Life Lately...

I keep pondering the difference between a job and a career.

With a job you clock in, do your thang and clock out. You go home, you don't think about it, you do your whatever it is that you like to do, or you take care of your family, or both.

With a career it is all you think about. You dream about it. You think about it whilst your making dinner. You work late. You work on projects and answer your emails from home. You go in to work early to catch quiet time to work uninterrupted. You don't go out.  You kinda forget to blog.

The role that I took on in September has evolved beyond what I thought it was when I accepted it. In a good way. I have gained skills and learnt a lot. I love it. But I've got to admit, I'm pretty exhausted, ha ha! I am enjoying growing into my new career, I'm enjoying using my brain in new ways, thinking differently, working on new challenges.

I don't really know quite where this blog has ever been going on it's meandering path but whatever I hoped it would be, I guess it's probably going to be more reflective, more personal and maybe a little quiet these days.

And that is what life lately looks like when I'm not working like crazy... sunshine, popcorn and Simple Things.

Happy Easter!

A birds nest I made with Fimo yesterday... I'm very proud of it, I've not tried Fimo since I was a kid. I'll confess that this is the second attempt, the first mutated after 6 minutes in the oven on double the correct temperature, ooppps!

Happy Easter to you all folks... ours will be chilled, enjoying the sun (yep, it's made an appearance), crafting, tea-drinking and of course, exchanging chocolate eggs. Have a lovely one!

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PS. I'm sure you're all aware that GFC is disappearing forever in July so make sure to follow me on Hello Cotton or Bloglovin!

What does it mean to be a woman?

A big question I know.

A huge one in fact. A question that is more important today than it has perhaps ever been.

Why?

Because being a woman now, in this time, in this day, means that we have choices women have not had before. We can affect the lives of women we have never met.

We can say yes or no to gay marriage affecting another woman's rights and happiness.

We can say yes or no to fast fashion which can lead to women working vast amounts of overtime on very little pay, spending less time with their families.

We can say yes or no to conflict diamonds the cause of years of bloodshed, war and rape.

We can say yes or no to being environmentally forward-thinking and sustainable in our daily lives, thus preserving our planet for generations to come.

We can be doctors, lawyers, Prime Ministers, pilots, business owners, vicars, athletes, politicians, writers, artists, journalists, soldiers, mothers, lovers, wives... we get to choose.

You can choose to live your life in such a way that it is to the benefit of other women. Simple choices at no risk or huge lifestyle overhaul to you. You can choose to buy your cafe latte at Brenda's cafe or at Starbucks. You can choose to get your yoga bag from MamaAfrica or from Sweaty Betty. You can choose to buy Fair Trade tea or not. Every single one of these choices makes a difference, a ripple in the pond.

Thanks to the beliefs and efforts of many women before us we can choose what effect we have, what legacy we leave. We have the opportunity to support each other and to fight for those, particularly in developing countries, who do not yet have the legislation behind them to fight for their own rights.

Being a woman for me means that I can change things. I can make an impact. I can change the world. I can be a role model, I can be an advocate. I am a huge supporter of Kiva and their micro-lending model, allowing people from all over the world to grow their businesses through small loans from people like you or me. From today onwards I will be donating 25% of the profit from my jewellery sales to people that need it through my Kiva loans.

What does being a woman mean to you? Does being female affect how you live your life? Do you think that we benefit from the choices we have today? Are you part of the ripple of change that women are slowly but surely making happen across the world? I'd love to know what you think!

The Building Tour: The Library

It's part two of the building tour and this is The Library! We have books on subjects such as the environment, sustainability, social enterprise, rights and development, food and the third sector, all available to Oxford students. We currently house them on purpose built book-chairs but unfortunately we have decided that they need to go as when moved they scratch the flooring and now the floor is a mess. Once they're gone I'll be hoping that Google is my friend and can tell me how to revive my floor!

Edit: The paintings in these pictures are by local Oxford artist Mark Bridger who is also on twitter if you want to say hi!

The Library has taken quite a beating in the last eighteen months, with various displays being put up and taken down and the scratched floor. I'm planning to revamp the walls and then we're going to get some more permanent displays up including a Hub map and a display based on the picture below...

(source) via my pinterest board

We used orange post-it notes and did a word association brainstorm, writing down words and phrases that we associate with Student Hubs and our building. We wrote them all down on the post-its and then pegged them up on orange string on the Library walls. I'll take a couple of pictures when the project is completed, we're going to get the student committee to do the word-storming session too and add their post-its and have them all strung up on one wall. I think it'll look pretty cool and is a fun, visual way of describing what the Hub is, what it means and what we do.

I'm hoping to get the walls and displays completed in the next couple of weeks and then it's on to sourcing new bookshelves (by new I'll take anything that fits!), figuring out how to sell our infamous book-chairs, and looking into how fix the floor. It's all part of our challenge of figuring out  how to let people know that we are there, what we do and how they could get involved. Being upstairs from the Turl Street Kitchen can be a disadvantage*... a lot of students just use the TSK as a cool hangout and have no idea of the resources sitting a floor above them. They're the ones we need to get through to and of course it will be hugely beneficial to making local people aware of who we are and what we do, to the benefit of the community. Figuring out how to be resourceful and cool is proving to be a tough one!

*The TSK is actually our sister social enterprise so we benefit, literally, from their profits. And the TSK is cool.

Have you ever tried to brand a floor?! Does anyone have any tips on places that are both resourceful and cool? 

PS. I'll write you a post soon on how not to paint a wall with blackboard paint ;)