you need to write your letter to a friend who you know will be sympathetic to what you are doing...you don't need to send it, but having someone to direct it to will give it energy. Maggy says you can email it to her (you can find her on Facbook). Then you put the letter away, and forget about it, therefore allowing the Universe to get on with the business of dealing with your requests unhindered by you! The exciting bit is getting it out again in Decmber and seeing how much of it came true!
I cam across a very similar idea many years ago, but this time it was called a Treasure Map. Instead of a letter, you took a large piece of paper, and covered it with pictures and words about what you wanted for the year / in the future. As with the letter, it had to be full of positive statements, and not too specific, and at the bottom you had to put the phrase 'this or something better, to the highest good of all concerned'. Then you put it up on the wall so you saw it every time you passed by. I did this treasure map, and admittedly I was a bit too desperate and couldn't leave it alone and worrited over it too much! I asked for stacks of money....and wondered why I didn't get it! It probably would have been better to have asked for a windfall, or maybe a better paid job. However, a couple of things DID work out. I'd asked to go to the Findhorn Foundation and wanted to meet Eileen Caddy...and I did just that...went on a course with her! And...while asking for work abroad I'd put up a picture of a group of people having fun together in the sun......and blow me if one of the people in the picture turned up on the Eileen Caddy course! Wow, that was weird!
Anyway, this has got me all excited about the idea again, so I'm off to write my letter!
And if you are interested, I'll be talking about it on The Alternative Show this afternoon 2-4pm on www.ustream.tv
See ya later!
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Finally Back!
I know it's silly o'clock in the morning, but I'm writing to celebrate that after a couple of weeks unsuccessfully trying to sign myself back on here I've finally done it!! Bloody technology....or what it operator error? Hmmm.....
Anyway, I'm still finding out how to use this facility, so I now would like to know how to share my posts- otherwise I may as well be talking to myself. Well, that's EXACTLY what I'm doing, actually...ahem.
Radio show tomorrw- we're still finding our feet after a couple of dodgy but moderately successful attempts. Tomorrow is the first time since Oct that we have an 'official' guest, so I'm feeling slightly nervous, mainly 'cos I'm worried the technology will fail us, or us it... if you get my drift!
But more tomorrow, if I can remember how to get myself back on here....see you in about two weeks perhaps!!LOL!
Anyway, I'm still finding out how to use this facility, so I now would like to know how to share my posts- otherwise I may as well be talking to myself. Well, that's EXACTLY what I'm doing, actually...ahem.
Radio show tomorrw- we're still finding our feet after a couple of dodgy but moderately successful attempts. Tomorrow is the first time since Oct that we have an 'official' guest, so I'm feeling slightly nervous, mainly 'cos I'm worried the technology will fail us, or us it... if you get my drift!
But more tomorrow, if I can remember how to get myself back on here....see you in about two weeks perhaps!!LOL!
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