A Lovely Goodbye

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.
– William Faulkner

Image: She’s Like The Wind

2014.

When I reflect back on the year that has been, I am surprised by how much 2014 has meant to me. Sometimes it takes coming out the other end of a long and endless tunnel to truly understand the value of the lessons that come disguised as life experience.
At times, 2014 was frustrating, busy, creatively stunting and chaotic. At others times, it instilled a burning desire to do more, be more and feel more. It was the year that really tested me and who I wanted to become as a person.

Compared to previous years I found myself blogging less and feeling creatively depleted. I found myself overwhelmed by how much I wanted to accomplish and achieve, and in turn, lost the drive and razor-sharp focus I needed in order to execute everything to the best of my abilities. I was restless, confused and inundated with so many obligations I felt stuck.

Luckily, I was once again introduced to the outer boundary of my comfort zone – where mediocre and magic collide. It was thrilling and terrifying. I connected with the missing piece- my unfailing desire to throw myself headfirst into the unknown and know I could fly. Once I took that step, a spark ignited within.

Sometimes it takes being honest with yourself and where you are in the moment to get the creative juices and zest for life flowing. I played team sport voluntarily for the first time ever, made new friends, ran my first 10k in less than hour, conquered my fear of heights in an obstacle race with friends, read close to 100 books, became the healthiest I’ve ever been, found clarity in my vision for my business and fell back in love with the world of Dancing Peregrine. It’s almost that I needed to lose my passion to truly appreciate the joy and value that comes with it.

I credit Elise Joy’s creative podcast On Focus, and what to do when you have “too many ideas.” It really helped me whittle down all my ideas and rediscover, that not all ideas are equal or give me great joy. Once I realised this and saw it clear as day on pen and paper…the heaviness I had been feeling lifted. I had been prioritising the wrong things.

It feels liberating!

So what did I discover?

1. I need to write. It’s a compulsion. I must finish my revision for Dancing Peregrine because it matters to me so much words cannot even explain. I will not put my writing on the back burner because this is important.
2. Blogging. I LOVE it. I want to do more, I want to connect with fellow creative creatures and follow their journeys too. I’m in the process of moving my blog to a new domain. So keep at eye out for that change in the New Year. This transition has already given me a creative lease.
3. Running. I don’t know how this happened, considering I actually hated it until I discovered the thrill of running outdoors. I want to make this a part of my lifestyle and do a half marathon next year. I need to do this because it will push me in a way I have never dared to physically before. Plus, I’m craving this challenge.

So that’s where I am right now in this moment.

I look forward to seeing you in my new space and sharing the crazy journey that is creating stories.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas,

Love and Light,

Anushka xx

January so far ::

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future, it is something you design for the present
– Jim Rohn

Photo Credit: Joel Robison

January so far has been filled to the brim with family time, sunshine, rain (Australia has such random summers in some places), new car, books, new authors, a lot of blog reading, tea drinking and fruit eating bliss.

2014 is a blank slate, filled with untouched pages. Ever since I can remember, there has always been something big happening each year and this is the first year where the path remains unwritten. Not just with my creative life, but also with life in general. It’s exciting.

The reason I haven’t blogged yet this year is because I have really been thinking about what I want this year to mean for me and what I want to achieve, experience and breathe. I want to come to the end of this year experiencing wholeness in all the major areas of my life – health, creative, love, spiritual, financial & business.

A great tip for those of you who haven’t had the chance to sit down to envision and plan for the year ahead, remember to write down everything you have achieved and accomplished in 2013 before starting. It’s so easy to be hard on yourself and feel like you aren’t doing enough, or you aren’t enough, but that simply is not true. Doing this made me realise how hard I can be on myself. 

Instead of boring you all with the goals I have set for myself and step-by-step plan of action (with room for the unexpected of course), I decided to do it differently this year and write down the lifestyle changes I want to integrate into my daily life instead.

• Eat clean and drink 3L of water a day

• Work on projects that give me joy on a daily basis, even for 15minutes

• Surprise the people I care about with unexpected gestures

• Take up yoga
• Restrict internet/phone time

• Look at my goals first thing in the morning and last thing at night so I don’t lose track. Where focus goes, energy follows after all.

I struggled to come up with a  ‘WORD’ for 2014,  some kind of beacon to the keep me on track throughout the year. Two years ago it was REINVENT. It was the year I said bye to the corporate job, relocated to Vancouver and went to acting school. 2013 was CREATE. It was the year I got married and got serious with my Dancing Peregrine revisions and became self-employed.  This year, the word that seems to have the right fit is NOURISH. I want to feel more connected to my life in mind, body and spirit, and something about the word NOURISH seems perfect.

How about you, do you have a word? What goals and lifestyle changes do you hope to embody in 2014?

Love and light,

Anushka xx

Revising on the Road

Leah Johnson Photography

 

The exquisite Devin Berglund was kind enough to host my gypsy self on her blog. If you’ve been wondering where this creature has disappeared to…again….check out the link below!

Revising on the Road

Love and light,

Anushka xx

2013 Writing Goals: Designing Life With Words

People with goals succeed, because they know where they’re going

-Earl Nightingale

Twenty12  easily was the most productive writing year I have  ever had, with most of that hard earned magic happened during the second half of the year (first half was all about surviving the incredible experience that is acting school). I have a good feeling  Twenty13 will be just as productive, if not more! Imagine what one can accomplish when they use the entire year from the start?

I am a big believer in goal setting, I’m not going to lie…more often that not my goals are really ambitious and don’t take into account the other things I to do in life. When I’m on a roll creatively I also have the tendency to throw the whole healthy concept of Balance out the window. Something I hope to avoid this year.

So this year I’m tweaking the way I set goals for the year. I have separated them into compartments such as writing, travel and health and gone a step further and broken those big goals down into mini goals month-by-month. Some months are flexible and not set in stone ( hello, I’m a panster! I can barely plot the first 5 scenes of a book let alone goal set for 12 months!). It’s refreshing and comforting to see how my year will be made up, especially in regards to my writing pursuits, without feeling the need to cram everything into a month and have everything done now, now, now.

Below, I have shared my overall writing goals and my month target for January.

2013   writing goals

–         Complete edits of current WIP Dancing Peregrine

–         Outline Peregrine Series (Quartet)

–         3 First Drafts

i)      Peregrine_Book2

ii)     Project_Circus

iii)     Untitled – something fresh, new and exciting!

–         2 Revised Novels (not including current WIP)

i)      Peregrine_Book2

ii)    Project_Circus

–         Complete Editing & Proofreading  Course (via correspondence)

–         Read 24 Novels 

JANUARY GOALS

1. Proofreading and Editing Book 1 and assignment

2. Part 1 & Part 2 Edits: Dancing Peregrine

***

Part of me is excited and slightly mortified that I will be putting myself through TWO revisions this year (not including the one I’m currently on). But as my writing improves with every draft, I live in the hopes that editing will become a skill (not a chore) I improve with over time and practice. I’m actually groaning right now, but hey, positive thinking never hurts anyone right?

I love hearing about what motivates everyone so feel free to share what Twenty13 has in store for you. You are also welcome to share a link back to your blog in the comments if you have done so already 🙂

Love and light,

Anushka xx