So, the 22nd came and went, and 6 postcards failed to materialise. There was only one that I wasn’t really expecting to get back, and they’re ok. I didn’t want to learn how to surf anyway (water is cold, and also wet! Two things I don’t like very much). Another is excused due to the lateness of her inclusion and the fact she had a baby almost immediately. But still.
The whole experiment inadvertently took on an emotional life of its own as I took the rollercoaster ride of checking what the postman had brought each day. For the first few days, nothing. Then one. Then a dribble. Then a swarm. First the postcards from those I knew I could rely on, and the wide-eyed wonder of the challenges they proposed. The warmth in realising how well they knew me. Then those on the outer, who I thought might palm the entire thing off as some outlandish flight of fancy, but humoured me anyway. Delight in their deliberate thoughtfulness. Then the surprises, the people to whom I’d cast a wide net but wasn’t sure they would rise to the occasion; the recognition of handwriting from people long lost and a subsequent stirring of affection.
I guess I’d sort of expected not to get all 29 postcards back, but what surprised me in the end is which ones didn’t come home. Every flourish of childish excitement at the unexpected ones, I now realise is countered with a short sharp pang at those who didn’t deem the project important enough. Who didn’t deem me important enough.
Now the deadline has passed, I will admit that I secretly hoped somebody would ask me to get a tattoo, but oh well. I also hoped I would be given the justification to learn how to drive and learn some skills in the kitchen, so it evens out. Perhaps fortunately, the ever-prepared Jacob Sewell considerately provided me with four challenges instead of one. I’ve really only taken up 3 of them, but that at least takes my tally to 26 challenges.
That leaves me three challenges. For bonus points, I am filling the gaps.
1. Give blood.
2. Learn conversational Japanese.
3. Find out more about my parents.
Giving blood is something I’ve always thought I should do, since high school, but never got up the gall to go through with it. The Japanese sounds like a big one, but I really just want to learn enough to help me figure out where the train station is and how to order some sake when we visit there next July. It’s a flying visit, 4 nights in Tokyo, but I dare say that’s plenty of time to get tremendously lost on the way to the train station and accidentally order octopus brains. Hence, a basic understanding of Japanese would be nice. The parental thing is something I literally just came up with. My Mum and Dad got married late in proceedings and are quite inhibited about their lives before me and before each other. It’s intriguing. I have hints about who they were, but often I feel like I don’t really know them. They’re not big talkers.
I’ve also realised there are other goals I have quietly set for myself – the vegetarian Thursday thing; trying to read all of the books on our bookshelf before going to the store and drooling over more of them; drinking more water instead of soft drinks or cordial; the “no non-essential spending” weeks. I’d be doing these things anyway, so don’t worry, I’m not trying to cheat, but it is just curious the way we make these shifts without giving them too much thought.
Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Be positive
I have a new boss, and she has moved into what used to be my ‘meditation room’ and now I’m feeling a little bit lost. More lost than I should rightly feel. Maybe this meditation malarkey has been having more effect than I give it credit for. I meditated at home yesterday instead, but the juju was all wrong. I could use the first aid room but you never know when somebody might come bursting in with a violent head wound and need the space to bleed everywhere, so I’m reluctant to take up that option.
Feeling defeated about the fundraising ball again. What else is new.
I am still sans 7 challenges and I am wondering what to do about this. I have faith that I may still receive a couple more but others I am not so sure about. And some people I wonder why I continue putting energy into them. I actually changed my mind at the last minute about one of the recipients, adding somebody who should have been on the list from the beginning and for some stupid reason wasn’t there, and taking off somebody who I realised was a complete waste of my time, as usual. I get tired thinking about such things very quickly. To be very curt about it, I did a ‘cull’ of such people in my life a few years ago, and I haven’t regretted it. Sometimes you’ve got to know when to let go, you know? But then I think: there is reward in savouring friendships. Most people mean well. It’s about finding a balance.
Originally when people asked what would happen if I found myself in this situation (not having all challenges returned), I was steadfast: their loss, and more time for me to concentrate on the ones that did arrive. I’m wondering now if there is room for 7 more of them, and there probably isn’t. But that in itself was part of the challenge, right?
Here’s what I’m going to do. Any outstanding postcards on 22nd October 2010 – that’s 3 months after the project started – will have their Challenger Rights forfeited. Maybe I’ll then choose to challenge myself in place of the missing ones. I already have some ideas. They won’t be too difficult or time consuming, more like new year’s resolutions (and probably taken with as much salt, so there is also no pressure to finish them in the same way as the others). Like, I’ve been thinking for a long time, I should really give blood. My blood type is B+. Be positive! How can I not share blood that life affirming!
Anyway, I’ll deal with that in November. I have a lot to do before then.
PS. We finally have a government again! About fricking time! Lead well, Julia... lead well.
Feeling defeated about the fundraising ball again. What else is new.
I am still sans 7 challenges and I am wondering what to do about this. I have faith that I may still receive a couple more but others I am not so sure about. And some people I wonder why I continue putting energy into them. I actually changed my mind at the last minute about one of the recipients, adding somebody who should have been on the list from the beginning and for some stupid reason wasn’t there, and taking off somebody who I realised was a complete waste of my time, as usual. I get tired thinking about such things very quickly. To be very curt about it, I did a ‘cull’ of such people in my life a few years ago, and I haven’t regretted it. Sometimes you’ve got to know when to let go, you know? But then I think: there is reward in savouring friendships. Most people mean well. It’s about finding a balance.
Originally when people asked what would happen if I found myself in this situation (not having all challenges returned), I was steadfast: their loss, and more time for me to concentrate on the ones that did arrive. I’m wondering now if there is room for 7 more of them, and there probably isn’t. But that in itself was part of the challenge, right?
Here’s what I’m going to do. Any outstanding postcards on 22nd October 2010 – that’s 3 months after the project started – will have their Challenger Rights forfeited. Maybe I’ll then choose to challenge myself in place of the missing ones. I already have some ideas. They won’t be too difficult or time consuming, more like new year’s resolutions (and probably taken with as much salt, so there is also no pressure to finish them in the same way as the others). Like, I’ve been thinking for a long time, I should really give blood. My blood type is B+. Be positive! How can I not share blood that life affirming!
Anyway, I’ll deal with that in November. I have a lot to do before then.
PS. We finally have a government again! About fricking time! Lead well, Julia... lead well.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Pie chart... mmmm
Because I have nothing of substance to say today, I have decided to draw you a pie chart of my challenges according to what kind of time and/or effort is required of them.
My categories are:
1) Postcard not received. Self explanatory (you slack so-and-sos).
2) One off task. A slightly misleading title, as this doesn't necessarily mean that I can just do it in one go. The bike ride is a good example of this: the task itself, being a charity ride from Sydney to Wollongong, will only take a few hours. But I still had to register, do the fundraising, do enough training that I don't collapse in a heap before I've even made it to Cooks River... you get the gist.
3) Ongoing - small tasks. This means things like the meditation, the songwriting and the make-people-laugh-ing. Small, but somehow still big.
4) Ongoing - commitment to task. This means the task involves a dedicated length of time to complete, such as joining a choir or learning to breakdance. It's not something I can just knock out in a weekend, I have to make the effort to work at this over weeks or months...
5) Requires multiple weekends. Things like walking around Sydney Harbour will take a while, but I'm not restricted to a specific time frame as I would be if I was attending classes or something. The horseriding looks like it will take 3 weekends, for example.
6) Gradual process. Like learning to drive, or learning to cook.
7) HELP! The stuff that I couldn't fit in any of those other categories and can't figure out how to achieve (So basically, the fundraising ball).
I'm glad they're spread out like this, because it has been almost a full month since I started and while I'm definitely making progress, I can't say I've actually completed any one thing yet. The small ongoings will technically never have a completion date, I just have to continue them for the whole year. The large ongoings I'll have to space out. The one offs I just need to lock in dates for, and I've just got to chip away at everything else.
End of month summary (corresponding to challenges):
#1 - Brain. Stalling.
#2 - Not sure what to do about this one.
#3 - I am crap at making strangers laugh. But I'm working on it.
#4 - I am meditating (almost) every day with increasing success.
#5 - I have completed Song 1 of my 12 months worth of songs-about-challenges (to be posted over the weekend depending on severity of my headcold)
#6 - Did some basic research on gig opportunities in Bathurst (the area that Jason now lives with his family) AND saw them for the first time in about 8 years when they happened to be passing through Sydney.
#7 - Looked into local gospel choirs. Many don't take newcomers but one looked particularly good, and said they would be recruiting for a musical later in the year. BAM! That's 2 of Ros's suggested challenges in one hit. Just waiting for the callback...
#8 - Heather's postcard actually asked to volunteer at the school, but I have asked permission to take up the second challenge, which is to sing at a hospital. I would actually love to help a kinder reading group but the fact is I have a 9 to 5 office job which may not be so supportive of me taking a few hours off every week to read to five year olds. Heather has yet to respond...
#9 - I really am going to do the Manly to Spit walk this weekend.
#10 - My first driving lesson is next Wednesday.
#11 - We have negotiated the date for Tasmania and it currently looks like the first weekend in February 2011. We want it to be hot enough to jump into the lagoon. However we're on the lookout for cheap flights and we'll go when it is opportunistic for us to do so.
#12 - I am going back to my parents' home in September and plan to raid their photo collection then. Since they live in the country and there isn't much to do there, I thought that would be a great place to start scrapbooking.
#13 - I have cooked one mostly-successful meal so far, sans recipe. I'm also cooking dinner for Carla & Jeremy next Friday, but am undecided on what will be on the menu yet.
#14 - Have nervously applied for numerous game shows.
#15 - Haven't set aside a time for horseriding, but it is on the cards.
#16 - Have both registered and hit my minimum donation target for the Sydney to Gong bike ride. Wowee zowee!
#17 - I am trying to find out exactly who was at this mysterious dinner. I've contacted a couple of people I know were there. They were surprisingly accommodating. It's so crazy it might just work.
#18 - I asked Cassie if she would join me in my breakdancing adventures. She has ignored my requests...
#19 - Purchased 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' and am a couple of chapters into it. I like John Singer. He's a good guy.
#20 - Haven't even looked into local theatre groups... may end up taking the multi-media option due to time and energy restraints.
#21 - I'm trying to negotiate a film crew so my band can make a video clip. We've already written and storyboarded the whole thing, we just need someone to make it real...
#22 - Haven't thought too much about busking, except that I may need a licence for certain cities. And that I may need to learn a few Oasis songs.
#23 - #29 are empty boxes.
Ok, well for a short post this has become exceptionally long. Still, seeing it all written out like that makes me feel a little less like a loser. F*ck the what! (a joke only Bart will understand)
My categories are:1) Postcard not received. Self explanatory (you slack so-and-sos).
2) One off task. A slightly misleading title, as this doesn't necessarily mean that I can just do it in one go. The bike ride is a good example of this: the task itself, being a charity ride from Sydney to Wollongong, will only take a few hours. But I still had to register, do the fundraising, do enough training that I don't collapse in a heap before I've even made it to Cooks River... you get the gist.
3) Ongoing - small tasks. This means things like the meditation, the songwriting and the make-people-laugh-ing. Small, but somehow still big.
4) Ongoing - commitment to task. This means the task involves a dedicated length of time to complete, such as joining a choir or learning to breakdance. It's not something I can just knock out in a weekend, I have to make the effort to work at this over weeks or months...
5) Requires multiple weekends. Things like walking around Sydney Harbour will take a while, but I'm not restricted to a specific time frame as I would be if I was attending classes or something. The horseriding looks like it will take 3 weekends, for example.
6) Gradual process. Like learning to drive, or learning to cook.
7) HELP! The stuff that I couldn't fit in any of those other categories and can't figure out how to achieve (So basically, the fundraising ball).
I'm glad they're spread out like this, because it has been almost a full month since I started and while I'm definitely making progress, I can't say I've actually completed any one thing yet. The small ongoings will technically never have a completion date, I just have to continue them for the whole year. The large ongoings I'll have to space out. The one offs I just need to lock in dates for, and I've just got to chip away at everything else.
End of month summary (corresponding to challenges):
#1 - Brain. Stalling.
#2 - Not sure what to do about this one.
#3 - I am crap at making strangers laugh. But I'm working on it.
#4 - I am meditating (almost) every day with increasing success.
#5 - I have completed Song 1 of my 12 months worth of songs-about-challenges (to be posted over the weekend depending on severity of my headcold)
#6 - Did some basic research on gig opportunities in Bathurst (the area that Jason now lives with his family) AND saw them for the first time in about 8 years when they happened to be passing through Sydney.
#7 - Looked into local gospel choirs. Many don't take newcomers but one looked particularly good, and said they would be recruiting for a musical later in the year. BAM! That's 2 of Ros's suggested challenges in one hit. Just waiting for the callback...
#8 - Heather's postcard actually asked to volunteer at the school, but I have asked permission to take up the second challenge, which is to sing at a hospital. I would actually love to help a kinder reading group but the fact is I have a 9 to 5 office job which may not be so supportive of me taking a few hours off every week to read to five year olds. Heather has yet to respond...
#9 - I really am going to do the Manly to Spit walk this weekend.
#10 - My first driving lesson is next Wednesday.
#11 - We have negotiated the date for Tasmania and it currently looks like the first weekend in February 2011. We want it to be hot enough to jump into the lagoon. However we're on the lookout for cheap flights and we'll go when it is opportunistic for us to do so.
#12 - I am going back to my parents' home in September and plan to raid their photo collection then. Since they live in the country and there isn't much to do there, I thought that would be a great place to start scrapbooking.
#13 - I have cooked one mostly-successful meal so far, sans recipe. I'm also cooking dinner for Carla & Jeremy next Friday, but am undecided on what will be on the menu yet.
#14 - Have nervously applied for numerous game shows.
#15 - Haven't set aside a time for horseriding, but it is on the cards.
#16 - Have both registered and hit my minimum donation target for the Sydney to Gong bike ride. Wowee zowee!
#17 - I am trying to find out exactly who was at this mysterious dinner. I've contacted a couple of people I know were there. They were surprisingly accommodating. It's so crazy it might just work.
#18 - I asked Cassie if she would join me in my breakdancing adventures. She has ignored my requests...
#19 - Purchased 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' and am a couple of chapters into it. I like John Singer. He's a good guy.
#20 - Haven't even looked into local theatre groups... may end up taking the multi-media option due to time and energy restraints.
#21 - I'm trying to negotiate a film crew so my band can make a video clip. We've already written and storyboarded the whole thing, we just need someone to make it real...
#22 - Haven't thought too much about busking, except that I may need a licence for certain cities. And that I may need to learn a few Oasis songs.
#23 - #29 are empty boxes.
Ok, well for a short post this has become exceptionally long. Still, seeing it all written out like that makes me feel a little less like a loser. F*ck the what! (a joke only Bart will understand)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
July.
July. Yup. I guess crunch time is coming. I used to think it wasn't really appropriate to get excited about my birthday until I saw the date on a bottle of milk. Milk only stays good for maybe a week or so. I figure a week is sufficient time to get psyched about these things. You don't want to peak too soon.
Holy crap I just looked at the calendar. The 'adventure' starts in exactly 3 weeks. I have been lazy and not done any more postcards. Well, not altogether lazy - there has been moving house and all that to contend with. And it is COLD and my little fingers can't do the fiddly cutting and gluing bits. ... Pity that's such a crap excuse.
I think I've only got 2 postcards back anyway, so it's gonna be a bit dull to start off with. Ben has been speaking to people about it and he tells me he thinks a lot of the challenges are going to be "pretty epic". This scares me a little bit. If any challengers are reading and still short of ideas, could you maybe go for something that I might actually achieve without needing hospitalisation, training or therapy? That'd be nice. Ta.
Holy crap I just looked at the calendar. The 'adventure' starts in exactly 3 weeks. I have been lazy and not done any more postcards. Well, not altogether lazy - there has been moving house and all that to contend with. And it is COLD and my little fingers can't do the fiddly cutting and gluing bits. ... Pity that's such a crap excuse.
I think I've only got 2 postcards back anyway, so it's gonna be a bit dull to start off with. Ben has been speaking to people about it and he tells me he thinks a lot of the challenges are going to be "pretty epic". This scares me a little bit. If any challengers are reading and still short of ideas, could you maybe go for something that I might actually achieve without needing hospitalisation, training or therapy? That'd be nice. Ta.
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