The world pleases me.
You please me.
Pink pleases me.
Beauty all around.
Just to be here. In this moment. Sharing my feminist self with your feminist selves. We are all here because of FEMINISM! :D
How could I feel anything but joy?
I thought I was going to write about sex, but I didn't.
I thought I was going to feel guilty, but I'm not.
- LILI -
I wrote this at, and about, the amazing Midsummer Feminist Party, a fundraiser for Feminism in London 10, at one of the two writing workshops.
I really enjoyed the workshops, as well as the many amazing poets and musicians.
Bounce!
Posted on 20 June '10 by Kathleen Bright, under Feminism. 1 Comment.
I've decided to do (at least) one action each day for feminism and write about it:
Daily Feminist Action
I have loads of ideas for feminist fundraising fun raiders; I just need more allies. I have a few Hackney Feminist Activists on board already, but the more the better.
If you're interested in any or all of the following and want to help out, please get in touch immediately:
- Cake! Learning how to do deliciously indulgent vegan, wheat-free and gluten-free baking
- Collaging, collaborative art and other crafts
- Making t-shirts
- Music and celebrating female artists
- Karaoke
Posted on 5 June '10 by Kathleen Bright, under Feminism. No Comments.
On Saturday, I did electrics and plumbing with Women and Manual Trades. It was *brilliant*. I was particularly looking forward to plumbing and I did enjoy that one most. In part, because if I get plumbing really wrong, the worst that will happen is loads of water everywhere and having to call a plumber. If I get electrics really wrong, no second chances.
The electrics class itself was really safe and I learnt that there are testers for checking if there's a current going through something, as well as RCDs for breaking circuits. (An RCD is like a fuse switch, except it acts much faster – fuse switches exist to protect appliances by breaking the circuit if something goes wrong, RCDs exist to protect people from electricity). It was really helpful to learn that stuff; knowing that there were safety appliances I could acquire myself reduced my resolve to never do anything to the electrics!
The only electrical stuff I'd done before was to fit a plug (at school) and to change a fuse wire. I'd been really impressed with myself for the fuse box one (even though I'd needed help from both my landlord and my then-partner to figure it out). It was really good to get a refresher on the plug fitting and I can imagine myself doing that if required, even though I didn't like doing it because it's so fiddly to get it right. I liked cutting the wires though, that was fun. Oh, and I like tightening screws. Somewhat random little pleasures. :)
ACTION: Practice fitting plugs, if/when the opportunity arises!
TIPS: Electrics
- Use a tester to make sure circuits are dead before doing any work on them. (Make sure you test the tester to make sure it's working first!)
- Earth wires are really important for safety, unless everything's double insulated (i.e. encased in two layers of plastic).
- It's important to do a tidy job, with no exposed wires and with really good connections.
The plumbing class really intrigued me. I learnt loads of stuff that meant I immediately started looking at taps in a different way. "That's a basin, not a sink." I said to myself in the bathroom. (Sinks are for kitchens only). "If that tap was leaking, I would know where the problem was and how to fix it." I added, for good measure. If I hadn't been off to Brighton this afternoon, I would have raced home to work out whether I have a direct or indirect cold water system and to look for all the valves. I'm itching for some plumbing to go wrong so I can fix it. I'm seriously considering going on a longer, more in-depth course. Fatima recommended an excellent plumbing book to us, so that will help.
Unfortunately, we ran out of time. I've just remembered I had lots of questions about why my radiators get barely warm. (The last plumber said the radiators need "balancing", which sounds like some sort of spiritual practice…).
ACTION: Acquire "Heinneman Technical Plumbing L2" and keep an eye out for plumbing tools – in particular, water pump pliers. Look out for longer courses.
TIPS: Plumbing
- Make sure you turn off the water in the relevant place before doing any work.
- Be careful to have a good grip on your pliers so you don't grind down the edges of nuts, rendering them useless.
- WD40 is your friend for loosening stiff and rusty valves.
I highly recommend WAMT; the classes were a good mixture of theory and practice. We each had plugs to wire, light fixtures to fit, taps to dismantle…
My favourite bits were taking the plugs apart and putting the taps together, so if you ever need either of those things doing; I'm your handyperson. Just give me a call!
I would consider becoming a part-time plumber, but it's an industry that's really oversubscribed – with 70 000 people in training for 30 000 places. (Electrics, carpentry, plastering and drywalling are the industries to get into!)
[On a side note, I still owe you write-ups and it's ridiculous that I've not finished them yet. Busy life. This month, I intend to post write-ups of the following: Free School Weekender, London; WLM@40 Conference, Oxford; Anarchafeminist Gathering, Brighton]
Posted on 10 May '10 by Kathleen Bright, under Feminism. 4 Comments.
On Saturday, 30th January I arrived in Brighton for a day of anarchafeminism – "a completely free day of super feminism for all ages and genders, with workshops, discussions, skill shares, food, distros, creche, films…". I was very excited.
There was a brilliant programme and I found it really difficult to choose what not to go to!
Self-defence for women, assertiveness and confidence
I really wanted to go to Challenging privilege, but I didn't. I opted for Introduction to self-defence because I've never done it. The more I read and talk about violence against women, the more I've been wanting to know self-defence. Last time I looked at courses they were really expensive, so I wasn't going to pass up the chance to do it for free!
It was amazing for me to be in a (self-identified) women only self-defence class; I found the experience really empowering. Not all of my self-consciousness left me – especially as we could be observed by those in the rest of the venue – but some of it did! I could see how I could use the actions I'd learnt to give me enough time to get away from violent situations. In 26 years I hadn't been in a fight of any kind and it's been very rare in general for me to push myself to the limits of my physical ability, so this really required unlearning some of the habits and expectations I have.
I still feel a lot of fear in some situations, for example when I'm out late, but it's less than I used to feel. I'm better equipped to get away now, so I have found myself walking taller and taking up more space. Really positive.
What I learnt about defending myself
The main things I took away are quite difficult to articulate in words, especially written words, but one thing I learnt is about how to be more assertive when challenging behaviour I dislike:
- Name behaviour
- Articulate how to makes me feel
- State what I want them do
e.g. "You're invading my personal space. I feel claustrophobic. Stand over there." Being as clear, specific and explicit as possible. I find it pretty hard to do; I need to practise.
Lots of confidence.
Strength.
Next steps…
Keep looking for free / cheap self-defence classes – especially when they're oriented towards self-identified women.
So far, so great!
Introduction: What is anarchafeminism?
I considered going to Feminist childrearing, as childcare is a really important feminist issue – even for childfree women, like myself. However, I'm pretty new to anarchafeminism, so I thought I'd better sit in on the intro and hear what people had to say at What is anarchafeminism? It was pretty basic and there weren't any surprises; I hadn't accidentally wandered into the wrong conference…! We had some really interesting discissions about what we could do to be better anarcha-feminists.
What I learnt about being a better anarcha-feminist
It's important to be open and re-invent anarchafeminism; the name is important – using it helps to highlight problems with the anarchist movement. Challenging male supremacy is automatically challenging violence, aggression, war… therefore it's anarchist to be feminist! (We did talk about other kinds of feminism as well; this seemed to be a common feeling though and I can relate to it). Feminism and feminist theory as a tool for understanding oppression and patriarchy as experienced differently for / by different genders cam up, as did the public being private and the private being public. There was a feeling of there being a problem with male feminists not listening to female feminists. We recognised that support networks are really important.
Next steps…
Read the recommendations: "Quiet Rumours" and "Radical Roots".
Squatting; issues and challenges, female experiences
I so badly wanted to go to Machismo, sexism and emotional support, but I know next to nothing about squatting and I relished the opportunity to be in a female space for this topic, as nearly all my knowledge about it has come from men. So, I went Practical squatting. We mainly talked about the specific issues women might have when it comes to squatting – for example, men taking over to do the difficult / interesting / risky jobs, feeling pressure to be representative of one's gender when it comes to doing things, lacking confidence etc. We talked about some female-identified-people-only squats that have existed – something I'd never considered. It wasn't a very practical workshop in the end, but it was really useful and interesting.
What I learnt about non-male squatting
Since the workshop I've asked more questions about gender in relation to squatting, which has been really interesting and useful. There's also some talk about a regular practical squatting workshop starting up (for female-identified people).
Next steps…
Get to some of the regular (non-gender-specific) squatting workshops that take place.
Men and feminism
I was interested in Herstory of squatted spaces – especially as I know so little about squatting and herstory is always of interest to me (it's a bit like alternative media). However, I went to Men and anarchafeminism. I'm really glad I did. I was so pleased to see so many men at a day about feminism. It's the first time I've seen so many men taking an active interest in feminism. I found it really encouraging and inspiring; a feeling of "phew, I don't have to do this on my own!"
We split into pairs to talk and listen to each other on ways in which we've benefited from patriarchy and ways in which we've been oppressed by patriarchy; we could then feedback to the group if we wished. Some people were really open and vulnerable about their experiences. It was really good to hear people being brave in this way – there was a lot of sharing from male-shaped people, which was refreshing and an unusual experience for me in such a big group. On the other hand, at times it was a bit difficult to listen lots of people saying "these are all the ways in which the status quo makes my life better than yours".
Discussion evolved to people talking about our experiences of the world leaving more physical space for men than for women, for example, when I'm on public transport and a male-bodied person sits very close to me or otherwise invades my personal space. One person talked about the contrast between his experiences when he was living as a female and his experiences now. A masculine-looking female-identified person talked about their experiences when they're looking more butch compared with looking less butch. One male-identified person asked for responses to how they and other male-identified and/or male-bodied people might "offset their carbon footprint of taking up space". Some asked how they could do things to reduce the likelihood that women would find them threatening and some shared things they do, for example, one male-bodied person said that when they found themselves walking behind female-bodied people, they slow down and cross to the other side of the road. Others mentioned other ways of giving female-bodied people physical space. (NB: Often people talked about "giving women space", but it's more accurate to say female-bodied people – anything more than that is an assumption if one hasn't been told by them).
What I learnt about men being feminists / pro-feminists
It was a really amazing workshop. I've learnt a lot about how to run workshops to facilitate more intimate sharing; some of the things I noticed: Starting off with some general blurb, emulating warmth and acceptance, splitting the group into pairs for each person to take it in turns to answer specific questions before inviting sharing with everyone and sharing something personal yourself, being assertive if/when people talk too much etc.
Lots of relief that there are men – and quite a few of them – out there who care about feminism and who are actively challenging sexism in themselves and others.
Hope.
Next steps…
Join an all-genders-welcome feminist group.
Going forward
What's next? Organisational discussion was a chance to hear summaries of people's experiences of all the workshops
What I learnt about self-organising
Somehow, from somewhere, I'd become confident about speaking in front of lots of strangers. I gave the first workshop summary and generally contributed enough that I felt like I had to make an effort not to slide into dominating the discussion. Amazing!
Quite a few events and groups going on; lots to do.
I even promoted the London Free School weekender, which happened from Friday, 5th March to Sunday 7th March (write-up to follow), and hung around to chat with people about it. Bounce!
Next steps…
Keep hanging out with anarchists.
Keep hanging out with feminists.
Celebrate when I find the two overlap.
Oh, and get to Brighton more often!
In brief: What was on (programme)
11:00 – 13:00
Challenging privilege – not suitable for kids
Introduction to self-defence – women/female-identified only
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:00
Feminist childrearing – open to all, not just parents, kids welcome
What is anarchafeminism? – kids welcome
15:00 – 16:00
Machismo, sexism and emotional support
Practical squatting – women/female-identified only, kids over 11 years welcome
16:00 – 17:00
Men and anarchafeminism – aimed at men/male-identified people, but everyone welcome
Herstory of squatted spaces
17:00 – 18:00
Latitude safe space organising – open to all
17:30 – 19:00
What's next? Organisational discussion – open to all
Kids' space
11:00 – 11:30
Zine-making (kids's space)
14:00 – 14:30
Anarcha-feminist storytelling
All day
Face-painting, games, play-doh, drawing, crafts…
Craft space
All day
Stenciling, subvertising, knitting, sewing…
Getting crafty!
Big news: I have my first ever stall at Brixton Village, this Saturday, 23 January 2010. I'll be selling bead jewellery I've enthusiastically crafted by hand.. It's very exciting! Come and support me because I'm terrified. :) There might even be vegan cookies…
More details about the event: Craft Crazy at Brixton Village
In June 2009, I declared that I'd be back shortly with regular updates… Um, sorry. It's been a whirlwind, here's a quick summary:
- Wanted more creativity, flexibility and yayness
- Jun 2009: Left web producer / developer role at online designer fashion company
- Looked for work
- One week later…: New job! Started web designer / developer six month contract at high street retailer
- Worked *far* more than was healthy, had no life, started to get miserable. Wanted life.
- Nov 2009: Finished contract and decided to have a break
- Dec 2009: Holiday! Met up with friends a lot, caught up on lots of sleep, volunteered, wanted to do more but felt too tired. Bah!
- Jan 2010: Sabbatical: I'd been thinking that I wanted part-time, short-term contracts only anyway. Decided to look for flexible bits and pieces both inside and outside of the web world
- Here we are! Last minute I was offered a stall at the craft fair, so I leapt at the opportunity – cue an immense flurry of activity! :)
I've been updating Kathleen Bright (dotcom) ad hoc; it's still the best place to keep up with what I'm up to. (Plus, I tweet and facebook quite a bit).
Given my history, I won't say I'll be back soon… just that I hope so.
See you Saturday!
In true solo entrepreneur style, I've resigned from my full-time job; so I'm focusing on my freelance career at the moment – working on my web design portfolio, networking & generally being really busy!
I'll be back in June 2009 at Inspire With Hope with new articles for you. If you'd like to hear me explore specific freelancing or entrepreneurship topics, do comment.
In the meantime, keep up with my blog about blogging, where I write about writing at Kx tumbles… Plus, there's always twitter – @inspirewithhope – for my random musings & effervescing about life! :)
Posted on 29 April '09 by Kathleen Bright, under About. 4 Comments.
I share web design resources with friends who I think might benefit from them, but I really wanted to share them with more people. So I am; just keep reading.
Resources
Web design for different skillsets & varying levels of competency
So there you go!
Please do comment or email me; I'd really like that.
If you'd like to add to this resource so that we can all benefit, please tag links in Delicious with both "for:inspirewithhope" + "web-design-101". I'll add useful links to the relevant places in Delicious. (Delicious is an online bookmarking tool that allows you to easily share bookmarks with other people, especially other people who are also on Delicious. It's free & there are lots of Firefox add-ons and other tools for it – do ask if you have any questions).
If you'd like to read more about web design, including excellent web design resources on Twitter, do read what is web design? It includes most of the rest of the content that was originally in this article. (I edited Web Design 101 on 10 February because it was too long).
I'm writing this based on my experiences with abandoning my blogs, and my experiences returning to them. I'm writing to help you (and also future me) get on with things when you really don't feel like it. I'm really interested in other people's methods, this is a very real & present issue for me; please leave your tips & recommendations in the comments, useful links very welcome.
I recently read a brilliant article, which stated, "The creative myth leads people to waste time waiting for lightning instead of working hard and relentlessly."
Eureka!
How many times have you heard "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" or variations on that theme?
Motivation waxes & wanes, but – as I keep realising – you have to persevere whether you feel motivated or not. Sometimes I'm full of creative energy & sometimes I'm just not; I have to carry on regardless. Well, I say I keep realising it; I'm wondering if this time I've actually learnt the lesson or if it'll be coming round again in my future… I am trying. :)
There are some things I do that help me keep my creative energy, I find them especially useful to implement just as I feel it starting to slip away:
- Making lists of my achievements
- Checking my motivations
- Getting inspiration from other people
- Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
- Logging off
Making lists of my achievements
How I do it: I make a list each month using Ta-da List (it's free & simple). I update it many times each day. I find I forget what I've done if I don't write it down, which leads to despondency. Plus, this way I have a record I can look at when my self-confidence is flagging. Hurrah for Aide-mémoires of My Awesomeness!
Examples of stuff I put on the list
- Solicited feedback from Chiz [on my websites]
- Started using Google Webmaster Tools for [my websites] BP, IWH, KB & MMM
- Decided not to go to Inferno [club night] & cancelled dancing with Helen C – need rest
- KB: Updated [website]: Added quotations from others about me
- Newly created Incompetent Chef [blog] – from Idea to Implementation – wrote about guacamole http://incompetentchef.tumblr.com
Checking my motivations
Sometimes I feel resistance to doing something because I don't really want to do it. I worried that this might be the case with regards to blogging – in which case, it would have been a good idea to stop, there's no point in posting without passion. I did a lot of thinking about it & every time I came to the conclusion that I definitely don't want to give it up. I made a list of my reasons & that was useful. It's helpful because it gives me direction too – if I'm not sure what to do next I can have a look at my reasons & let that guide me to the next action.
Work out why you started blogging, work out why you stopped, work out why you've not started again. Work out if you still want to blog & why / why not; perhaps the reasons you don't want to blog are not inherent to blogging: Maybe a change of platform or someone to help you with site administration would fix things. I find meditating & journalling helpful for working things out. Write stuff down!
Reasons I blog
- I have something to say that I want to share with other people to help them
- I'm vain & full of self-importance; I want people to read stuff I've written
- I want feedback on my thoughts
- I read something & want to respond to it – I start writing a comment & then realise it's ridiculously long (from little comments great articles grow!)
- I want to become (more of) an authority on entrepreneurship; blogging helps me direct my learning
Getting inspiration from other people
Hang out with life-affirming people who have high levels of energy, motivation, positivity, bounce, creativity etc. Socialise with inspirational friends. Read awesome blogs. Listen to inspirational songs.
Awesome blogs: My personal favourites
Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
Carry a little notebook for those snippets of entries that come to you. I have a journal that goes nearly everywhere with me. It applies online too – bookmark & tag when you run across things that inspire or speak to you. I use Delicious & Google Reader; there are so many great tools out there.
In addition, I find it really helpful to write things unrelated to my blog. I write other blogs about feminism, sexuality, vegan cooking for beginners… I have a few personal blogs in which I write the usual self-absorbed rambling & whining. I write poetry, I write short stories & flash fiction, I write complaints to businesses, I write thank you cards, I write lists of so many things… It's all good practice. Even though I write all these things, and have been a writer for longer than I can remember, I still felt trepidation upon returning to Inspire With Hope. I dread to think how much worse it would have been if I hadn't been writing all this time. If you don't write much; start now. (The comment section of this entry would be a good place to begin… :))
Logging off
Eliminate distractions – I like to believe that I'm self-disciplined enough to stop checking email, LiveJournal & Twitter all the time (and I'm working on that!), but I'm not. Log out of IM. Go offline. Remove the temptations – sign out, close the tabs, disconnect.
…And that's how I wrote this post.
Now I'm off to read some comics, because treats, rewards & relaxation are also important aspects of being & staying motivated.
I've changed the link for the Inspire With Hope feed.
It was http://feeds.feedburner.com/AllThingsBright
It's now:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/InspireWithHope
So, if you were subscribed, please update. If you weren't, why not do that now? :)
I'm terrified of losing my 51 subscribers, but I figure it's better to change things sooner rather than later.
I'm really sorry for the inconvenience: I renamed Inspire With Hope a year or two ago & this is, I think, the last of the legacy bits.
Kx
Posted on 4 January '09 by Kathleen Bright, under General. 2 Comments.
Hi! It's been a while, but here I am!
I'm really not sure what to write, all I know is that I'm not willing to let go of Inspire With Hope yet.
Since I last wrote, I…
The single most awesome thing I did this year was moving out of my parents' house. I really wondered if I had it in me to ever leave. I did! I've done *so much*, met so many wonderful people & deepened so many of my relationships in so many ways because I'm not there. I'm still really excited about all this seven months later.
So, what happened to my Web Stuff…?
Web Stuff, including Inspire With Hope, has been on the backburner for a long time whilst I sorted out my living & loving situations. I think I'm at a point where I can invest time & energy in it again (we'll soon find out… :)), so I'm working that out.
I've updated Kathleen Bright (dotcom)
I've got fresh stuff about to go up on Bright Portfolio too.
Squeebounce!
What about Inspire With Hope?
Some important things for entrepreneurship
- Creating independent streams of income – using enterpreneurship to increase wealth
- Challenging kyriarchy: Social enterprise & ethical business – using enterpreneurship to change the world
- Life balance (aka work-life balance)
I'll be seeing how it goes with updating Inspire With Hope; I'm really excited to be back, so it looks hopeful.
With thanks to Chisel for helping me write some of this post. :)
The opposite of happiness is fear. I know, I know, I too used to think unhappiness was its opposite, but I've thought deeply about why I'm unhappy and I had a breakthrough. I'd been fretting about so many things going wrong. I had a friendship-relationship that was incredibly complicated, in which many bad things had happened and I was afraid to try to salvage it for a variety of reasons. However, having so much negativity and uncertainty just meant I felt miserable.
Acting in spite of fear leads to happiness
It was only when I decided – in spite of my fear – to make the attempt to fix things that I started to feel happier. Why? Partly because the person in question means a lot to me and has brought a lot of value to my life, but also because shunning people just isn't me. It was out of character for me to leave that relationship in limbo, but I was doing it out of fear. Thankfully the Universe gave me some help and things are much better, but it needed me to make the initial decision not to act out of fear before things could move forward.
I took control of my happiness
I've been self-reflective since my teens at least. Lately I've been focusing even more on my personal development in order to manage change – I've had a lot of Bad Stuff in my life in the recent past and now I have exciting (and scary) changes happening in my present.
In my teens, I thought of myself as someone optimistic. I felt like 'I am a happy person' was true of me, even on days when I wasn't feeling that great and when things went wrong. I self-identified as "mindlessly optimistic". Whereas, in my recent past, the result of lots of bad stuff assaulting me in quick succession was more misery than usual. Which lead me to doubt whether I could continue to be an optimistic person. Following a lot of soul-searching I decided yes, I can be. It's up to me to be in charge of my happiness. I could either let the outside world choose whether or not I get happiness or I could choose it for myself.
Happiness comes from determination & commitment
Recently, I made the statement, "I'm making a renewed commitment to my happiness" and 10 days later I had this realisation about the nature of happiness: I can get back to happiness by breaking through my fears; so that's what I'm doing.
It's not easy:; I have bad days – just like everyone does – and that's when it's really hard to maintain the belief that being happy is up to me; but I do it. I have some excellent resources that help me on those days. Some of these include Take the brute force out of your fears by dissecting them (Escape from Cubicle Nation Podcast) and How to Overcome Your Fears (Trizoko). I hope you find them useful too.
Practical steps you can take now
I find it helps to do things that help me relax. For me this includes lighting candles, dancing and writing in my journal. Other things I do to feel happier include helping people, smiling and being grateful. It's definitely worth taking the time to discover what works for you – think about what makes you smile, what makes you forget your worries, what makes you feel like you can take over the world.
When you're more relaxed and confident you'll have recharged your inner resources and will be in a better place to tackle your fears, thus leading to greater happiness for you and for everyone you encounter. (Because if you're happy you're more likely to make others happy too).
Why entrepreneurs should care about happiness
- You'll get much more done if you're happy and energetic than if you're down and apathetic
- Act out of fear and enterprise grinds to a halt
- You deserve to be happy!
Finally, some sage advice on the nature of fear
"If you're afraid, you're wrong… The real purpose of fear is to serve as a trigger for growth, it's to serve as a trigger to expand your consciousness to another level where the fear wll not exist any more… if you avoid your fear you halt your own growth, you hold yourself back."
StevePavlina.com Podcast #008: Overcoming Fear
I overcome my fears; so can you!
Posted on 1 November '07 by Kathleen Bright, under Fear, Happiness. 6 Comments.
I've had lots of ups and downs (mostly downs!) recently and inspirewithhope.com has suffered from severe neglect as a result, but I'm sorting myself out and that means you get to benefit from my personal development too.
I've been writing some intriguing new articles and re-visiting previous topics too and I'm now making a public commitment to return with new stuff at the start of next month, including more details about what's been happening in my life.
I'm not sure yet what the frequency of updates will be, but I will be writing regularly and to a fixed schedule, so no more random disappearances.
I know I can do it as I was updating every other day for over six months before and I really love inspirewithhope.com. So, good times are coming. Thank you for your patience in the meantime and I look forward to hanging out with you more in the near future.
Posted on 7 October '07 by Kathleen Bright, under About. 2 Comments.
I'm back!
It's always difficult returning to a website after a break, probably more so after an unplanned one.
Life has been introducing me to new iterations of complexity and I've only recently felt ready to start making sense of things. I didn't want to return without resuming my regular schedule (every other day), but I just can't write that frequently any more. I have too much going on in my life to do that, especially as I'm successfully challenging my issues with motivation and procrastination to re-discover my passion for creativty.
Consequently, I'm returning for once-a-week updates until I have more time to say all I have to say. This will allow me to concentrate on my web design projects (get in touch if you're looking for a web designer, or know someone who is) and to improve All Things Bright (let me know what needs changing).
Achievements
It's not as if I haven't been busy; here's a summary of my latest achievements, as well as some information about what I'm working on at the moment.
Graduate Fashion Week
I recently completed work on a project that was on exhibit at Graduate Fashion Week. It's a website called Subcultures: Fashion & Music Trends, a collaboration between myself & Melissa Taylor.
Photographs to follow shortly – look out for them next Wednesday!
Women in Media
In February 2007, Sali from Women in Media interviewed me and the resulting profile is now online. I feel truly blessed to be recognised as a woman in a successful media and technology career, especially as I don't feel that way most of the time. I hope that the fact that I can achieve this will encourage and inspire other people, because if I can do it you surely can!
Here's an excerpt:
Describe your job/role?
I run a blog about personal entrepreneurship. I'm starting my own business and writing about my experiences, focusing on 'personal' aspects – how my business affects the rest of my life, how my friends influence and inspire me, how other people can get started out.
What is the best thing about your job?
I love the fact that by doing something that I enjoy, it inspires other people. It means a lot to me that I can create and share that kind of value. I have to admit that I love playing around with the design and code for my site too.
What attracted you to it?
I've always enjoyed writing and geeky stuff (like making websites) – when I was at school I taught myself web design. Combining the two happened naturally, it feels almost inevitable that writing and web designing would come together.
Read the rest: Kathleen Bright: Women in Media case study interview
Bright Portfolio
I'm actively looking for web design, web development & site administration or web management work, to that end I've been revamping my portfolio. It's by no means complete, but I wanted to let you know about it now.
Check out brightportfolio.com!
I've worked for Next on Saturdays for almost four years. I plan to leave at the end of the year. Consequently, completing my MA and leaving Next will signify a big change in my life: The beginning of my entrepreneurship career in earnest!
I had been worrying that not having a Saturday job might mean I start slacking off at the weekend. By which I mean that I'd be wasting my time being unproductive and boring – I don't want my Saturdays to be filled with rubbish television; I'd rather work!
I now know what I'll be doing on Saturdays – travelling!
I plan to do volunteer work (not entirely sure what yet, any suggestions?), green gyms (where you 'work out' in the open air through local, practical environmental or gardening work) and travelling home and abroad.
What do you think? Worthwhile enterprises or should I just stay in bed? Do let me know!
Posted on 13 February '07 by Kathleen Bright, under Personal. 1 Comment.
Doctors used to recommended trips away for recuperation and it still works. Granted, I'm not ill, but I'm already feeling healthier purely from being in a different environment. You could be too, even if you're as broke as I am: It only costs £2 return.
As I write this I'm sitting in a coffee bar in Brighton (7 Feb), drinking the most decadent coffee ever: Espresso with vanilla syrup and hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream. It's delightful.
I've been a bit lax lately with planning my life, but this is a good thing. As much as you plan things, the unexpected happens: People get ill and cancel on you, money runs out and you struggle to make ends meet, GoogleMaps confuses you and you get lost…
At the end of the day the thing to do seems to be: Decide what the important things in your life are, put all your energies in to making those work and relax/chill about all the rest.
I spent most of the day wandering around Brighton. I got lost almost immediately (although I didn't realise it at first), which won't surprise those of you who know of my legendary navigational skills (or, rather, my lack thereof).
I had all my luggage with me, so that hindered my travels a little. However, if I'd checked in I might have been tempted to just stay in the hotel. Plus, if I hadn't had my bags with me, I wouldn't have gone seeking the Jubilee library.
Never did find the library, incidentally.
I highly recommend taking a mini-break like this, especially if you've been feeling stressed of late: Just taking a day out would make a big difference and it only costs £1 each way, provided you book early enough from National Express; Megabus do something similar.
I highly recommend it, Brighton in particular. Don't forget to chill!
Admin: Sorry for the inconsistency in the frequency of updating. I've been in Brighton over the weekend and what with my essays I haven't been able to plan entries in advance. Will do better, especially when this bout of essays is over next month, thank you for sticking with me.
Posted on 11 February '07 by Kathleen Bright, under Health. No Comments.
