Joy

I have put 2012 behind me and am looking to start 2013 with a new sense of energy.....something I have done to help me do this is use a great workbook that is a gift from the blogger and author Susannah Conway.  It was a really powerful little book that has helped me immensely and I want to share it with you too..... so go ahead, download it and spend an hour (or two) looking to the future.

Last night I also created an 'inspiration board' for my 2013 in the 'Wombyns Circle' I am part of; I have never made an inspiration board but had seen my lovely friend Keeley use them.  Keeley (a celebrant and soulful doula) helped us settle into our thoughts as we created our boards and it was an energising evening.  Again, something I really wanted to share and perhaps inspire you to do to!

My word for the year is JOY and I am working mindfully to bring that into my every-day; I do have to work hard at this: as I pointed out to Sophie who was moaning about our first back to school session (see below) that no, I do not wake up every day going 'yay' - a full day with my children today; no, I do not skip around the house thinking 'yippee' - I am responsible for my children's education, and no, I do not relish justifying our choices to new people we meet, and if I can put the f****** effort in, so can she.  And of course, all said with complete JOY.


This week we are 'back to school!'  We sat down on Tuesday and brainstormed ideas for this half term, which I am now putting into plans and actions; one of our projects for this half-term is to review the local super-markets.  After feeling fed up with the children moaning about putting away the shopping (delivered in colour coded bags in a one hour slot I might add) Ben suggested they should undertake the challenge of experiencing a weekly shop in full.  The three of them had to list all the major supermarkets they could think of, and then narrow those to 6 shops; next they had to decided what we would be reviewing / looking at as part of the trip and how they would rate each shop and finally put these into a table format.  At the end of the 6 weeks they will then use Excel to produce and publish the results of their findings.  It was so great to see them debate what and how and who, and to take our first shopping trip with a real degree of interest; they have used / will use so many skills with this project , so thanks Ben for the idea...... watch this space!

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey 

angela x