Some Bujo Pages

So, I'm into my third Bujo and I'm loving it; I only wish I was artistic. Clearly, I inherited nothing from Dad on that front.

I do like to vary my weekly layout pages. After doing some experimenting, I mostly use the same weekly spread. I do like some of the circular elements that can be used. The circles are easy, but I have trouble evenly dividing the days or the hours inside of the circles.

I really love to look at my Books collection. I keep the dated pages in the front of my Bujo, and the collections in the back. I prefer that my calendar flow not be interrupted by unrelated pages. My goal last year was to read 33 books, which I did (plus a few more). So I increased the goal this year to 40 books. I should really have 20 books read by now, but I don't. A book I'm currently reading is over 1,000 pages! It has slowed me down a bit. That could potentially count as 2 or even 3 books, but if I did that, I'd feel like I was cheating. I talked with someone who said that for every 200 pages they read, they count that as a book. I couldn't do that, either. Oh well, to each his own.

I've read some hefty books so far this year: 784 pages, 644, 576. But I have also read some small books: 71 pages, 68, 150. My average number of pages per book is 347 pages, which I think is just fine. The photo shows 10 books read, but I'm now up to 14 books. I enjoy reading, but if I don't set a reading goal, I don't read as much. It's just that simple. And this page makes it fun or me to track my progress for the year.

Do you track the books you read? In what way? Let me know; feel free to include a photo. What other Collections do you have that you love?

I hope you're having a wonderful day...

My New Discovery!

I'm in love with this color!

I totally suck at blogging. Not that I'm looking for a lot of followers; I'm not. This blog is mostly for me. I have no specific topic, although I wouldn't mind having one. So, AGAIN I will try to stick with it.

About a week and a half ago I discovered Bullet journaling. I joined four different Facebook groups, and pinned a ton of ideas from Pinterest. Also took a bajillion screen shots and saved images I found. There are so many creative people out there who are willing to share their ideas.

If you're not familiar with Bullet journals (bujo), you can watch this short video that explains the basics. http://youtu.be/fm15cmYU0IM I bought a Leuchtturm1917 squared (with a grid). I wanted the dots, not the grid, but they've been sold out everywhere. Apparently, I'm not the only one who discovered Bullet journaling! I got mine from JB Welly in pink and I absolutely love it.
I even like the grid pages! And JB Welly sent it gift wrapped and with a hand written thank you! It came quickly, too, so I will definitely order from them again.

This will be my planner. I've had the journal for less than a week, but I feel like I got a lot done, I need to do a lot of future planning at work, so I'm trying to figure out the best page layouts for me. I'm also using the STEP program from learndobecome.com, and I want to incorporate some of the STEP elements into my bujo.

Most people experiment with different layouts until the figure out what works best for them. Because I need to see calendar pages so far into the future (could be a full year at times) I don't have the luxury of trying new things. I came up with a weekly spread that I think will work, and while I've allocated pages for my weekly spread through August 2017, I've only made the actual weekly spreads through next month. Before each month's weekly spreads I have a spread with the month, and another spread with my current month's projects and a habit tracker. There's room for more, and I'm trying to decide what to put here. Could be memories from that month, a gratitude page, or for months that are out several or more months, I could use it for notes and as a future planner because I definitely write out notes way in advance, I prefer to put them right where I'll them, so that I don't have to transfer (or migrate) them at a later time.

I am experimenting with a couple of monthly layouts. The original Bullet Journal founder suggests listing out the days of the month, but I've always liked seeing the calendar in a grid. So that's how I made my first two monthly spreads. The next month I listed the dates and then created a column for "All Day" items, and one for time specific items like doctor appointments. The facing page has monthly tasks, notes, and monthly projects. I think I like this better than the grid set up.

But wait! There's more! I made one more; this one has the dates listed again, but it has three columns: All Day, AM, and PM. Time specific items will go in the am, and pm columns. I think this will be helpful, because I have more than one item on a single day. But I won't really know if this actually works for me until October; that's when this layout is in my bujo. And I already have nine items on that calendar. Aren't you glad that I didn't try any monthlies beyond October? But my dilemma is that I do need to carry over notes from my planner through the end of the year. Where do I put them? I thought maybe in that second spread for the month, across from the habit tracker. Yep, that's probably what I'll have to do. I'll have to share some of my other pages in a future post.
 

Suggestions vs. Orders

I read a blog post recently by James Clear (JamesClear.com), and in it he talked about the mind as a Suggestion Engine. His thoughts on the topic fit very well with what I've learned recently. Just as an octagon has many sides, so too we may notice many sides when looking for a solution to a problem, or when looking at the problem itself. And James tells us to consider every thought you have as a suggestion, not an order.

If you allow for a pause and take stock, your mind may give you many suggestions, and it's then your task to determine which one feels right for you in this particular situation.

James said this, "Your life is good and your discomfort is temporary. Step into this moment of discomfort and let it strengthen you." Hmm, sounds a bit like what I've been learning about focusing. Allow yourself to feel the discomfort in a "felt sense", a body sensation that is meaningful, in whatever form it manifests, and as you allow yourself to experience it, see what comes to mind.

Here's some more from James Clear's blog post, all of which really resonates with me:

You Will Never Regret Good Work Once It is Done

Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” So often it seems that we want to work easily at work worth doing. We want our work to be helpful and respected, but we do not want to struggle through our work. We want our stomachs to be flat and our arms to be strong, but we do not want to grind through another workout. We want the final result, but not the failed attempts that precede it. We want the gold, but not the grind.

Anyone can want a gold medal. Few people want to train like an Olympian.

And yet, despite our resistance to it, I have never found myself feeling worse after the hard work was done. There have been days when it was damn hard to start, but it was always worth finishing. Sometimes, the simple act of showing up and having the courage to do the work, even in an average manner, is a victory worth celebrating.

And one last bit:

So, what do I do when I feel like giving up? I show up.

Do I show up at my best? I doubt it. But my job isn’t to judge how good or how bad I am. My job is to do the work and let the world decide.

While I don't think the world will decide how good or bad I am at my job, someone will have an opinion, of that I'm certain.

Just finished my retreat

So, once again it's been a very long time since I've posted. I'd like to change that, so here I am, trying again.

I've recently completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 19th Annotation. I had wanted to experience this retreat, and had purchased a number of books about the Exercises, but they all said that you needed a spiritual director to take you through the retreat. At the time, I didn't have a spiritual director. But along came Maria; I'm sure it was no coincidence that we were brought together. After a little more than a year of spiritual direction, Maria asked me if I would like to consider the Ignatian exercises. Of course I said, "YES!"

My spiritual director led me through the process using The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in Daily Life by Fr. Kevin O'Brien SJ. What a wonderful experience. I feel like there is still so much I didn't fully absorb and would like to go through the book and the process again. Often, the scripture I was praying with on the retreat was in sync with the readings at Mass. So if I do go through the book again, I would want to start at the same time of year so that I'm following the Liturgical Calendar. I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.

Maybe I'll go into more detail in another post.

Wow - 19 months

It's been almost 19 months since I've posted anything. I know, I know, every blog should have a focus, and this one definitely doesn't. But I don't want to limit myself. I want to write about whatever I happen to be focused on in my life at the moment.

Lent begins tomorrow; I may focus on that. Or my health, diet, crocheting, home organization and de-cluttering, my upcoming trip to Florida, and another to Chicago, training my dog.... There are all kinds of topics that I might want to write about.

For instance, I've finally deleted Candy Crush from my phone and my iPad. I'm sick of needing a ticket (or $1.99) to get to the next level. I was  only in the 150s, and couldn't advance. C'mon, what a waste of time! So with trembling finger, I deleted the app - TWICE! I'm free!

I've had surgery since I last posted, that was fun. But I'll get into that another time.

And who am I writing this blog for, anyway? Or should I say, for whom am I writing this blog? I guess for me. It's interesting to look back and see where I was, so I guess I'll consider it a type of journal, but I'll pretend that I'm writing it for someone "out there". That'll be our little secret.

Dinner Tonight

So much fun tonight having dinner with the Cosgrove's and Duffy's (alphabetical order). Hi Pam!! Why don't we do this more often?! I guess our schedules get in the way. But now that the kids are older, maybe it will be easier to get together.

It's fun to catch up, and maybe create some new memories.

Duffy family: we need to schedule a date for donuts!

Ugh!

It's 11:30 pm, and I'm feeling totally depressed. I don't want to go to bed. But why not??

Soon. I'll go to bed soon.