24 Reasons to be Grateful This Christmas

I'm going to say it... 

The 'C' word!

Christmas is a no-go zone in the Morse household before December.

It's a strange time of year for us, neither I or my husband are Christian's, we have no religion. 

I'm as much a Christian as I am a Jew, a Muslim or Buddhist - I just happen to have been born in a country founded on Christian doctrine, where, even though the church and state were separated by the Magna Carta, still ties its national holidays and values to Christian ones.

Our families are a mix of believers: my mum considers herself a Christian (although she's not a churchgoer). My dad is best described as agnostic. My in-laws, although only ad-hoc and special occasion churchgoers, consider themselves Christians. Whereas, like me, my siblings have no religion. My husband's brother and his family, are however, practicing, churchgoing Christians.

For my husband's family, Christmas is a BIG deal! For his mum especially (and no one dares defy Mother Morse!).

My family, are much more chilled out about the whole affair, as long as we find a way to all get together and eat (always a favourite pastime in my family) they're happy. No one really cares if no cards or presents are exchanged. It’s all about food and booze induced merriment (whenever we get together, that's generally the plan)!

Gifts and cards are however exchanged with my family - mostly out of equity - because, the very idea of 'Secret Santas', or agreeing NOT to buy gifts for my husband's family is deemed outrageously unacceptable and inappropriate. 

The merest half-joked suggestion of playing down the spending spree, going on holiday instead or NOT buying each other crap for the sake of having to buy stuff and feeding the commercial machine - is met with cool silences and narrow-eyed glares!

As a non-Christian, childless and independent couple, enjoying the festive frenzy proves to be a challenge for us. 

It's the idea of 'forced fun' and 'social expectations' that doesn’t sit well with either of us. It sucks the joy from the whole process!
 
Because I'm naturally positive - (I can't help myself, I'll always make the best of things) -  I'll tolerate the capitalistic BS, vomiting of sparkly plastic, tedious earworms of odious musak - for the opportunity to spend time with the people I love and skive off for a couple of weeks at the end of the year. 

I'm also a Christmas birthday babe so I get extra excuses to drink Baileys, eat cake and wear a glittery frock!

My response to the excesses and wastage of Christmas is generally 'Thriftmas'. 

I enjoy making hampers for gifts, with a mix of homemade goodies and shop bits, all packaged up to look expensive! It's a great excuse to make jam and get carried away buying ribbons and baskets!

As a non-Christian, for me, Christmas is about being grateful for what you have and the people in your life. That's what I celebrate.

It got me thinking...

If Christmas is about gratitude, then rather than the whole month of December being about commercial excess, it should be about being thankful.

In the run up to Christmas, I shall be sharing 1 thing a day that I'm grateful for, using the hashtag: #AdventGratitude 

24 reasons to be grateful in December...
 
Will you join me?

Look out for updates on my Twitter and Instagram accounts.

 

Know Yourself, Know Your Brand - Who is Your Future Self?

I'm delighted to share another fantastic guest post with you this week by a fellow Bristol writer, Anita MacCallum.

Anita and I talked about author branding over a coffee a few weeks back and I've been looking forward to having her input into my Operation Author project ever since.

Here's Anita's great blog: http://louder-than-words.co/

And find her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/loud_word
 

Who is your Future Self? 

Why Personal Branding is Important for Writers

Anita MacCallum - the positive deviant!

 

Branding belongs in the olden days with horses and blacksmiths, so I've made a new phrase up: future selfing. Future selfing is super sonic imagining. If I could zoom into a time travelling zone, and see my blog on billboards across earth, how do I want to be seen by millions of eyes that would view it? What is my uber identity? Ultimately if I had to dress up as my blog, what would I wear? Boots, custom made; hair brightly coloured according to my mood, right now it's purple; corsets and dresses of distinction.

If you think you have no idea who or what you are. Start a Pinterest board, or a vision board, focus on your project, process or product. It's basically scrap-booking for grown-ups. Collect only what you are drawn to, be ruthless. You will find an energy or underlying feel, trust your instincts. If you've gathered an image and feel it isn't fitting but you don't know why, get rid of it. You need to be completely connected to the images you choose.

Ask for feedback from your community, it's scary to be open to the messages you receive but you will know what you like and what you don't. I asked for feedback on what words are connected to my writing, both on social media and face to face. Essentially I wanted to identify my strengths, unique points and passion. What better way to see what my audience already perceive. I received this:-

• Slightly rippled with a flat underside 

 

• Femo-quirk light & dark

 

• Full bodied with a nutty after taste!

 

• Adult work-magical, macabre, connects with the parts of us we keep hidden, turns your perceptions of 'what is' upside down with a sledgehammer, a gentle tickle, followed by a cheeky whipping! 

 

• Dark, deep, rough edges, raw, animated, alive, force of nature.

 

• Delves into the deepest darkest recesses of our soul, were we to have one, and then pops the light on and yells SURPRISE!

The under-lying message is surprisingly consistent, unpredictable, fun, dangerous and passionate. This was a boost and enabled me to trust that my style is strong. I had a starting point to begin. I have been moving forward, step by step since then. At the beginning of the process, I wanted something clear and strong to define my writing persona, I chose - 'Full bodied with a nutty after taste. Positive deviant.' This phrase now introducing me when I perform, if I write an article that doesn’t fit this description, it will not feature on my blog.

Having studied a million courses in paying attention, for example: colour therapy, dance movement, positive psychology, clowning, theatre lighting and set, physical performance, to name a few, I have learnt over the years that physical form tells a story. The secret to branding is to understand what story you are telling, what genre does it sit in? Create a whole world around your product, take it into a theatre and hot-seat it. What super hero powers does your brand have? Does it go out at night or in the day? How does it sound? If you surround yourself with paradoxes, make sure you choose the two that are most striking to work with.

Do not work alone, research; it is an investment to increase your knowledge of the world you are creating, not procrastination. If you are starting off without an audience, create a sample, approach the people who you would like to be your audience. Who do they already like? Who are you competing with? Or how I like to think of it, who are your professional peers? If you could claim a group of people as your tribe, who would they be? 

Stop dreaming and get specific. Go meet them. Submit work to them, go to your tribe. Or be a leader and create your own.

There is no need to be afraid, I grant you the power to re-invent yourself over and over again. Your future selves are multiple.

 

 

Message from me:

Some great tips and inspiration here from Anita and a massive thank you for contributing.

I love Pinterest - such a useful tool for writers

I've highlighted the parts that really stood out for me.

 

My next action as a result of Anita's advice:
 

I've added an Amy C Fitzjohn, Author: Vision Board to my Pinterest page, inspired by Anita's infectious creativity.