Author: Christine

Christine http://www.mombie.com I'm a writer/storyteller/director/creativity & lifestory coach with a black belt in ITF Taekwon-do. I read voraciously and I write like my fingers are on fire. I'm the founder and Co-Chair of the Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl and I'm the current president of the St. John's Storytelling Festival. I bake a mean chocolate chip cookie.

Everything’s A Damn Practice

Well, I have kind of realized it before but I have only recently come to understand the full extent of it.

I’m not a ‘workaholic’ and I am not obsessed with productivity but my brain has a hard time prioritizing so even at my most relaxed, I am aways pushing away the idea that I *should* be doing something else.

And sometimes, I am also keeping an eye on the clock to see if I have been relaxing ‘too long.’

It’s easier if I have chosen an activity with a clear completion point but I can then choose, in advance, to say “I’m going to do this thing until this point.” That gets me out of the wondering about the time frame but it hasn’t saved me from having to consciously choose to ignore the ‘shoulds.’

For me, living with ADHD has often been about bracing for the fact that I may have misjudged the time, scope, or schedule for doing something important. There is always the chance that the thing that has slipped my mind is a key task or an important deadline that I have not allowed enough time for.

So, even though I take lots of downtime, it can take a lot of work to get my whole mind to corporate.

But, I am getting better at shutting those thoughts out in advance. Part of my success comes from being conscious of the issue and saying, aloud, “I’ve done X, Y, Z, and that’s enough for now, so I am going to read for half an hour.” but another part is just about sheer practice.

I hope it keeps getting easier.

A view of one side of a backyard patio with chairs and flowers and a shed in the background.
The view from my reading chair. Image description: The view from one side of my patio. Part of the sky, some trees and a section of my backyard is visible in sunshine and shade. You can also see my red and white shed, a bunch of plants in flower pots, a deck chair with a red cushion, a yoga mat hung over the patio rail (wooden with black metal uprights.)

Last Day of School…ish.

All day, my Facebook feed was filled with families celebrating the last day of school. I’m thrilled for them but I feel weird about the last day of school this year.

I mean, for starters, school has been long over for everyone in our house. My eldest finished his university term a couple of months ago and my homeschooled youngest son finished his Grade 11 classes in the first week of June.

So today wasn’t our last anything, really.

And, of course, since we were doing lessons at the kitchen table, the change from homeschool to no school was not the definitive change that it would have been if he had been going to regular classes.

It’s just a bit odd and I feel a bit melancholy about it.

I can remember all those times walking home with the kids on the last day of school singing the little song we had made up to celebrate my eldest’s last day of kindergarten. It was always so exciting to be schedule-free and ready to just hang out together.

It’s natural for things to change, of course, and I am really okay with it, just kind of nostalgic and wishing there was a bit more ceremony for this second last ‘last day of school!’ for our family.

This time next year, my youngest will have graduated high school. I’ll have to be sure to create more ceremony around the very last last day.

Meanwhile, I am thrilled for all those excited kids and excited parents and relieved and excited teachers. This year has been a hard slog for everyone and they all deserve some damn rest.

This gif goes out to my friend Jan who is an amazing teacher and a big fan of the Muppets.

I’m proud of you and your hard work, my dear friend, enjoy your summer!

Muppet Kermit the frog flails his arms while sitting on the edge of a large desk.
Image description: a gif of Kermit the frog sitting on the edge of desk and flailing his arms. The text beneath reads ‘LAST DAY!!!!!!’

New Art Supplies!

A drawing of a green octopus with small yellow dots.

Image description: a drawing of a green octopus with small yellow dots and a star on its forehead. Its eyes are closed and it is surrounded with blue dots. The pink text above reads ‘Sometimes she meditates. Sometimes she just kind of floats, which is kind of the same thing.’ There are 6 different coloured markers visible above the drawing.

I’ve been playing with my brand new paint pens and I’m finding it interesting how different media brings out different ideas and styles.

I have to reflect on this a bit more so I can figure out what I mean by that but I know it is akin to how I tell different stories when I handwrite something versus when I type it versus when I use voice dictation.

Different methods seem to pull my attention to different phrasing, different sentence structure, and even different stories.

The difference between using a black fine-tip marker and using a big paint pen seems to do the same for my art.

For My Own Fun

On Friday, my dear friend Elaine brought me this whirl-a-gig as a gift and I absolutely adore it (and I adore her!)

Yet, oddly enough, when I first set it up, I turned it so the beautiful shiny part was facing out into my yard and the plain back was facing the house and the patio.

I don’t know why I did that.

With that set up, someone sitting in the backyard would have the very best view of Elaine’s lovely gift.

But, from my usual reading and drawing spot on the patio, I wouldn’t be able to see the shiny colours.

And when I look out of my patio door I would just see the plain black side of the decoration.

How foolish of me.

If I am going to fully enjoy my whirl-a-gig, I need to set it up so *I* see the best bits most often.

So, today, I turned it to face me and I have been grinning at it ever since.

(I mean, every time I look that way. I have not spent the whole day grinning at an inanimate object. 😉 )

A windmill style decoration stands in a backyard.
Photo description: a black windmill-style decoration on a stick with multi-coloured ‘blades’, stands in a backyard. There are orange flowers and green leaves in the foreground. In the background you can see a wooden fence, a lawn chair, the lawn and my dog!