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It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! And then New Year's...and then I fly out January 1! I've been working away over the month of November, now almost gone. Happy to have sold 7 originals (along with card, magnets, calendars, magic books & lists) this month. Since it's December tomorrow I doubt I'll increase that total, until this weekend anyway.

Yes, the last sale of the year starts on Friday afternoon (consider yourself invited by the poster!) and at the moment I'm feeling quite confident that I'm prepared...either that or I'm avoiding doing more work on getting ready! Sometimes it's hard to tell with me. In my daily (well, almost daily!) journal writing I notice myself popping up constantly rather than staying focused on completing the writing. There are so many distractions around and it's easy for me to get caught up in them, thinking...well, I could just put the laundry on & it would be going while I'm writing... I need another cup of tea...oh, before I forget, let's send that email/pack up that calendar to mail/add to my "to do" list--or knock something little off it.

Lately l've been reading some books on happiness-- "The Happiness Project" and "Spontaneous Happiness"...not that I'm not happy, in fact the opposite, since I have been developing my painting career...just that I notice so many people seem stressed and unhappy & I'd like to be able to shed some light on that, somehow. One of my goals for the year was to assist people in fulfilling their dreams--it's certainly making me very happy to a) have some dreams and b) feel that I am progressing towards accomplishing them.

Both books are excellent and, if you followed the recommendations, would make a difference. (Somehow that seems to require diligence, structure, and that 4-letter word work...!!) However, at least being conscious of when you are happy, or unhappy, and starting to unravel the causes, is a good start. That consciousness is sometimes hard to find when all the events of life start to get me on the treadmill so that I feel I've got to run to keep up with all the "to do's". I am such a "doing" person--not conscious of who I'm "being"...so much of the time. One of the key things I picked up from "The Happiness Project" was the importance of having learning/striving/development/training going on. I think that's something that adults sometimes forget to work into their lives--it requires being less than competent as something to learn it, and that's how most adults like to feel, or show themselves to be. It's kind of counter-intuitive that when you do that, you can feel happier!

Anyway, I digress from the art world and what's going on there...although maybe you're happy (see paragraph above?) to see something a little different? Do let me know, I can ramble on about lots of stuff!

I can hear Australia calling me these darkening winter days--it's chilly out, the street lights are on at 5 pm, and I find myself ravenous like a bear, most of the time. That doesn't bode well for my training regime for Mt. Kilimanjero--which as I counted today is only 5 months away! I hope my pool training is going to work out! And once we get down to southern climes we'll plan lots of hikes for New Zealand, from January 31 on, especially. We're doing the "Grand Traverse" out of Queenstown for 6 days at the end of February which will be a good test for Mt. Kilimanjero 2 months later.

As the year winds down I like to look back at what happened, compared to what I planned, and then look forward to setting some ideas out for the next year. I can't believe that process is getting so close--so it may well drift into January when I'm away. There are so many friends to catch up with before we leave Vancouver, and while I've gotten a handle on the packing up (& it's very great to live in a minimalistic fashion) there are a few more things to organize in order to be nomadic for 8 months. It's still not sinking in, with all the lists, that we're going to be in New Zealand, and Africa--for so long, New territory always excites me--one of my personal archetypes is that of a pioneer--and the preparation is starting to overwhelm the anticipation! Isn't there always something to observe!

It's been a bit of an philosophical blog, so I'll end here, and get back to my preparations. Hope you're enjoying the end of 2011 and getting ready for the holiday season, wherever you are!