I had a lot of fun today creating (and sending out) my very first newsletter! I used Mailchimp for this , and I capitalised on last week’s “techy” adventure too : I used Canva to create the header image.
I wrote a short article and then added share buttons and links … okay, I added pretty much everything I could work out how to use!
You can take a peek hereΒ ~ I think you’ll like the article (it’s a harvest metaphor π ).
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
You know what? I’mΒ really enjoying my poetic adventures : I’m enjoying taking pictures, I’m enjoying learning about nature, and I’m enjoying the experience of super-slow presence.
Whilst I was taking my dog for his morning walk, I noticed how one of the trees (it’s a common lime) is racing towards autumn. Many of the tree’s leaves are already golden ; some of the leaves are already on the ground.
I wondered what it would be like to be a leaf on that tree. I wondered what the “younger” leaves might say to the “older” leaves as the inevitable fall approached.
Today’s haiku (which is an attempt to translate the autumn rustle of leaves into words) is called “Leaf,” and you can read it here. I read the poem out loud in today’s video-blog.
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
Now then π . If you’ve been following my adventures for a while, you might have seen today’s adventure coming!
I’ve had an idea for a book project (and an accompanying experiential programme ~ well, “experiential programme” isn’t exactly the right phrase, but it’ll have to do for now π ) that seems to have taken root way back in my earlier adventures. My summer adventures have accelerated the growing process, and today’s adventure is a step further towards bringing this project to life.
The Invisible Counsellors adventures (adventures 89 – 92) helped me to explore how I might do something worthwhile with all my adventuring experiences. My writing adventures (a gruesome piece of romantic fiction, my children’s story “The Faerie Thorn”, and my haikus) have toned my writing muscle. My webinar adventures have encouraged me to really reflect on the value of living adventurously ~ and to reach out to others who might want to reconnect with their own adventurous spirit.
241 previous adventures have led me to this point : the purchase of a domain name for my book and for it’s associated learning programme (nope, that’s not the right word either : I’m sure it will come to me at some point!)
It felt really good to take this small step today. In fact, it felt like quite a big step ; it made the whole idea feel more concrete. I sense it’s going to be a big part of 2015 for me – and it just couldn’t have happened without 2014, my year of Everyday Adventures.
Sometimes, it’s so good to realise how everything we plant today makes for tomorrow’s harvest. It’s almost September : the harvest is right on time. (Oh yeah… Β what I also wanted to say is that this is me “putting it out there”, setting the intention, making the commitment – and you can call me on that π ).
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
For today’s poetic adventure, I had to do quite a bit of detective work. With the help of “Birdwatching For Beginners” and BBC Radio 4’s Tweet Of The Day archives, I was able to work out which bird I’ve been hearing at dusk throughout the summer : it’s the long-eared owl!
You can hear the call of the elusive long-eared owl here; you can read today’s haiku about this nocturnal bird here; and you can listen to me read my haiku out loud in today’s video- blog too π .
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
One HUGE thing that my adventuring has given to me is a playful attitude towards technology! Before I started my 365 Days Of Adventure project, I think I was actually afraid of technology ; I was in awe of all those folks who has “mastered the modern”, and I think that awe (and the Β belief that technology is “hard”) really held me (and my business) back.
As I look back over the last 8 months, I’ve learned to edit videos, manage my WordPress site (and many of its widgets), set up a mailing list, link my mailing list to a “home-made” sign-up box on my website, set up and run webinars, use Facebook advertising (I was REALLY scared of that, oddly enough!), use Google Hangouts On Air, I’ve launched my first digital product, and I’ve mastered a range of image-making tools too! Β And I’ve done this all by playing ~ it’s really worked for me, and I’m so glad I’ve done it because I really do think that it’s helped my business no end.
By working through my fears of technology, I’ve now arrived at a very new state of readiness. I’m ready to go self-hosted with my website, I’m ready for the world of plug-ins and customisation, I’m up for learning more about Search Engine Optimisation, and I’m up for developing on-line learning programmes. Yup ~ I’m up for it all because I realised something that’s really important to me : it’s not really about technology, it’s really about playfulΒ creativity, connectionΒ andΒ Β self-expression.Β And those are things Β that light me right up!
For today’s techy adventure, I tried out CanvaΒ (a brilliant image creation website which is mostly free. Today’s blog post image was created for FREE on Canva today π ). The other websites I mention in today’s video are iPiccyΒ and PixlrΒ . All three of these sites are incredibly easy to use.
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
For the last couple of weeks “our” farm robin has been very noisy indeed! Listening to BBC Radio 4’s “Tweet Of The Day”Β I learned why that might be . The robin’s autumn song is distinctive, and it is very different from its song earlier in the year : the purpose of the new song is to defend its winter territories.
Robins often make their hones in hawthorn hedges and, since the farm is surrounded by such hedges, this mighty-small creature must feel at home with us!
I’ve not been quick enough to get a picture of the robin or to record its “tweeting” ~ it’s worth checking out the Radio 4 link to listen in (I expect it will sound familiar to many of you!).
So, our robin has inspired today’s poetic adventure. You can read my haiku about the robin here, and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog too.
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
Today’s poetic adventure was inspired by the honeysuckle on the side of my mother-in-law’s house : the agile shrub seems to be attempting to climb its way out of the turn of the season. It’s doing a really good job too : it’s trumpet blooms are stillΒ eye-catchinglyΒ healthy, and it’s still reaching skywards to the fading sun.
I’m really enjoying using this poetic form. It requires the creation of a dense and compressed essence , and it really helps to know a little about the element of nature you’re describing too (beyond its appearance). So, it’s encouraged me to learn more about the world around me ~ I like that π .
Today I learned that honeysuckle is also known asΒ fairy trumpetsΒ (I can see why!)Β andΒ woodbineΒ (it winds and binds itself in the hedgerow). According to folklore, if honeysuckle grows outside your house, it’ll protect you from evil. If you bring it inside, it’ll bring wealth into the house. Although you’d think that everyone would want to take it into their house, some people don’t because they believe the sweet, pungent aroma causes “racy” dreams!
You can read today’s haiku here, and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog too.
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
Summer is coming to an end : my son has just returned from spending his school holidays with his father, and the leaves are turning on the trees.
Today I was drawn to ivy . Evergreen, it feels like something to “cling on to” as Autumn no longer lurks at the edges of the day : it’s making a confident advance. The Turning Time is striding in, blowing cool, damp breezes on the last of Summer’s embers.
In Irish folklore, ivy is associated with fidelity and immortality. Druids used to wear “crowns” of ivy to encourage clarity of thinking. The latin name for ivy isΒ hedera helixΒ ~ “hedera” is derived from the Celtic word for cord, and “helix” means twining. I tried to capture all these elements in today’s haiku.
You can read today’s haiku here, and I read it out loud in today’s video-blog.
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
I’ve been trying to remember Joan Aiken’s name for about 3 months, and last night I sat up in bed and exclaimed it out loud!
The reason I was so keen to remember it is that Joan wrote a book that I loved in the 1970s : it was a book of Eastern European folk-tales. The book was beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated, and I was trying to explain to an artist friend of mine the kind of feel I wanted to create in a book I was thinking about writing. I wanted to use Joan’s book as an example, but the author, illustrator and title eluded me (until last night!)
This morning, I Googled Joan and found that, although she died in 2004, her daughter, Lizza, has created a website in her memory, celebrating her life, her work and her illustrators. I was able to find the book from my childhood (and the illustrator) with ease.
The book was called “The Kingdom Under The Sea And Other Stories”Β and the illustrator was none other thanΒ Jan PieΕkowskiΒ . I’d call it a magic book : I don’t know where it came from, I’m not exactly sure when I got it, and I don’t know where it went. All I know is, it left a footprint that has remained after all these years.
For today’s adventure, I emailed Lizza to let her know how I had loved her mother’s book and how that book has remained with me for such a long time.
(Oh – and when I fell back to sleep , I had a dream-and-a-half! … You can hear all about it in today’s video-blog π ).
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
I was so excited about my “technological victory” yesterday, that I just couldn’t help myself today π . As I was pretty certain that it would be impossible to put any kind of sign up box in the right-hand side bar of my website, I thought I’d g adventuring and see what I could manage.
And… if you tilt your eyes up to the right, you’ll see that I managed it! I really enjoyed myself working out how to do it (I feel rather pleased with myself, I must admit π ).
If you’re a WordPress.com blog/website owner, and this is something you’l like to do for your own site, then this is how you do it :
1. Go to Dashboard
2. Go to Appearance
3. Go to Widgets
4. Select and drag “Image” to the side bar
5. Make sure you already have the image you want to put into the side-bar loaded into your Media Gallery.
6. Paste the URL of your image into the appropriate box (you can get the URL if you go to your Gallery, and then click on the image ; scroll down the right hand side, and you’ll see the URL).
7. Paste the target URL (where you want people to end up when they’ve clicked on the image) into the appropriate box.
That’s all there is to it!
I am just going outside and may be some time.
JT
Humans Resourced 