by Tish MacWebber | Feb 14, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Hello Treasure Seekers, this week I am stopping to reflect on what is good in my life right now. I recently got some bad news, and I am discouraged. I am taking a breath, and thinking again about what I have to be grateful for in my life. If I dwell on the negativity, it will not bode well. I have to deal with what happened, and then I need to move on from it. Reflections on what I have that I am grateful for; that is what I am going to dwell on, instead.
I am not going to share the details here, it was not life-altering news, just run of the mill bad news. Something I wanted didn’t work out. It happens. Being on the receiving end of bad news is not something that you can control. But how you react to it and move on after the fact is absolutely in your control. I choose to feel what I need to feel for a few, quiet moments, and then I have to move on.
There is no point in dwelling on it. If I did, I would slip into a deep depression, if I let the negativity win. What you put out into the world is what you get back, and I am trying so hard to stay positive and keep moving forward. Sometimes I slip and catch my footing. Sometimes I fall down. But I get back up. I am trying to look at the big picture, and remember that things happen for a reason. I wish I know what the answer was, so I could just get things to be better than they are now. What they are now is good.
I have a home, with a mortgage. I have a car. I have a loving husband, who supports me in most of my crazy adventures. I have friends and family that cheer me on, both in my real life and in the online world. I have the bills under control. I have food, clean drinking water, heat and electricity. I have cable TV and the internet. I have a medical plan which helps me to maintain my diabetes. I have a brain, and I am able to use it for good. I am writing a book. I have this blog and this website. I have my jewellery business. I have dreams and hopes that reach way farther than anyone can imagine. I have faith.
Sometimes, even I don’t really know what I am truly capable of. I am still learning so many new things that I amaze myself. This is what I am holding on to, that things will get better and if they don’t go the way I want them to, well I am going to keep pushing, and praying and trying different things until I do get something to go in the right direction. I am the woman that picks up and goes in a slightly different direction than the flow because when I make up my mind, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING are possible. I just have to continue working towards my goals, and never give up.
I am seeking my own treasures in this life, and I am going to keep working on my goals until I achieve them. I have to. It is why I am here. To write, and shake things up along the way, while laughing and spreading as much joy and optimism as I can. To create beautiful, quirky, funky, whimsical jewellery, and share my gifts with the world. I am feeling better already. Time to go tackle something while I am in the right frame of mind. I know that I am in charge of what direction I am going in, and sometimes I veer to the left, but I am always on the right path. Mine.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Treasure Seekers. If you are alone, treat yourself to something nice, and count the blessings that you have, whatever they may be. Share them below in the comments, and we will keep the positivity going from our hearts and minds out into the world at large. I believe in myself, and I believe that if we stand together, change can happen, and it can be for the right reasons. Try something new. Surprise yourself. I am glad that I did, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Share-the-Love-and-Positivity-this-Valentines-DayTogether-we-can-change-the-worldone-heartbeat-at-a-time.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday (on Valentine’s Day)
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 31, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Treasure Seeker Tuesday is going to focus a little bit on a project that has taken over my free time the last few days. Someone in a writing group was looking for feedback on their cover. I shared mine, and I too was given feedback. It sent me on a quest. My first book cover design quest. This is something I never planned on doing. I had designed a cover that I was quite happy with a while back. Then someone offered an idea.
Well, 15 more covers later, I am still narrowing it down. Here is what I learned so far.
People will comment on things. I like this. It is how I ended up with the Logo I designed for the website. It is helpful to have the opinion of people in the industry, but also from friends and family. There are strongly positive and negative reactions.
Purple was the one colour that I knew I had to keep when I was choosing colours for my Brand. That was an adventure. I started with blues and purples. I was told it all looked the same. It didn’t to me, but that is how I ended up looking for the brand colours that you see today. I wanted purple, and other colours that were nothing like it. I spent hours on a website narrowing down my choices. One palette became the one I started comparing to the rest. I knew that was the one I wanted.
Exotic Fruits Color Palette – My Brand Colours
This website is where I found it. I didn’t create it, but it quickly became my favourite, and I am using it throughout my website and social media platform. I see choosing my palette as the first step in what you are looking at today.
Naturally, my book cover was going to be purple. That purple, right up there. I tried different colours and got a little help with my picture, and came up with this.
From Where I am Sitting A Collection of Cat Tales by Tish MacWebber
I was asked a few questions, and then I started playing in canva. I came up with several variations, with the picture, and the colours above it. Then I tried something I wanted to do, but I am still not sure that it will be practical. I added the tartan that I designed from the colours above at this tartan designing website. I am really liking the tartan.
I took tonight off. I even designed the back cover of the book in my dreams last night. I have been immersed in this project. I am not yet done, so I will show a few of the favourites so far. If you have any comments, I am open to constructive criticism. If I am going to change it, I might as well have fun with the process!
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Whimsical White and Purple
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Creative Colour combo (Stories should be Tales)
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A twist on colour
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Pop Yellow
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Pop Peach
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Pop Pink
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Pop Green
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Peach on tartan
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Purple on tartan
That is what I have been up to this week. Trying new cover ideas. When I make a decision, I will share that with you as well.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 29, 2018 | Weekend Warrior
Weekend Warriors, I kept things low key this weekend. I had Thursday & Friday off. I also had today off. My weekend is going to align with the real weekend, starting next weekend! I am only really having today as a real day off. It is late, and almost tomorrow.
I relaxed all day with my computer. I worked on social media, and I also played with designs for my first book cover. I did a little work on the website last night. Another category, Trust Your Gut has no more duplicated posts, and they are all there. One large category all set up. I have to go through each category and do the same thing, I think. Any missing posts were in the uncategorized list, so I have a way to find them.
I made a significant decision this weekend. I am going to change the way I do things. I started this category, Weekend Warrior, as a way to keep track of my spring cleaning challenge, and any fun things I had going on. Well, I am severely lacking in the accomplishments, both in what I need to do, and what I want to do. It is time to change my tactics.
I still need to do the cleaning, and try to plan fun activities. I am going to make a significant change this year. Last year, I planned 6 months of cleaning and 6 months for writing. I got as far as I could with that plan in 2017. This year, I am aiming for Success. What that means is in a previous post. Treasure Seeker Tuesday #11 has a list of what I am going to do to succeed in 2018. It doesn’t say how. I am going to be working on that throughout the year.
I have realized that just like I need to work on my cleaning challenges, I also have to work on being creative. I am still figuring out how to implement the plans I am coming up with. I just know that inaction is not helping me to get things done, and I still have a lot of things that need me to do them.
I did laundry today. No big deal for most people. But it is the clothing that I have to hang up, and not just put in the dryer. I have a clothing rack, so everything is hanging to dry. I have been putting off that laundry load for 2 weeks. It’s going to be nice to have my sweaters all clean to wear again. It’s not that I don’t know what I have to do. It’s that there is so much to do that I get overwhelmed.
Remember the Overwhelm Elephant I wrote about in Trust your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 32? Well, it had been giving me a stress headache for the last few days. I had been putting too much pressure on myself to get everything done. I can only do so much. I am working on a plan to get things done reasonably, and effectively. I need to fit in the creativity, or I’ll have a meltdown. Those are never pretty.
I also have to learn to go with the cleaning bug when it strikes. Although if I wait for it, that may never happen. I have to start somewhere. I know I am going to have company in June, so I have a deadline. I do not want to leave it that long, it is too hot and uncomfortable to clean in June. So I am trying to get myself started by working on the house for an hour every day. Then I need to focus on being creative for an hour every day unless I am having a productive cleaning day, in which case I will keep going. It isn’t rocket science, but on the days that I don’t want to clean, I can time it, and still get it done.
I am really glad that the living room furniture rearrangement is done. I still have tidying to do, but there is a lot less to do because we worked in this room already. My office is also in the living room. So it has double duty. I still haven’t finished organizing my office, either. It is a lot better than it used to be, and I have done a little here and there, but the finishing touches have not all been applied. It is something I am waiting to feel like doing.
Tomorrow after work, it is time to reclaim my living room. I have Christmas decorations to unpack and store until next year. It is time that I took that step. I can then create my Launch Pad in the living room, by my front door again. I need to reclaim that space. Then I will start in the kitchen. I still have 4 lbs of ground beef to cook up. I just wasn’t feeling like it today. Tomorrow is a new day. And next weekend is a real weekend! Yeah!
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 21, 2018 | Weekend Warrior, Weekend Warrior
Hello Weekend Warrior readers! This weekend was again your Thursday and Friday. Things will be getting back to normal for me soon, and I will be really glad for that. It has been a learning curve with training for the new position. Thankfully, I know a lot from my previous position, so it is not ALL new, but I am finding it drains my energy because it is still new to me.
This weekend I had a lot of goals and zero gumption. I think my seasonal depression is starting to kick in. I will be adding some more vitamin D asap. I live in Canada, and that is the one vitamin that came as a recommended one when I saw a specialist a while back. I do take multivitamins, but I think I might need a little boost. No, it is not an official diagnosis by a doctor, but it does seem to be a pattern that I have seen the last number of years. I just keep doing what I can.
The challenges help, when I get around to doing them. I feel like I am close to burning out, though, because I am just blah. I am still going through the motions, but I am capable of more. It is hard to just get the little things done, some days. When you combine the time of year, the new position at work, and the amount of things I have accomplished in the last 14 months working to build my Author platform, and writing books, keeping up with the blog, and trying new things all the time, eventually I was going to need some downtime. I think I am smack dab in the middle of my downtime season. Which is tough, because I have goals and deadlines. I have things to do that need to be done.
I am starting to wean off from all of the challenges I was doing. I need to focus on applying what I have already learned to my advantage. It is hard, though. I see the new ones starting up, and it would be so easy to lose myself in the challenges again. A part of me feels like I am going to be missing out on some important things. Another part of me is more sensibly saying to take a break. I can learn more after I have worked through all of the information I did learn already.
I did some volunteer work yesterday. I was unable to attend the event today, but I helped the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada team set up the booth for the event last night. I was only there an hour, and then I decided to get groceries. After that, it was time to pick up my husband after work and get ready to start my work week. The good news is that a friend is taking me to see Pitch Perfect 3 tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to that. My husband is not interested, so we are going to leave my car for him, and my friend and I will take his car to the movie. It is nice to have a night out on my Tuesday with a friend. Tomorrow. Your Sunday. I will be so glad when things are back to normal.
I am not holding my breath because things tend to change at work if you get used to them. If things go as they are looking, I will be back to my regular hours so that I can do the new job, and get back to Zumba very soon! I miss it, and I hope that it does work out. I am liking the fact that I can listen to my music at work again. It really helps me to stay positive. Music is my jam, people!
I had an underwhelming 2 days off. I did very little, and that means the weekend has its second win already this year! I plan to get that fixed asap. I need to feel like I am in control again.
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 19, 2018 | Trust Your Gut
This week in Trust Your Gut, I want to focus on the big picture for this category. I am morbidly obese, with type 2 diabetes, thyroid disease, and a few other less dramatic health issues. The ones that relate here the most are the ones that I write about. However, when I started writing in this category, I did have a bigger picture in mind.
Some people have participated in telling their stories here. It is a brave thing to do, to write down one of the biggest things that play such a large role in your day to day life. Your weight, your appearance, how you see yourself, and how you think the rest of the world sees you. I work on this material every week, and lately, I have been finding myself at a loss for what to write about.
My story is written to be real, and honest. It is relatable, and I know that it resonates with many of the people that read this Blog, maybe only for this story every week. I really appreciate each and every one of you that have become fans of this category, and the whole Blog, of course.
Don’t worry, I am not dumping it. I will still be writing every week. What I want to do is to reach out to more people. I have a one-sided view of the struggles I am having with my weight. One thing that women, and of course men and children have in common in this world is that we all have imperfections that we do not like about ourselves. It might be that you are struggling with a number, but not the one on the scale, the one on the tag of your clothing, the size. Another person may have issues with not seeing their true self in the mirror. Some people look at their reflection and see what used to be there, or see themselves as fat when in reality, they aren’t.
Karen Carpenter’s story is a well-known story about a real person who had everything to live for but died from anorexia and complications related to that disease. Bulimia is another issue that people have that is not something that I could imagine having to deal with, but I know that there are people out there that struggle just as hard as I do, with their own issues relating to their weight. I was watching This Is Us and this week they touched on another side character’s story. She has been written into the show as a person who is dealing with the perception that she is fat, overeating, and purging after she eats too much. That is a very basic description of bulimia.
Stories about people that have these other issues are not mine to tell. They are the stories of other people. They could be featured here in this category, as a side character story. I am hoping that this week someone reads this and thinks that they might be brave enough to share their story. I would love the opportunity to help you help yourself by telling the story, and maybe you can help someone else that is just like you. That is my ultimate goal here, with my story. I want to help people like me, with ideas of new things to try and to share what is working for me, and what is not.
If you are like me, struggling with the overweight end of the scale, I am open to stories from everyone that is brave enough to share them here. If you are not a writer, I can talk to you and work with you to develop a story here for you, or I can send some questions and we can write it like an interview, where you answer some or all of the questions, whatever you are comfortable sharing. Let’s face it, I do have a story to tell, but if it is always my story, at some point it will be repetitive and boring. That will make people lose interest, and that would not help people like I have intended to do here.
If you have contributed to this category in the past, and want to write an update, that is also something that I would be very happy to set up with you. I am always trying to help people, and learning about different people and their issues helps me just as much as reading my story can help you.
My gut is telling me that it is time to put out an invitation to new and different stories and points of view here, in this category. If you are reading this, and have a story to tell, please reach out to me in the comments below, or in a private e-mail (tishmacwebber@gmail.com with the subject: Trust Your Gut Submission). I sincerely want to hear from people that are struggling with their weight, on either end of the scale, so that together, we can help each other, and help people like us.
#TrustYourGut
