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Head & Heart – September 2015

October 2, 2015 By Clare Leave a Comment

Only 2 days after the end of the month (a record!), here’s my sixth Head & Heart post – “a monthly capture of my feelings and doings, in the raw.”

What I’ve been doing

Experiments in juicing!
Experiments in juicing!
  • After my blergh August, I’ve got on back track with a few things that make me healthier and happier – meditating (on my bus commute using the Calm app), tracking my spending using YNAB, walking more regularly (and I’ve started tracking my steps using the Fitbit app). I’ve also been blending fresh juices/smoothies and feel like they’re (positively) impacting on my energy levels.
  • September also involved quite a bit of work preparing for the new She Leads Diploma intake. I am really committed to continuing to improve the course to make it one of the most innovative leadership development programs for women in Canberra. Like conference organising, I feel that designing training is something that aligns with my strengths, providing an opportunity for creativity within a structured program.

I’m grateful for

  • Sunshine. I’ve been noticing and appreciating feeling the sun on my skin as I exercise.
  • FaceTime. We don’t have any family in Canberra so FaceTime is such an important way for E to get to know and maintain connection with her family.
  • My family’s good health. We were all well this month (apart from a touch of hayfever) and what a difference it made to how productive I felt and my mental wellbeing.

I’ve been thinking about

  • Tooting my friends’ horns. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg shares a story of a workplace/team where instead of asking the women to talk about themselves, she asked them to tell one another’s stories, which made the women more comfortable and also helps to avoid that perception that women who talk up their own accomplishments are less likeable. This month I was listening to an episode of Chat 10 Looks 3 where Leigh Sales mentioned that when Annabel Crabb’s book The Wife Drought came out she purchased 1000 copies and sent them (with a personalised note) to leaders all around the country. These two stories got me thinking about how valuable it is for women to call out and promote the great things that other women in our networks are doing and has motivated me to start doing this more regularly for my friends and colleagues.
  • How we talk about/the assumptions we make about the division of household/parenting responsibilities. An except from Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new book, Unfinished Business, was published on Time – ‘Women are Sexist Too’ – and it, along with Jess Irvine’s opinion piece on parenting and inequality, has got me thinking about the default language I use in discussions about division of household/parenting responsibilities. No longer will I talk about male partners ‘helping’ around the house or with kids, and I’ll fight any tendency I have to leave ‘instructions’ for Jason next time I’m away!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Head and Heart, Journal Tagged With: books, gratitude, meditation, podcasts, reflection

Head & Heart – April 2015

May 8, 2015 By Clare 1 Comment

I’ve been following Chisa’s Head & Heart posts for a few months, and thought they provide a really nice framework for a regular reflection practice. So this month I’ve decided to jump in and have a go too!

Head & Heart is designed to be “a monthly capture of my feelings and doings, in the raw.” [Check out the details about the Head & Heart project over on Lime Tree Bower]

I’m grateful for

  • The time E gets to spend with my mum. Mum came over at the start of April to look after E while Jason and I went to Sydney for our wedding anniversary. The two of them have such a lovely time together and I know how precious it is. It makes me think about the wonderful time I had with my grandmother as a young girl, and wish that she could have got to meet E. They would have made each other so happy.

I’ve been thinking about

  • Saying ‘sorry’. E went through a little phase of apologising a lot and noticing this has made me reflect on how much I say ‘sorry’ in my everyday life. I also read this piece – I’m Not Sorry – which has got me thinking about being more intentional with my apologies!
  • My slow progress on my decluttering/minimalism journey. Since reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up I feel so much more conscious of our clutter and frustrated by how slow I’ve been to achieve my vision for a decluttered space. But little wins do bring joy – like creating a special space for our keys/wallets/phones. It has definitely cut down on the number of frustrating ‘where are my keys?’ (or more often ‘where did you put the keys?’) comments and demonstrates the value of the ‘having a place of everything’ approach.
  • Supporting roles. This tweet from Austin Kleon got me thinking about them in the context of my life/work. I feel like I naturally gravitate to supporting roles and they’re often the roles that make use of my strengths, but sometimes I struggle to see the value of supporting roles and wonder if I should be striving for a ‘main part’.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Head and Heart, Journal Tagged With: reflection, she leads, ywca

Thought Questions

March 30, 2010 By Clare Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Link Tagged With: inspiration, life, questions, reflection

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