What's your soap box topic?

After writing this post about people who are completely passionate about their work, I got to thinking about things that really get me revved up. Things that make me talk like these people talk: on and on and on, because I'm really into what I'm talking about.

And right away one topic came to mind. It's my go-to soap box topic, except I'm not really complaining about anything. It's something that I honestly find MIND-BLOWINGLY FASCINATING and I am always mildly surprised and a little bit sad when I realise nobody else is there with me.

So here it is. Please imagine me talking faster than usual, and gesticulating wildly, letting my tea go cold or my wine get warm. It's possible my eyes are just a little bit cray-cray. If that scares you (erm, why would it?) feel free to click away now…

One day when the kids are all grown up and the mortgages are all paid off (in other words when I'm 90ish), I want to go ahead and undertake a PhD on the origins of religion and mythology. Proper research study, not anecdotal or speculative "the gods were aliens because you can only see the Nazca lines from above" stuff.

Because to my mind there are just too many similarities in the world's spiritual stories for there not to be a REASON. Look at the resurrection themes in the Christian and ancient Egyptian stories. Or the creation texts of the Jews and the Mayans: there's water, separation, a serpent, so many symbolic parallels. Water and a great serpent are at the centre of a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, too. Now look at the demigods of the ancient Greeks and the Romans: they are the offspring of a human-divine pairing, and they are great and powerful heroes. Now take a look at the story of the Nephilim in Genesis of the Bible/Torah scriptures: they are the offspring of angels and human beings (other translations say "the sons of god and the daughters of men"), and they are known as "the giants and heroes of old."

I get that some of these stories travelled through cultures through wars and along trade routes, which COULD explain story parallels in, for example, the Middle East. But what about South America? Australia? There are SO MANY stories with similarities, all over the world and throughout the ages. Where did they start? Is there truth in any of these? If so, what IS that truth? Who started this millennia-old game of Chinese whispers?

Once upon a time our ancestors didn't worship any gods, and then one day they did. Archaeologists can trace the beginnings of spirituality and religion in our ancestors, through signs of belief in the afterlife. A long time ago when someone died, we left them and walked away. Presumably we grieved because presumably we loved, too, but once a person was dead there was nothing more to be done for them. But then we started burying our dead, and burying them with items of significance. Items to go with them into the afterlife, to ease their passage or make their existence easier once they got there.

WHY? Why did we start believing in life beyond the material? What happened? Did it happen in just one place and then word spread, or did it happen everywhere all at once and then the different peoples and cultures developed their own stories in isolation from one another? Was it an actual god? Many gods? A spectacular and/or catastrophic natural event? Heck, let's indulge all the theories for a minute. Did aliens teach us how to build the pyramids? Were the "heroes of old" actually just another race that existed parallel to us, like the neanderthals (who, btw, also believed in an afterlife)?

Mind blown, right? Right?

Oi. WAKE UP!

So that's my little soap box rant and probably you won't be that into it and to your face I'll say "that's cool" but in my head I'll be thinking WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD? WHY DON'T THEY GET HOW AMAZING THIS IS?

Deep breaths.

And now I want to know: what's YOUR soap box topic? What gets you REALLY excited, as in, almost as excited as the mystery of the origins of myth? I promise to listen. I do. I really want to know. Go!

Tumbleweed

Have you seen the tumbleweed rolling through this corner of the Internet lately? I feel like it's ages since I've been here, and I've missed it. I've missed YOU.

To be honest I feel like I've lost a bit of writing momentum. We went away on a little holiday and I brought back all kinds of stories to share with you but, before we'd been back a week, little Harry got sick and ended up in hospital. He's fine, he's a tough little guy, but it was a tiring and stressful and all-consuming period.

And then of course by the time Harry and I got home from the hospital I was miles behind on work deadlines and all the little jobs and big jobs that life throws your way every day. They had piled up one on top of the other and it was all a bit overwhelming. It still is.

I'm trying to work my way from underneath the domestic and emotional detritus. Sometimes I see daylight, but then (for example) Madeleine throws up all over herself in the fancy food court at Emporium in Melbourne, and the world and worry tighten their grip on creative thinking, all over again.

(Silver lining: the outcome for Madeleine was not at all bad. We stripped her to singlet and nappy and cuddled her the whole way through to David Jones, where she got to pick out a new outfit for herself while checking out the toys. On the way home, riding in the Ergo with me, she announced, "I love my new clothes. I going to wear them ALL DAY. I going to wear them for EVER.")

I signed up for an Inspiration Information for Bloggers course by Pip Lincolne, which started at the beginning of this month. I've barely had a chance to look at it, but now I'm going to start reading, retrospectively, through the past week-and-a-half's worth of lessons. Hopefully, it will help me get my mojo back, and I can start giving you content worth your time. Some time. SOON.

I really hope so! Thanks for your patience, dear friend. x

ps. Were you as shocked as I was at the outcomes of The Block Glasshouse auctions? Did anyone else NOT see that coming? I feel so bad for the contestants. Imagine giving up three months of work, and being away from your family for three months, only to come away with next to nothing. I know it's a competition, but that's got to be really tough.

Creative life

How do you keep track of your creative life?

Recently I drew this mind-mappy flow-charty thing to try to figure out, for myself, how all my various fun and creative projects relate to and support one another.

Here's what I learned about my creative life from creating this map:

1. Writing a novel was not the pinnacle of my creative writing activities, but a catalyst for more

2. The people in blogging communities are awesome and so are those in snail-mail communities

3. All my disparate projects don't seem so disparate after all. They work together in a funny kind of way

4. Having kids doesn't mean you have to give up on doing the creative things you love. In many cases, it can inspire you

And it's that last one I want to talk about. Last week a friend (Hi Bec!) said the NICEST thing to me. She said she wanted to have children one day but that she had always feared that prioritising her children might mean having to give up on doing the things she loved. But that knowing me and reading my blog had given her the confidence that the two didn't have to drive one another away. Isn't that wonderful?

I'm the first to admit that I really struggle to find the time to follow my passions. Hey, there are three good reasons why my next novel is still only a third of the way through after ALL THESE YEARS, that the magazine I've mentioned here hasn't launched yet, that I take literally months to write and send the letters I promise to send, and that my blog posting is intermittent at best. Two of those reasons are sleeping upstairs right now and will do so for an undetermined length of time (could be I only have five minutes of blog-writing time left); and the other reason is my actual, you know, paid job. But…

Despite the perpetually time-poor state that comes with being a parent of small children, I make it a priority to work on my creative joys. They're just not the TOP priority. I don't achieve the way I used to, or hit goals the way I used to, but I do give myself permission to chip away at these activities, purely for the love of doing them.

And now Madeleine is entering an age in which she notices these things. She loves to watch me drawing and painting my "mail art," and often I'll go to her for inspiration on what to draw (if you're noticing a lot of horses and tea pots in my post pictures lately, that's why). I want my children to grow up understanding the value of work and responsibility; but also to feel like it's good to have interests and passions, and that they can follow them as far as they want to take them.

I think that's a good thing to teach, isn't it? I hope it is.

Letterbox romance (link pack)

My fingers are cramping up! I have been writing letters. With, you know, my whole hands, rather than just my fingertips. I have been slipping the letters into envelopes. Then I have been making little pencil drawings on the envelopes, with the addresses, and tracing over them with black pen and painting them and highlighting them with the black pen again. My hands really are cramping, but it's worth it. Tomorrow I will pop my letters and decorated envelopes into the post for more of you lovely folks.

Ah, snail mail. Maybe instead of worrying about email killing the post (after all, video never did actually kill the radio star), we should celebrate it. Let's leave the speedy deliverance of bills and business to the digital world, and reclaim our letterboxes for something lovely, and handmade.

And as if you needed them (surely you don't!), here are 11 links to get you excited about writing and pen pals and the romance of the post.

* What a beautiful initiative. People in Switzerland can buy stickers for their mailboxes to display which household goods they are willing to lend to their neighbours

* One day I want to put together a sunshine basket to post to a friend

* Beautiful handmade ink stamps of your artwork or handwriting

* In this initiative, people write "love letters" and leave them in public places for strangers to find. Here is a response from someone who found a love letter

* How cute is this tiny, mobile printing press!

* Do you send thank-you notes? I thought this article in the New York Times was interesting

* Dress up your digital world with snail mail art

* Our mail gets dumped all over the house (except the pretty mail sent to me!). I love this mailbox organiser from the MoMA store!

* Writers and their typewriters. Love this print!

* My new blog crush! The Postcard Swap is full of handmade postcards sent around the world

* Would you try this? Cristina Vanko wrote only handwritten messages to her friends (no texts, no emails) for seven days

The foretelling

If I close my eyes I am instantly back there, sitting cross-legged on the floor of our family room underneath the IKEA shelves and fold-out "architect's desk," scribbling on scraps of paper. Sunlight slants sideways from a big wall of windows, the curtains decorated with lime concentric circles. There are lime-and-red cushions on the chairs.

The family room is dominated by a gigantic, yellow, vinyl, double-sized beanbag. On days that I am sick and stay home from school, I lie lengthwise in this beanbag and Mum lets me watch daytime TV. On one particular afternoon, one that has gone down in family folklore, Mum lets the dog inside to "comfort" me. He races through the kitchen and leaps onto the beanbag, not realising I am already in it until it is too late. He lands on my head. From that day until the day he dies, that dog will never leap into that beanbag again.

I'm not in the beanbag when I close my eyes. I'm on the floor, under the furniture. I'm writing a book. Scraps of paper surround me and on each of them is a new page of my story, thick with misspellings and childlike illustrations. Later, Mum will staple all the pages together to create my book. I am rewriting Black Beauty. "Black is my favourite colour," I tell Mum, "because I love black horses."

That is the first time I can remember thinking I want to be a writer.

In the years that follow, I swell with pride when my story is printed in my primary school newsletter, the Panorama (because my school's name is Wideview, get it?). I pen self-conscious and intensely melodramatic dramas during my hippie stage in high school, inspired by a blood moon rising beyond the horizon. Once, I create a mythology for "the birth of the sun." In my description of the "raw power and force," I believe I have tapped something deeply inspired. My English teacher tells me she feels as though she is reading a motorcycle advertisement.

Later, I write a fable about time. A travel memoir about growing up in the country. Poems about broken hearts. I subconsciously turn every job I have into a writing job, until I stumble into a commodity analyst/journalism role and my editor becomes my mentor. Writing is now my profession, but the words I create are a long way from those motorcycle-advertisement dramas. Now, I write about wool futures and cattle markets. About business leaders and political decisions. The subject matter is less than inspiring, but my editor teaches me about plain English, the elegance of minimalism, the value of self editing.

Hunched over my desk under a flickering flourescent light on a contract writing-job for a client, I write a novella in between memos and reports. At home, insomnia turns my brain into the rabbit hole to Wonderland. My novella spirals with it, and transforms into something unintentionally tainted with magic. When the editors at Curtin University's Black Swan Press approach me to publish my book, I am as proud as I was the day the Panorama sent out photocopies of my Nancy Drew-inspired adventure. Possibly more.

The day I get the letter to say cutbacks in funding mean Black Swan will be closing, and my contract is void, I am devastated. I take it personally, and it is months before I write again. But then I do write, and I burden my next character with more humiliation than I have ever known. It is cathartic.

I am writing this on the floor of my lounge room, cross legged, wrapped up in my dressing gown with my lap top on my knees. My two children are upstairs asleep. Madeleine is two and two months, and she loves to create stories in her little notebook. "One day..." she will promise out loud, while scribbling across a page. Then she will mutter for a little while over more pages and more scribbles, before closing the book with a loud clap and announcing, "The End!"

My fingers on the keyboard are my livelihood but, more than that, they are the outlet for my deepest emotions. The telling of my story, and of theirs. The retelling, the rewriting, the foretelling.

Why do you write?

The following four questions about writing are part of a "blog-hop" that's doing the rounds at the moment. If you've never heard of this term, a blog-hop is like a never-ending relay (if the baton could be divided an infinite number of times). I received the baton from straight-talking fellow Melbournian Annette of I Give You the Verbs. Annette is one of the friendliest, most encouraging, most connected bloggers I've met, and you can read about her own writing process here. Leave Annette a comment because she always responds, and she's wonderfully chatty and supportive across social media.

1. What are you working on right now?

This blog! I'm always trying to improve it because I want it to be more useful, more interesting, and more reliable for you*. Straight after this I'm going to write you a post on an amazing Australian artist, who was kind enough to answer some questions for us about where she finds inspiration (and time) to create. That'll go live tomorrow so stay tuned!

And also...

* An e-book - possibly a series of e-books - about Melbourne and parenting and parenting in Melbourne, and stuff like that

* Letters - lots and lots of snail mail letters to you guys. And on the back of that, I'm thinking perhaps I'll form a mail-art pen-pal network, and/or a stationery swap. Would anyone be interested if I did that?

* A novel - it's about a sommelier who does dastardly things to get hold of the ultimate wine. I have been working on this novel FOREVER (or so it seems), because it's hard to get and keep your head inside a novel with little distractions running around the house

* My job! - part time, I write feature articles for magazines, and write copy and communications strategies for companies and charities

Phew that's a lot of writing. No wonder the carpal tunnel has been acting up.

2. How does your writing differ from others in your genre?

One of the great things about personal blogs is that they are free from the constraints of house styles, or any formulaic kinds of writing. So really this question is moot. What you read here differs from others because it is my voice, writing about my life and my ideas and the things that I love and the things that I think (I hope) will bring you joy.

3. Why do you write what you do?

Being born into a literate culture brings with it many advantages. But one of the disadvantages is that many of us have lost the ability to retain things - facts, stories, ideas - without writing them down. I definitely fall into this category. In fact the way I'm not sleeping these days, I'd be in danger of forgetting my own name if it wasn't in my blog title! So I write this blog to document the things that are important. Precious moments, shared with those I love. Places I've visited that I really want to visit again. The process of building a home. At the same time, I keep discovering wonderful things that I want to share with you. Creative projects that I admire (and sometimes try). Food stories. Food trucks! Snail mail! Documenting and discovering. That's why I write this blog.

4. How does your writing process work?

My top tip - as an author, a journalist, a blogger, a copywriter and an all-round storyteller - is to break everything down into manageable portions. If you don't know where to start, just write one paragraph. Then another, and another. When I was at university I'd break a standard 3000 word essay down into portions: 200-300 word introduction, 200 word conclusion. Three key arguments, of 800 words each. Four core elements / points to each argument, of 200 words each. That's not much. Just start writing! Before I knew it I'd have my 3000-word essay written, and all I needed then was to give it a "big picture" finesse. That is still my writing process today, in everything I do. Just break it down and anything - even a novel - becomes achievable.

Another trick that my first editor taught me was this: you don't have to be the expert, you just have to find the expert and ask them the right questions. Whether I'm sharing craft or recipes on this blog, writing a feature story about business, writing a novel about wine or anything else, that advice has come in handy almost every day of my writing life.

Now, what about the other writers?

Passing the baton, I want you to first meet Belgium-based Turkish blogger Gulin Senol-Dreesen. Her blog Hyper Real Details is a beautiful reflection of the fleeting moments that make life so precious. Gulin reached out to me when I had just given birth to Madeleine, and she was pregnant with her own beautiful daughter. She is such a lovely, artistic soul. Sometimes she lets her images tell the story, in others, her words shine (despite English not being her first language - can you imagine how hard that must be?). I can't wait to read what she has to share about why she writes.

Next, I want to introduce you to Katherine Mackenzie-Smith of The Beauty of Life. Katherine is one of those people who acts on her dreams. You know how when the rest of us are sitting around thinking "I wish I had that" or "I wish I did that for a job" or "I wish that was my life"...? When Katherine thinks those things, she makes them happen. Recently Katherine switched careers from TV production to life coaching, and I can't think of anyone more qualified to help people make their own dreams come true. I met her through her personal blog, and have followed her progress with pleasure.

Take it away ladies!

And in the meantime, tell me in the comments. Why do YOU write?

* (On that, is there anything you'd like to see more of on here? Anything you're not so keen on? Anything you'd like to hear from me that I haven't covered?)

Snail mail: never give up

This morning when I opened my mailbox I got the best kind of surprise: mail from gorgeous person and motivator-extraordinaire, Katherine Mackenzie of The Beauty of Life. Katherine sent me two postcards, one on which she'd written a little message for me, and another that was left blank so that I could send it on to somebody else. My postcard featured a quote from Harry Potter author JK Rowling. "One thing is for sure: if you give up too soon, you'll never know what you'll be missing. Keep going and never quit."

This was EXACTLY what I needed to hear today, as I struggled to get on top of everything on my plate, and grappled with self-doubt.

And it reminded me of JK Rowling's incredibly inspiring commencement address on "The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination," made to Harvard students in 2008. Have you heard it? If you haven't, do yourself a favour and watch it right now. The next 20 minutes may be one of the greatest gifts you could ever give yourself.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

... Or if you're not a video watcher kind of Internet person (as I so often am not, because I don't want to wake babies sleeping nearby), here is a link to the full transcript of the address. Get ye reading!

The swing

This is Madeleine, flying. The swing is her favourite thing in the world to do right now. She can stay on there for hours. Sometimes in silence. At other times, the park echoes to her jubilant shouts of joy: "Weeeeee!" she yells, mimicking Peppa Pig, as her funny little baby-mullet lifts in the wind and her knuckles turn white to my "Hold on tight!"

"More high? More high?" she begs, and I really  put my back into pushing her. "Do you feel like you're flying?" I ask. She grins. "YES!"

I am swinging, too. Up: I am trying new things and I am taking the Blog With Pip course from Pip Lincoln and I am mapping out the beginnings of a new book... I am high and I am flying. Down: Harry is waking and staying awake throughout the night, I'm getting less than three hours of sleep in every 24 hours, and I ache with weariness. Sometimes my eyes can't focus. Sometimes it physically hurts to sit up. But still I have to care and play and nurture and manage tantrums and comfort fevers and meet those pesky work deadlines... I am low and I am motion-sick. I am probably just one more sleepless night away from administering tea intravenously.

The swing is why things have gone a little quiet around here of late. I'm giving myself permission to focus on other things. Like survival! Yes, survival, but also very exciting changes to happen on this blog. I can't wait to share them with you when I get them finished. Oh and that new book. Not the I've-been-working-on-it-forever novel, which will still happen ONE DAY, but something a little closer to the contents of this blog and I really hope you like it!

Way to be all circumspect, Naomi. I think on Facebook they call this "vaguebooking," don't they? I'm sorry, I just have to clarify everything in my mind and plot everything down on paper (I'm old-fashioned like that) before I will know how to share it with you. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I hope you are well. Tell me what you have been doing! What have you been dreaming / planning / wishing for? Fill this space with your lovely words while mine take a back seat!

Yours truly, Naomi xo

Pencil case

Stationery lovers hold your breath. Don't you just love the nostalgia in these sweet little "pencil case" sculptures? They make me think of fresh starts: blank notebooks full of promise; the first day of school; snail mail as-yet unwritten. And this. British artist Camilla Barnard hand-carves each piece out of wood, with the goal of "transforming the mundane into devices of fascination and joy." Mission accomplished. They'd make a lovely collection for the office or creative corner, don't you think?

Favourite things - notable paper

Hurrah for Friday! Friday for me doesn't so much mean the last day of the working week as the continuation of the working week, but with the help and company of my lovely husband. And that makes a BIG difference. What does Friday mean to you? Whenever I get the chance on a weekend, I like to write little letters to my friends, and post mail to you guys, like this. In case you're thinking of writing mail for anyone this weekend, or perhaps just a little note to say "hi" or "happy birthday" or, especially, "thank you," here are five ways to make your letters extra special.

1. Stamp your face

Leave a lasting impression (pardon the incredibly bad pun) with this customised stamp of your face. I also think it would be a lot of fun to have stamps made of other people. Like Nanna and Pop, to grace the invitations to their 60th wedding anniversary, etc.

(seen via Swiss Miss)

2. Birthday cake in the mail

What a fabulous birthday card this would make! Paint up this giant birthday cake (complete with glittering candles) following the tips on You Are My Fave, roll it up, and send it in a tube in the mail. I'd maybe fill the tube with little lollies or confetti or other treats to make it extra special.

3. Vintage photo collages

Take a leaf out of Belgian artist Sammy Slabbinck's book. Sammy creates unsettling and sometimes surreal collages by combining a range of vintage photographs into new portraits and landscapes. I might try it (but less spooky) with old gift cards.

(seen via Honestly WTF)

4. Edible pens

Are you a pen-muncher? I was a terminal biro-chewer in high school, my biros were all mangled and dented with teeth marks. Danish industrial designer Dave Hakkens has invented the answer to my (and possibly my pens') prayers: edible pens made with little bite-sized pieces of candy in different flavours. Talk about a homework incentive!

(seen via B for Bel)

5. Photographic gratitude

This latest gratitude project on Kickstarter is guaranteed to happen: they've surpassed their target. The idea is to encourage the return of the humble "thank-you" note, using stunning photography, beautiful paper-stock, custom-crafted envelopes, and lovely extras like wax seals and desk accessories. The folks behind this project, Gramr, say they've been researching gratitude, and "the recurring thing we’ve found is that habits of active gratitude are a key to happiness and wholeness." Anyone you want to thank today?

And that, folks, brings us to the weekend. Enjoy!