On 29th December 2006, I made some important goals for 2006. I've already modified and developed them, which is great because it's important to keep re-evaluating, so I'll be doing this once monthly.
My big goal for 2007: Escape with Courage
In 2006, I said it was Debt-free by December 2007 (excluding student loan). However, on reflection, this is a negative goal because it focuses on something I don't want, namely, debt. So, I've re-worded it to concentrate on something I do want, in the right spirit too: Financial abundance.
2007 is my year of independence
Financial abundance and all kinds of independence
Spatial independence, financial independence, personal independence. For this I need courage, so I'm doing things a courageous person would do. I'm going on my first mini-break without my parents next weekend. Scary & exciting.
I've succeeded in not buying clothing this January (not including my uniform, which I overlooked when setting goals) and am continuing to avoid spending on clothes and clutter in to February. Hurrah!
Student frugality
Being more frugal when it comes to eating out remains a challenge. However, my awareness of how much I'm spending is definitely growing and I feel more uncomfortable when spending a lot on food. I've even taken a packed lunch in this week!
KathleenBright.com
I'm working on exactly what kind of work I want to do, in addition to entrepreneurship: My thinking is that I want to raise capital via consultancy services etc before launching my business as planned upon completion on my postgraduate degree. To that end, at the end of February I implement, and in March I launch, KathleenBright.com. Exciting!
How to be vegan
I have a new challenge for February – becoming vegan. One of the things I want to be true this time next year is this: I'm a vegan healthnut. All I can do to achieve this it to act now, so I am. I'm currently vegetarian, by March I'll be vegan too. Wish me luck!
In addition, increased awareness about what I'm eating helps to keep me on the right path of a) spending reasonable amounts on food, especially when eating out and b) eating healthily. Brilliant when goals come together like that.
Beginners' steps, by a newbie vegan wannabe
- Stop eating and drinking obviously non-vegan products
Yes, lots of things have dairy and eggs in (like cakes) and it take a lot more effort to avoid those, so start with the easy things, like cheese.
- Use dairy-free & egg-free alternatives and substitutes (e.g. soya milk, tofu instead of egg).
Use the Internet to get help from a variety of helpful resources, e.g. VegFamily Magazine
- Go to restaurants that specify what's vegan – vegetarian restaurants tend to be very good at this, e.g. Food for Thought.
6 essays, 27th February
Studying & my MA Ethics & Philosophy of Religion
It's still difficult, but I do want to succeed, so I'm just getting on with it. I've started actually writing my first essay too, so that's all good. My goal here is to continue as I've started: Forging ahead with dedication and conscientiousness.
I'm writing about education, yet again and with good reason.
My essay deadlines are creeping closer and closer. This time procrastination will lead to failure (er, again). So, I'm tackling my tendency to procrastinate.
You too can "Say No! to Procrastino."
Studying & Entrepreneurship
My two main areas of focus at the moment: Studying and Entrepreneurship. Each has its challenges, for example, I'm working on breaking down the massive goal of 'doing Ethical Beads' in to daily tasks. Each has its rewards: Writing for All Things Bright is a reward in itself, knowing I'm helping people is brilliant and getting feedback makes me grin inanely. :)
The biggest challenges? Time and fear, which are intimately connected, especially as I tend to procrastinate out of fear, thus leaving myself less time. Doh!
Lately being cold has been enough to stop me from acting. This is actually a big problem for me, as my parents switch the heating off when they go to bed, but I tend to work better at night. Aagh! I'm tackling it by slowly adapting to working earlier (e.g. by going to bed earlier to ensure I get enough sleep), although it's cold in the mornings too – roll on Spring! Isn't that terrible though? To let being cold defeat me.
So, what I need to do is, well, just get on with it – there are no shortcuts. In the long run, getting on with it now will mean I save time anyway, so better get to it.
Essay-writing, what's to love?
Well, quite a lot really. I've chosen topics in which I'm genuinely interested. For example, virtue ethics is about working out the best way/s of living one's life, how to be a better person and becoming wise – fascinating! These are all topics I explore, out of choice, at All Things Bright. So, I'm going to synchronise the two activities (essay-writing and blogging) more and thus cut down on the amount of work and 'work'.
Resources
Update: I almost forgot to mention that in my next entry I'll be bringing you up-to-date on my goals, which will also serve to give me something to measure my success against. 27 Jan
Fear Based Decisions are the Wrong Decisions, Mind Petals
I have a choice to make about my education and fear is pushing me towards a decision I know is completely wrong for me. Now I'm doubly terrified, because I'm fearful of making the wrong decision out of fear. Aagh!
But how do I have the courage to quote unquote "feel the fear and do it anyway"?
Any words of wisdom? Or maybe you're in a similar position wondering how to be strong? Do let me know and we can commiserate and support each other. :)
In the meantime, I'll focus on saying thank you more, in order to get myself in the right frame of mind for really figuring out what I want. I like to say thank you.
Watch The Secret
On a related note, if you haven't seen The Secret, do! I highly recommend it. (Thank you to Jessica, from It's Not About Your Stuff for letting me know about this inspirational film). It was available to watch online for free, but no longer: $4.95 for the online version, or $29.95 for the DVD.
Free for you!
I'm not affiliated with The Secret in any way, I just think it's brilliant. Which is why I'll buy either the online version or the book for the first person to request one in a comment to this entry. Just let me know which one you'd like.
N.B. The online version is worth $4.95 and is not compatible with Intel Macs computers. The book is worth $23.95/£9.99 and is currently available from Amazon for $14.37/£5.99.
A family friend asked me once why I'd gone back to university to study and 'Aren't you sick of it?' Er, no. I love being a student. Why? Let me count the ways.
Because it's free. Obviously you have to pay for education. However, there are tonnes of free benefits, many of them intangible and unavailable elsewhere.
- Free access to online journals and to my beautiful, amazing library:
Including ones that are nothing to do with my course, like Sexualities. (I was Googling and found a fascinating article: Constructing Polyamorous Languages in a Culture of Compulsory Monogamy, by Ani Ritchie & Meg Barker) Free access if you have an Athens username & password.
- Free time, lots of it, ostensibly:
In fact, I've worked full time in the past (last year) and it's true: Comparatively, I have tonnes of free time. I need to remind myself of this. The key reason it feels like I don't have lots of free time is because I procrastinate, leading to creating unnecessary urgency in my life. Roll on Christmas holidays and I will be tackling these bad habits with a vengeance.
- Free student discounts & promotional products:
Currently, my favourite is Yo! Sushi's half-price student offer. Last week my university were giving away contraception, apparently (because it was AIDS Awareness Week).
- Free advice and access to genius minds:
My university includes such geniuses as Thomas Pink and Raimond Gaita, as well as my brilliant tutors and my course mates.
- Free film screenings:
Tomorrow, I'm going to see what looks like a rubbishy teen movie with a cliche twist, even the name is 'ironically' rubbishy teen movie cliche: Another Gay Movie.
- Free discussions and the atmosphere:
My classmates are amazing people. What's the likelihood I would have met them if we hadn't gone to university? Chances of us talking about philosophy of religion, if we had met, especially in a structured setting? Even lower.
- Free choice of where I work:
When I wrote this I was seated in Starbucks (4 Dec, 6.10pm), where I'd been sat for a couple of hours. It's brilliant, great opportunities to people watch and socially acceptable eavesdropping.
Posted on 5 December '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. No Comments.
Hmm, well, I'm glad you asked that question…
I have three essays at the moment and that's the title for one of them (er, without the desperate student bit, obviously). I was sitting here stressing about the fact that I have essays and site updates to do. Then I thought, 'Maybe I can combine the two!'
I can't, because my ideas are too unclear at this stage. (Yes, even at this late stage).
However, I can open the discussion.
The first thing to make clear about Philosophy of Religion and God-talk is this: When trying to make the concept of God clear, questions about whether or not God actually exists are irrelevant.
If you want to respond with 'But God doesn't exist!' that's fine; but first you need to tell me what this 'God' being/person/whatever is that you're saying doesn't exist. If I say that unicorns or phaetons don't exist it's incumbent upon me to say what unicorns or phaetons are.
So, with that out of the way…
Is God knowable? Or is He/She/it beyond human comprehension?
There are no wrong answers. Discuss in the comments. Thanks!
On Monday, studying began in earnest. I saw my tutor, armed myself with a comprehensive booklist (well, a jolly good start anyway) and headed off to the library.
Books, to borrow or buy – coming soon
I'm going to start my own online library & book sale, incidentally. Partly because I've just acquired (more) free books and partly because I'm in charge of organising a book sale for my department. So, I thought I'd add another dimension in the form of some online marketing at All Things Bright. Hurrah!
If you have any books to lend or sell, please do let me know, as I'm always at least cursorily interested. Just leave a comment or send me an email. Thanks in advance!
Interest topics
This list is to give you an idea of my main interests, but please don't let it restrict you if you have books in other subject areas.
- Philsophy of Religion
- Feminism
- Ethics
- Marketing
- Blogging / WordPress
Posted on 28 October '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. No Comments.
I'm considering compiling a dictionary of terms I ought to know, like 'logical positivism'. Would you be interested in it? Would you pay for it, even? Or should I make it free?
Let me know your thoughts either way by leaving a comment please, thanks.
Posted on 18 October '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. No Comments.
Networking, by which I mean, socialising with new people
I've been doing a lot of, uh, networking recently. (Does it count as networking if you have fun and meet interesting people in unstructured environments? Of course!) It's really quite excellent. Mostly facilitated by going to university and the power of the interweb. (Facebook is like a mashup of the two of these).
Benefits of being a student, cool stuff for free
Today, I also discovered an entrepreneurship programme, free for all King's students:
Be inspired! is a student enterprise training programme co-ordinated by KCL Enterprises.
Result!
Remembering I'm at uni to work hard, of course
In amongst all these fabulous opportunities, I need to fit in studying too, of course. Much to my chagrin, one of my lecturers asked me about some reading (in advance of the due date I hasten to add) and I hadn't done it yet. Woe, woe is me – am supposed to be impressing my tutors with my organised efficiency, not having them curse at me (literally) because I'm failing to live up to their (high!) expectations.
Sigh.
Unfortunately, all the time management skills in the world couldn't create more space for everything I've got on at the moment, what with some personal stuff too.
Achievements, stuff I've done what I'm proud of, innit?
Still, I am relatively proud of my achievements so far. For example, the study forum I implemented will come in handy (eventually) and, in the meantime, all the updating of All Things Bright has impressed one of my fellow uni mates at least. (It's nice to get some recognition). Plus, when I am an online celebrity, will be great to be able to say things like – 'I'm so committed to blogging & to the Internet generally that I updated my site every other day for the past five years, even when I was in full-time education and had 15 000 words to write for my insightful, ground-breaking dissertation.
Business, they call it that because it's all about being busy
The next thing to focus on (after that reading!) is my business, EthicalBeads.com; it's not going to grow itself, after all. Anyway, I have that covered, as I'll be attending those training sessions by KCL Enterprises.
I'm moving up in the world as we speak.
Well, my first week as an MA student is drawing to a close and I have a few insights. (At this rate, I'll be writing publishable material any time now!)
What I love most about being a postgraduate is that it's exactly how I was hoping my undergraduate degree would be like, in that there are just spontaneous philosophical discussions with fellow students. In addition, as the class sizes are smaller, tutors treat you more like adults.
Discussion, facilitated
Anyway, to that end, I created a forum for all the students on my course. Hurrah! I hope they like it. Not sure if I'll do one for students & staff too or what.
Dissertation ideas
I've already had a few ideas for a dissertation, varying plausibility and creativity (indirectly proportionate, I fear). Actually, I had another couple today:
- The Ethics of Desire
- What can we say about God?
- Contemporary Virtue Ethics
Reading
As anticipated, lots of books to read! Which is excellent, because I love reading.
My year off
As I've mentioned before, I've learnt so much in my year off. I've managed to break with my school note-taking habits, whereby I attempted to write down everything the teacher said. Instead, now I'm able to follow advice I always knew, intellectually, to be useful: Summarise the important bits. Still some way way to go, but I'm getting there.
Attending lectures is so much more important as a postgraduate than as an undergraduate. (NB: Obviously all lectures are important). Mainly because of the discursive nature of classes (not really lectures any more), it's impossible to write everything down and it wouldn't help very much either.
So, now, if you were to miss a lecture, you've missed out on the dialogue, on the cut and thrust of argument. You know? Bah, someone help me out on this one – I'm not explaining it properly.
Anyways, suffice to say, I'm really enjoying it so far (even more than I thought I would). Hurrah!
Posted on 28 September '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. 2 Comments.
So, finally All Things Bright is going to start getting a little more intellectual, a little more academic, a little more philosophical.
I've been thinking about dissertation topics.
It's strange, a few months ago I was really worried because I had no idea about what to write about. Now I have all sorts of weird & wonderful ideas. I want to do something that is relevant to an area inside my life, outside of Philosophy of Religion directly. Chris (one of my lecturers) inspired me when he was talking about how we should read outside the discipline (as well as inside it). That's when the first idea struck, I just thought, of course, it's so simple! I doubt they would authorise it though, far too eclectic.
Here are a few, I would dearly love to hear your thoughts about these, so please do let me know!
- Ethics: Evangelism Versus Marketing
- Feminist Philosophy of Religion
- Suffering & God
Oh, okay, that's not a very helpful list really, is it? No detail. Well, okay, I'll explore the first idea.
In essence, it feeds on Seth Godin's article, "Is it possible to hold a marketer morally responsible?", which I commented on in my previous post, Ethics, or Why I’m back at uni to study MA Ethics & Philosophy of Religion. I realised that both evangelism and marketing are attempts to convince people to buy or buy in to something.
Guy Kawaski's previous job brings these twin fields of evangelism and marketing together, as he puts it, "I evangelized Macintosh to software and hardware". See? It's not just some craziness that exists in my head, this is a real world example!
The essay would be in two parts: A smaller chunk linking evangelism and marketing and a larger chunk discussing the ethical considerations of each, how discussions and conclusions about one affect the other & such the like.
So, what do you think??? Just leave a comment or two. Thanks!
PS I've just written a review of the excellent book, Don't Take It Personally! by Elayne Savage. You could win a free copy of the book, by commenting to that post – I'll choose the most deserving commentor.
Posted on 26 September '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. 1 Comment.
Ethics is a field that is on the up; it's currently popular & fashionable to 'do' ethics.
When I started studying ethics formally four years ago, people often asked me why I was studying it. Why? Because it's important, because I want to understand the various theories, because it's so closely related to actions, motivations, emotions…
Marketing works… Your marketing changes the way people act… The morality of marketing is this: you need to be able to stand up and acknowledge that you're doing what you're doing… We're responsible for what we sell and how we sell it. We're responsible for the effects (and the side effects) of our actions… It is our decision. Whatever the decision is, you need to own it. If you can't look that decision in the mirror, market something else.
Recently, Seth Godin (marketing expert) asked Is it possible to hold a marketer morally responsible? Of course, as he stated – yes, it is.
I started Ethical Beads because I learnt of a few of the many issues with bead manufacture and I didn't want to be perpetuating the problem with my own jewellery crafting, especially as I had started selling my jewellery and was hoping to launch a profitable business.
Well, the hobby business is over and the real one is in development. Wish me luck and if you'd like to help in any way, please do let me know – I'd love to have you on board.
Interestingly, separately from thinking about this entry I had the brainwave of comparing marketing & evangelism and commenting on the ethics of each for my dissertation. What do you reckon?
Posted on 24 September '06 by Kathleen Bright, under Education. 2 Comments.