Straight Lines and Comfy Curves

A long time ago, I had an idea for a book that I would write. My book would be named "Slow Down, You're Losing Too Fast", and it would be all about how to stop wasting time on the unimportant things, how to gain life in its fullest sense and to be healthy. Many years later as my 60th year creeps closer, and the aches and pains that come with aging, cause me to rethink what I have lost, what I will lose and what I may never even want to gain, the title of the book still resonates with me. I realise that I could choose to see myself as the failed subject of my own tale of woe, or I could actually do something about it. I have chosen the latter option!

So, with this in mind, and with a lot of praying happening first, I give you my very first blog post! Not quite a book yet, but hopefully it will be at the very least a story worth reading and a journey worth taking. Why the title of "Straight Lines and Comfy Curves" as opposed to the aforementioned "Slow Down..." title? I thought I might start my blog by introducing TLOML (the love of my life), my wonderful husband, best friend and the man I have known for almost all of my life, the straight edged Brendan MacNamara.

Now, those of you who already know TLOML will wonder why I have labelled this man "straight edged". You might think that this sounds too much like "straight laced" or "straight up and down" or even "straight forward". Those of you who know TLOML would be unlikely to describe him this way.

He is, in many ways the antithesis to these terms. He is gregarious, "jolly" and while he doesn't beat around the bush, he most certainly has his own slant on how he views almost any topic that you would like to engage him in. No, the reason for him being the straight edged member of our marriage doesn't even have anything to do with his body type, it is all to do with how he wants to design, style, build and format the world around him and how it is in absolute opposition to almost everything I ever want to design, style, build or format.

This is where the "comfy curves" comes into the title. I think it quite funny when I talk to people who shy away from art-making, if they say "I can't draw. I can't even draw a straight line!". Well if drawing a straight line was a prerequisite for being an artist, I would certainly be a failure! Everything I ever create has curves, is somewhat oddball and rarely fits into normal design parameters. I like to make things from the ground up and adore the authentic bumps and imperfections found in the natural world. Even the pizza oven in the backyard, which I have been making for nearly two years is made from mud (adobe) rather than the pre-fab version that TLOML wanted to purchase.

Of course, this is where the fun starts. I have great problems finishing things. I have real trouble getting time to do all the crazy, wonderful things I want to do and I constantly plague TLOML with my latest ideas for renovations, gardening, places to visit, painting ideas, food fantasies and business propositions. Because TLOML is such a gem, he tries his best to accommodate my random creativities... with one catch, the creations will need to be designed, styled, built and formatted with straight lines. Sigh!

There are perfectly good reasons why we have these opposing design ideas. He sees design from the inside out, in terms of what structures need to be in place for it to work. I see things from the outside in, because I only envisage what will it look like when it's finished...both really good reasons for the opposite ends of the spectrum to believe wholeheartedly that they have the right perspective! Great reasons to disagree on almost everything! Right?

Well, we haven't been best of friends for over 50 years and happily married for 34 years carrying the burdens of our disagreements. Instead, we have done a lot of compromising, trying to see things from each others' perspective and trying (not always successfully) to work it out.

Our current way of "working it out" sees TLOML running a small part-time handyman business, while I work as a fulltime teacher. He looks after the cooking, cleaning, washing and renovating, while I teach art to high school aged refugee and asylum seeking students. This keeps the wolves away from the door and in theory gives me more time to enjoy making crazy, beautiful artworks and having a garden filled with homegrown organic vegies. Right?...Sigh!

Unfortunately my garden right now would make a great backdrop to a remake of the "Addams Family", and while I do occasionally find some time to paint, I often feel too tired and I would love to have more time to create. Which brings me back to my first paragraph...doing something about it!

This blog post is the beginning of that "something". I am going to write a series of blogs and a series of eBooks. My themes will be about negotiating this stage of our lives physically, spiritual and financially, and how others can learn from my mistakes. My first eBook will be free. It will explain how I set up my website and how you can learn from my mistakes. It's currently in the pipeline. I'll let you know when it's ready. In the meantime, you might want to read the first book I read on this journey:

"How to Make Your First Affiliate Sale". I have just started to read the book and am cautiously optimistic that the content and the advice may just help me slow down a little on the workfront, while TLOML and I enjoy a few more years together, negotiating our straight lines and comfy curves.

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