Yesterday I treated myself to a lazy morning, coffee and breakfast out, reading, podcasting and blogging.... no uni study  in sight. So today's thoughts have come together because....
I read

• Karen's post on favourite podcasts
• A chapter of the book "walking towards ourselves: Indian Women tell their stories
• Other exciting blogs with many good book reviews

I listened to

• Lee Sales and Annabel Crab, chat10looks3
• Elizabeth Gilbert's, Big Magic, interviews with Amy Purdy, and Penelope (episode 206)

So, here's what has come of all that thinking. I am a creative being, and I love to create. One of my favorite things to create is food from the garden, and I like to cook,  and at different times of my life I've played music, crocheted, made mosaics, re purposed furniture, made paper & candles. All of these things have been part of me expressing myself. I recently heard some thing powerful. It was  from a writer, who's mission in life was to speak the truth. She said at the root of her work was a very strong desire and motivation to be seen. This resonated with me. The reason to create things is in some part motivated by contributing to the world around me, and being seen. 

I think we are all creative but some of us struggle to let it out.  We all have some thing to contribute and some purpose to be seen, noticed for.

In reading the stories from Indian women, I loved the story "square peg in a round hole". The author spoke about her choice not to live as was expected of her in India. She's a single woman who smokes, drinks, parties, writes, and appears to have sorted out who she wants to be in a  place where there are rules about who you can be. She's confident in her self, despite the threats of violence, rejection and condemnation. They way she lives her life is true to herself, but it cant be easy. It must be hard most days.

The interview with Penelope and Amy on Big Magic captured my attention because Penelope, a dancer by profession and at heart, has the desire to create a dance for herself to celebrate her 60th birthday. Its a beautiful ambition. But she she struggles with capturing her life moments and experiences. To help her work through the Elizabeth, the interviewer,  connects her to Amy who has a powerful dancing story too. Amy lost both her legs due to a virus, yet went on to compete in snowboarding and on dancing with the stars. Through Amy's story, Penelope was encouraged to think not only of the hard things in life as markers of her story, but of the fun and lighter side.

I'm loving the way podcasts can encourage and inspire me. Lee and Anabel have this lovely chat about all things read, listened to, watched & baked.. as I listen to them I am reminded of the lighter side of life. They laugh at themselves and others in a respectful way. I envy that.. but then again, on reflection, I see elements of that in my life.

Do the hard things in life define you or your story, or can you see how the lighter things in life are part of your story? Can you laugh at yourself? How do you manage to create a life that's genuine and honouring of your true being? Could you benefit from hearing other peoples stories?

It's timely for me to think about how I define myself and how I feel about my last year. I am hoping to introduce a new storyline - one that doesn't focus so much on the hard and annoying (and the pain) - to one that see's the light and soft as valuable moments of definition and meaning.