Bridget McNulty

How are you feeling today?

// August 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cape Town, Life (and the living of it), Time, travelling

Me, I’m feeling as if I’m standing in the middle of a tennis court, with Life Lessons being thrown at me from every direction. I’m catching most of them, but some are either hitting me or dropping, and I’m not quite sure what that means!

It just seems as if I’m on learning fast-forward at the moment, you know? And I know it’s because I’ve asked for a lot from life-right-now… Doing a 9 month Round-the-World journey isn’t your usual run-of-the-mill life choice. But I feel like I need to wise up really quickly to grow up to the challenge.

Is any of this making any sense? Basically, I’m having to learn a lot while being really busy and dealing with challenging situations. And it’s not exhausting, or overwhelming, but it is big. Life feels big at the moment.

How are you feeling today?

Are you focused?

// July 8th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Decisions, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Time

I don’t think I am, at the moment.

I mean, I’m long-term focused – I know exactly what I want and when I want it (Hello Round-the-World!) but short-term, day to day, moment to moment, I feel like I’m just the teensiest bit scattered.

There’s just so much going on, you know? So many things to remember, and think about, so many people to communicate with, so many balls to juggle. And instead of taking one ball at a time, and juggling it peacefully and quietly, I’ve been juggling all of them at the same time. So far, none of them have dropped. But I don’t like my odds.

So as of today I’m all for focus. I’m going to try that trick that Esther and Jerry Hicks recommend – segment intending. At the beginning of each segment of your day you set your intention (i.e. your focus) for that segment. Sitting down to breakfast? I intend to enjoy this meal, and for it to nourish me and sustain me. And then you sit down and just eat – don’t think about the rest of your day. About to check your email? I intend to communicate in a clear and straightforward way. No extra fluff.

I’m going to give it a go today, and I’ll let you know how it goes. I like the idea of each part of a day being a focused entity in and of itself – and then all those parts fitting together like an intricate piece of machinery… or an orange.

What do you think? Do you think it’ll help?

Getting all my ducks in a row…

// May 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Cape Town, Time, travelling

So I’m off to the USA! On Sunday night, but leaving Cape Town tomorrow morning for Joburg, where I’ll do a writer’s workshop at a high school, and spend some time with my man’s brother, sister-in-law and nephew. He’s coming with me, tomorrow, but I’m saying goodbye on Sunday… for over three weeks!

I’ll miss him.

My trip is jampacked full of people I’m dying to see, though – all my friends from college that I haven’t seen since I graduated four years ago, and a few new friends that I’ve picked up along the way. I’m having lunch with my publisher (ladida!) and various tea / lunch / dinner dates with other friends… I am so excited!

I’ve reserved today to get all my ducks in a row. I want to pack slowly and calmly so I don’t forget anything, and I want to leave home in a peaceful way. It’ll be the first time I left for the States peacefully if I manage to pull it off!

So what do you think? What’s the one essential thing I can’t forget? I’ll add it to my list.

A weekend of sloth.

// May 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Time

After the extreme busy-ness of last week, with the blog tour and all the advance planning for my US trip, I was really ready for a relaxing weekend this weekend…. And hoo boy did I get it!

My man and I met friends for drinks on Friday night, and then came home and watched Seinfeld (oh how I love Seinfeld!)

On Saturday morning we woke up to pouring rain… and so decided not to get out of bed. We stayed in bed till 1pm, reading, sleeping, chatting, eating breakfast and drinking tea. And then we got up for a book launch (of Aenigmata, check it out here) and a great opening night for the Labia Celebration Exchange (their website is here). Sunday morning was chilly again (although not raining), so we decided to stay in bed all morning again! It was heavenly. It’s amazing how much your body can sleep if you just let it. We spent the rest of the day baking a cake, going for a walk and watching movies on TV.

And when I woke up this morning I felt fantastic! So full of energy, clean and clear and inspired and ready to start the week. Just lovely! How often does that happen? Usually weekends are so full of having fun that by the time Monday rolls around my head is full. But today, thanks to a whole weekend of sloth, I feel rested, relaxed and revitalised (rrrreally!)

When was the last time you gave yourself the gift of a weekend of sloth?

Effort vs. intention…

// April 29th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Decisions, Life (and the living of it), Time, book launch

I’ll have to be brief this morning, because I’ve got a day of nonstop Things To Do, many of them rather lovely (if you’re in South Africa, tune into SAfm at 1.30pm for an interview I’m taking part in on blogging… should be fun!)

I just wanted to throw an idea at you, and see what you think. It’s about effort vs. intention. Esther Hicks, who I’m rather a fan of (could you guess?) says that why things come to us has less to do with how hard we try, and more to do with how much in alignment our energy is. So, for example, if you really want a new job you obviously have to pitch up to the interview and do your best, but when you go home it would be more valuable to spend some time getting your energy to a good place – feeling happy and inspired and lucky and ready to receive a new job – than it would be calling the secretary every five minutes and hanging up before you say anything!

It’s an interesting idea, I think, because it could have the most extraordinary effects if it turns out to be true… I’m going to experiment with it and let you know how it goes, care to join me?
My experiment involves a long story about how I started applying for my Irish passport renewal in February, but due to me being a dummy and smiling too much in the photos and then having to take and post new photos, and then having them get lost in the mail, I’m now scarily in danger of not getting my passport before I leave for the USA. It takes 4 weeks, I leave in 3 and a half.

Now, apparently sometimes it takes 3 weeks, so there’s hope. And I plan on calling the Irish passport people (in Ireland) today to state my case – my book’s coming out! I need to get there on time! I will make every effort to do as much as I can to get my passport in time. And then I will let go and wait for it to come to me. Because stressing about it and trying to make up things to do to make it arrive won’t work. At all.

I don’t think.

What do you think?

UPDATE: 24 hours later, and I’ve spoken to the charming Irish Embassy people in Dublin (I was stating my sob story for her and she interrupted to ask me what my novel is called and how to spell my name!) All I had to do was supply the South African office with a telephone number, and the passport could be processed. The Irish folks seem to think there’ll be no problem getting it in 3 weeks. *Phew!*

So how was your long weekend?

// April 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Time

For those of you not in South Africa, we’re in the midst of a whole month full of long weekends…. In fact, this week is slap bang in the middle of two long weekends, giving us a 3 day weekend, a 3 day workweek, and a 3 day weekend. Lovely!

Only… I have so. much. to. do.

I was reflecting, last week, on what serendipitous timing it was that this month I have desperately needed long weekends to recuperate from the busy-ness of the week, and that it’s a month full of these zen spaced-out weekends. But then I realised that the reason I need the weekends so badly is that I’m cramming a full week’s worth of work into 3 or 4 days. And that extra day is all the time I usually take off – time in my hammock, catching my breath, doing a meditation, watching movies, going for walks. So essentially, all these long weekends have taken the pockets of breathing space out of my days, and made them exhaustingly busy! Nobody’s fault but my own, of course, but I do miss my more laidback pace…

I’m sure it will be back soon. Most of the busy-ness at the moment is planning for our round the world trip, and trying to sort out sponsorship for it. Oh yes, did I mention? We’re getting sponsored to go around the world… More on that when it’s in the bag!
It seems like my man and I are running all week to fit in normal work and trip planning stuff, and then we get to the weekend and we indulge in luxurious nothingness – watching DVDs, eating really good food, sleeping 10 hours a night, drinking countless cups of tea, reading, and catching our breath. So I suppose my pockets of breathing space have been crammed into the weekends. Not much to complain about, then!

What about you? How was your long weekend?

The Shopping List of my mind:

// April 23rd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Time

Sometimes my mind feels like a shopping list. Of a person who hasn’t shopped in a really long time… Do you know what I mean? Thoughts are on there that are urgent and really need to be bought (or thought, ha!), others kind of slipped in there by mistake, and others would really be better off if they were dealt with one at a time. In a quiet boutique environment.

But here they are anyway…. Are you ready for it? Welcome to the shopping paradise of my mind!

1. That was a really yummy lunch.
2. I have so much to do.
3. Why won’t iTunes let me submit my podcast, just cause I’m in South Africa?
4. I hope everyone in SA voted yesterday.
5. It is alarming how quickly winter arrived in Cape Town.
6. I’m worried about a friend who broke up with her boyfriend yesterday.
7. I’m anxious/excited for a friend who’s reuniting with her boyfriend today.
8. Thank goodness it’s a long weekend!
9. I really need to get some work-work done.
10. I really need to clarify our round the world budget.
11. I really need to make those changes to the Fresh Living article I submitted.
12. I wonder what’s for dinner?
13. I must pay my phone bill today.
14. I wonder if the I love the Labia stuff can wait till Monday?
15. Monday is a public holiday! Yay!
16. I have never needed public holidays as much as I have this month.
17. Pretty convenient that this is a month full of South African public holidays!
18. I’m going to the States in less than a month!
19. I have so much to do before then!!
20. When did I get so busy?
21. I can’t wait to chat to the Just the Planet people at 6pm tonight…
22. There’s some potentially amazing stuff in the pipeline for our trip.
23. Our flat smells like cheese on toast. Yum!
24. It’s my brother and sister-in-law’s 3rd wedding anniversary. Amazing.
25. I really need to write and reply to some emails.
26. Thunder in the middle of the day is so cool…

So there you have it! I’m 26 years old, and I have 26 thoughts buzzing around my head. Consider this a challenge, to write down the shopping list of your mind, and see if you can reach your age in numbers!

This too shall pass…

// April 9th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Time

Probably one of my favourite lessons from Eckhart Tolle.

I’ve heard the phrase before, but always associated it with times of tragedy or sadness. When you’re feeling down in the dumps, remember that ‘this too shall pass’ and it makes the hard times easier to bear.

What I hadn’t ever considered, though, was that it’s also a helpful phrase when things are going well. Whenever you’re feeling happy or delighted about something, remember that ‘this too will pass’.

It might appear, at first, to take the air out of your balloons, but what he says is that if you don’t accept that everything is transient, there’s this sense of fear that surrounds anything that happens. Even as you’re enjoying whatever is going your way, you worry about when it will disappear. If you remember that everything that happens will pass, you take the fear out of it and open yourself up to the possibility of being firmly in this present moment.

What do you think? A wise way to approach life? I think so…

Convenient inconveniences.

// April 8th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Cape Town, Decisions, Life (and the living of it), Time

I’ve had a couple of days of fairly consistent inconveniences… that have all turned out to be really rather convenient.

Last week our landline stopped working, just out of the blue. We called Telkom, expecting it to be a long, drawn-out affair, and they promised to send out a technician. So we waited peacefully for him to arrive. And he did! Within 24 hours. And the problem was solved in less than an hour.

Then on Friday morning my cell phone went crazy, not switching on, freezing, not letting me dial out or answer calls. Without getting all uptight about it, I took it to the Vodacom care shop (it’s still under warranty) and they booked it in for repairs, no charge. It was ready in 3 hours, good as new!

That same day, my scooter got a puncture, in the back tyre. My poor man had to push it home in the dark (what a sweetheart) and I couldn’t drive it to the tyre shop (obviously). So I asked the tyre shop if they had a pick-up service (no luck) and then remembered that my insurance (1st for Women) offers free towing services. So I called to enquire, and they hooked me up with a tow truck, no problem! Best of all, they called back to tell me who the tow truck company was and what time to expect them, and then they called to check if he had arrived on time. The tow truck they sent was a six and a half tonne monster, which was great fun to ride in (it really feels as if you can just squish other cars like bugs) and it got me to the tyre shop in ten minutes. At the tyre shop, I found out I didn’t need a new tyre at all, just a plug, which cost me R35 (about $3.50) and took twenty minutes!

So out of three situations that could have been frustratingly time-consuming, irritating, and expensive, they were all simple, hassle-free and virtually free.

Now that is what I call convenient inconveniences.

(PS: I haven’t quite figured out whether it all went so smoothly because I have excellent service providers, or because I didn’t get fussed and expect it to be a mission. What do you think?)

Sacred Sloth.

// January 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Time

I’ve come up with a new concept that I think could be quite powerful (and that just so happens to be rather delicious!)
I call it Sacred Sloth.

What is it? Well, every so often (I’d say every second week, but I’m still experimenting with the finer details), you give yourself a day off for Sacred Sloth. What that means is that you have full permission to sleep late, stay in bed reading till noon, wear your pyjamas all day if you like, lie in your hammock or on your couch, read voraciously, draw, eat delicious food, watch inspiring TV (none of that brain-rotting stuff!) and generally do whatever it is you feel like, in slow motion.

I had one of these days yesterday, and I have to say it’s a real tonic. It feels like I went on a mini-holiday. I highly recommend it. And because it’s only one day, there’s no need to feel guilty about wasting time. In fact, it’s the opposite of a waste of time, because a day of Sacred Sloth counteracts the effects of stress, and ensures you don’t burn out from working too hard.

Give it a go! You deserve it.