Nathalie's Notes

From yours truly

[Editor's note: I posted this after creating my own handwriting font, thinking I was so clever. I was eager to share it, and my love of handwriting with you all. Then I traveled across the country and got super sick. I returned to the land of the living to find Susan Branch, yes THE Susan Branch, commented  on this post asking if the handwriting I was so sure posted perhaps didn't. Even though I saw it on my computer ... because, duh! Your computers don't come with the Nathalie's Notes font. Shocking, I know. I'll add it to my list of things to figure out someday.]

  I LOVE handwriting! Many of my favorite books include the author’s handwriting in them: SARK, Sabrina Ward Harrison, Susan Branch to name a few. I think I love it so much because it’s personal. And I’ve always thought personal is meaningful. One of my favorite memories from my wedding season was when, at my bridal shower, my girlfriends each wrote some advice on a paper my Maid of Honor, Amy, prepared. They were anonymous. But I knew every single person’s handwriting by sight. Loved that.

All that is to say … this is my handwriting. How cool is that?! I used myscriptfont.com to create a font using my own handwriting. [[(Er... see above note).  [[[[

I’d love to say it was in honor of National Handwriting Day last week – but that’s just a coincidence. I’m considering using this for my posts but am not about  the .readability. Let me know your thoughts.

It just seems like a natural way for me to use this medium to communicate personal things as I work on developing my new class for Big Picture Classes, The Art of Self Preservation because … I got the gig!

The editors at Big Picture Classes accepted my proposal and I actually get to teach a class about the very thing I’m most passionate about. Online as many of you requested when I was doing it locally.

I am over.the.moon excited!

I hope you guys will consider joining me on that journey and taking the class with me!

So much more to say, but I just finished my TheraFlu and the alarm is set for 4 a.m. for a crazy-fun adventure. More on that later, too.

Nothin’ much

What have I been up to? Oh, you know, not much … just applying for my dream job!

I had to let my writing here slip for a bit to put a couple other things at the top of my list, so sorry for  that! I’ve got my fingers crossed about the job and will share more when I know either way. Just the process of believing in the possibility of my dream coming true and working towards that end is exciting.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

~ Eleanor Roosevelt (She had it going on, huh?)

I’ll be on deadline tomorrow but hope to check in with week 3 of Project Life. I’ll be back soon with some of the things that are helping me stay on top of the project.

Having a “deadline” even if I’m the only one who cares, is helpful. I would NOT have made time tonight to finish my week if I didn’t have that.

Probably the most helpful thing is recognizing when I’m being a perfectionist and overriding that urge. So, for example, tonight I opened my album and realized I was missing Saturday’s picture and didn’t have any of the journaling cards done. I almost quit before I started knowing there was no way I’d get that picture tomorrow and therefore, it wouldn’t be “complete” so why bother?!

And then I overruled She-Who-Holds-Me-Back with the whole perfectionism thing and just dove in. I had notes in my Moleskine for each day so that was easy. I had most of the pictures I’d picked up here and there on errands over the week. I have my basic approach* that I rarely deviate from because it works for me,  I had the packaging to make my CARS consumer journaling  … and just like that, done. For now. Love. This. Project.

This picture at the top is a funny pictorial of my life.

It’s my column about meditating through the mayhem of motherhood. It was on my desk waiting to be put in my clipbook. It got into my youngest Master of Mayhem’s hands … and that’s what happened.

A picture that says it all …

 

*Happy to share that basic approach if it’s helpful.

Put down the bat

 

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the importance of keeping our eyes on our own paper when it comes to comparing ourselves, our work, our lives with the highlight reels of others.

Becky Higgins posted on the same topic that same day and generously linked to my post which is how I got to connect with so many of you. (Yay!)

I felt like the message was well received and hit home for a lot of us. Which validated my belief that we are experiencing an esteem epidemic among women in our country. (This may be true for men, and other  countries but I can only speak to that which I know for sure.)

Further proof that this is so was found in comments and posts responding to encouragement to keep things simple if that is what works for you. Somehow, this got translated for some to feeling like a pass to mock, criticize and put down others for approaching Project Life in a more embellished fashion. That was never my intent. My point, and I know this is true for Becky as well, was—and is—that how someone else does something is not a reflection or commentary on YOU, your process or your end product.

One comment that stood out to me in particular said something about being bothered by all the stuff Becky was posting as inspiration because this person didn’t like being made to feel inferior.

Made to feel inferior.

It feels like that sometimes, doesn’t it?

Until you realize that Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous words, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” are true to the core.

But you have to be willing to recognize the truth in that and invest in yourself to the point where you are grounded enough in your own sense of self to master (and override) the part your brain that allows you to think someone else is in control of any part of you.

Does that make sense?

It’s possible. I promise. And I’m at this very moment developing a class to help guide anyone who is interested along that journey to personal emotional empowerment.

(Partly because I’m an expert in a lot of ways not to be mentally healthy! While I don’t have it all figured out, the good news is I understand clearly “all figured out” was never the point.)

If the person who made that comment, or felt that way is reading this, I mean no disrespect. I totally get that feeling. I totally get thinking other people are making me feel a certain way.

There was a time I rolled around judging other people by how their looks made me feel about mine. (Not proud to admit that but it’s the truth.) It took me a long time to realize that’s what I was doing. And longer still to change the pattern in my brain. But my life is more peaceful because of it.

Another example that I realized only this morning (!):

Talking to a good girlfriend last night I mentioned that the perfect analogy for a particular relationship in my life is the Whac-a-Mole game, remember that? Where you had a bat and you’d beat the mole down every time it popped up?

“I feel like every time I forgive, rally and agree to move forward – whack! I’m the mole!” I told her. I prayed about this relationship before going to sleep, asking for peace in my heart, guidance and clarity.

This morning I woke up with this sentence on my mind: Yes, you are the mole. You are also holding the bat.

I’ll leave you with that, for now.

p.s. If you like reading this blog, I’d take it as a lovely compliment if you subscribed! Thank you.

Note: for anyone who’d like it, you may copy, save and/or print the quote card I made at the top of this post. I made it for you. If you need me to email it to you, let me know!

{what’s working – courage}

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

- mary anne radmacher

A week ago today, one of my most immediate stresses was that I’d forgotten to take out the garbage and missed the garbage truck. I can’t hardly believe it’s only been a week since that morning. The events of last week, starting with the sudden death of one of our favorite people and ending with the near-implosion of all that I thought mattered most* … well, let’s just say it put the whole garbage fiasco into perspective.

Meanwhile … while so much feels like it is so not working, this awesome quote from one of my favorite artists sums up what is: trying again tomorrow.

*we are all going to be fine. Better than fine, eventually.

Also what's working is staying steady with my 300 words a day ... I'm ready to say it: I'm finishing my novel!

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.

- The Tao

Get up, Stand up

Just real quick - a little reminder from a newsletter I get "Funds for Writers" by Hope Clark.

WORDS OF SUCCESS

"I am only one - but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

-Helen Keller

Courage is ...

I love it when I get little messages from unexpected places - like tea bags and labels for instance. This quote was on the inside label of my "Honest Tea" Pomegranate white tea with something I can't pronounce - acai?

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

the truth is never wrong

Word Count: 52,283 Pages: 178 Chapters: 13

"As an artist, being nice is not nearly as important as being authentic." - Julia Cameron

Remember Izzy? I've been super stuck, and also perhaps lazy, and haven't worked on that book in awhile, save a few editing sessions. It was a good break, I'm itchy to get going on it again and frankly, looking forward to the satisfaction of completing it and getting it sent off to agents. I am on my third draft, having finally gotten it in relatively the right order and organized into chapters with temporary, stupid sounding titles. Matt wondered what I have left to do to finish it. I responded with a big sigh and tears of frustration.

I am intimidated by this process. First of all, this is the longest book I've written and I simply don't know what the hell to do with all these pages. Editing for newspapers, magazines and PR work is a totally different gig. I keep looking for answers on different writing sites but that smacks of procrastination. I flipped through this last draft and narrowed down some of the problems that need fixing. I don't swim to be productive, yet after a few laps, things on my mind have a way of working out. I wish they made waterproof Moleskines or index cards so I could keep a little notebook under my kick board at the edge of my lane. I figured out how to resolve a few key scenes that have troubled me for months. And I am finally certain about this being an adult book despite much of the narration coming from a young person's voice.

I love this quote from Julia Cameron because so often the need to be nice hold me back from saying what I believe needs to be said, or written. It's a nice reminder that as long as you are sincere, the truth is never wrong.

Quoted

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."

- Erica Jong