Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

2011 was amazing!

I had record year for travelling: Honolulu, Austin and San Diego with an unscheduled quick sleepover in  Phoenix, Mississauga, Portland and Los Angeles. My travel agent even suggested that it now might be worthwhile to get an air miles card.

I had the opportunity to present at South-by-Southwest (SXSW), the 26th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN 2010) and Successful Online Business Conference (SOBCon);

I had the pleasure of meeting new friends and happily reconnecting with old ones.

However, all of this – and more – has left me feeling tired for several months; more than “go have a nap” tired, more like “too tired to fight any more” tired. This may partially explain my four colds in the last four months. (Although coughing for 2-3 weeks per month has done wonders for my abdominal muscles!)

Changes are definitely needed to get my health back, to create some balance, and to feel like a million bucks again.

For the next while, at least, I am committing to a four-hour work day without any crazy deadlines (no matter how urgent clients claim it is). This isn’t as drastic as Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Workweek. (Is that even possible? Seriously?)

In preparation for keeping me focused and on task, I have created two columns with the question “Am I Doing What I Should Be Doing Now?”. In the “Yes” column, I have listed:

• Client work
• Writing blog posts or other content
• Research
• Webinars
• Relevant Tweet chats
• Marketing activities (if I must)
• Paying bills
• Filing papers
• Bookkeeping
• Packaging books
• Work-related email

In the “No” column:

• Twitter, other than to share posts and other “just can’t wait!” tweets
• Facebook
• Housework
• Personal email
• Google+ without a real purpose

My plan is to work from 10 (realistically) until 2. By focusing on work tasks for four hours, without interruptions, I am hoping that I will be as equally productive as sitting here all day.

I will break for lunch when my stomach tells me it is lunchtime – typically around 2:30. I will hang out with friends and family on Twitter, Facebook and email while eating lunch.

After a reasonable amount of time at the virtual water cooler, I plan on doing something radical: turning off my computer! …and going to do something else. It might be:

• Doing scheduled housework
• Decluttering a specific nook or cranny
• Trying something new in the kitchen (Did I just say that? Publicly? Oops.)
• Napping with my kitty
• Reading a book
• Going out
• Exercising
• Connecting with local friends
• Anything that isn’t on the computer

I might turn on my computer again later in the day; my second book is begging to be written. Or, I might be content doing whatever I am doing and leave it off until the next day.

Sounds like a plan for restoring my health and balance in my life, right?

Feel free to hold me to the “Yes” and “No” lists to help me stay focused and on task. Once I have given this a fair try, I will report on whether a four-hour work day can be as equally productive an all-day shift.

Meanwhile, I would like to wish you health – physical, spiritual, emotional, mental and financial – and hope – hope that tomorrow will be better, or, if today was great, hope that tomorrow is equally as great – for 2012.

Happy New Year to you!

The universal forces are pulling me towards ISAAC  2012 – the 15th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication – to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 28 to August 4, 2012.

These forces aren’t only pulling me to attend, but also to present at ISAAC 2012, which only makes sense. There is little point in going all that way only to sit and listen; I might as well contribute to the conversation.

Presenting means first submitting a paper, which isn’t impossible; I submitted a successful proposal for South by Southwest (SXSW) 2010 and a joint paper for the 26th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN 2010). However, the catch is that proposals are due the day before Darrell and I leave for Los Angeles to attend BlogWorld 2011. Of course. Completing one trip before even considering the next one is not an option. Obviously that isn’t how universal forces roll.

With those thoughts zinging around in my head, I then began thinking about one of my items on my bucket list…this is where writing down things, publicly, becomes hazardous because people (including yourself) can remind you of it and hold you to it.

The item in question is “climb the stairs at Philadelphia Museum of Art with the spirit of Rocky Balboa". Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are, at least, in the same state; close enough for considering doing both on the same trip.

Crazy?

Perhaps.

But…why not? Life is too precious not to make the most of it!

I keep thinking of small business adviser and speaker Charlie Gilkey’s motto, “Do Epic Shit”. Surely this would qualify.

Philadelphia’s Museum of Art has only 72 steps to conquer! Together, my lifelong friend Karen, my cousin Craig and I climbed 81 stairs before zipping across Robson Square. And that was while I was still recovering from a nasty cold. What is 72 stairs when I have 10 months to prepare? (Any trainers out there?) Eye of the Tiger (song lyrics) will likely be the earworm that kicks my butt until next summer.

Other than devising a way to finance this crazy idea and putting together a support team, one hitch would be a heat wave; mid-summer in Pittsburgh may not be the wisest time of year. For that reason, this idea may need to be rethought.

First things first: submit a successful proposal before November 1st.

Stay tuned…

When many people buy their first home, they add their personal touch soon after moving in, making it feel truly their own.

Other than having my Dad replace the thick carpet with parquet flooring when my Amigo scooter went up in flames, literally, Darrell and I did not do anything to our home to make it truly ours. I didn’t even buy tea towels.

Instead, when we bought our home in May, 2001, we chose to put any extra money on the mortgage, which proved to be a wise move because we then were able to decrease our mortgage payments when Darrell’s position was axed thanks to a change in a government policy.

We lived with the builder’s white paint and the dated wallpaper borders, not quite feeling the place was completely ours (with the bank still as a silent partner).

Last summer, a combination of factors – a bit of extra money, a neighbour who enjoys painting and a few days away in Virginia – allowed my office (actually, the dining room) to be painted.

Wanting to bring the outside inside to give me a cheery workspace, even on dark and gloomy winter days, I chose a bold, very much alive green. Some may call it a lime green.

I love it! I smile every time I see it.

However, the builder’s white and the 1980s wallpaper then became even more dated; even more of an eye sore. But what colour goes with lime green? I have my talents, but interior design isn’t one of them.

After much indecision and driving my husband nuts with umpteen paint chips, we chose Pumpkin Butter. Actually Darrell pointed to it first; a giant leap from his preferred choice of conservative white.

Thanks to our line of credit and our neighbour, the rest of the main living space was painted while we were in Hawaii. Coming home to a freshly painted place and having missed the mess was such a treat!

The Pumpkin Butter is warm and rich. And looks amazing with lime green – at least to my eyes! Who would have figured?

Then, while in Mississauga for my two weeks in CubeLand and with my weekend free, I found myself wandering into Crate & Barrel – a store that we do not have here in the Vancouver area, which might be a good thing.

I was enjoying wandering around, and then I spotted it from across the store: a colour combination of green, orange and purple. Pillows, throws and even tea towels in my colour scheme! I wasn’t crazy after all. I felt vindicated.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I had absolutely no room for anything extra in my bags for my trip home – not even for the 3-month old Himalayan kitty in the pet store that I fell in love with and that broke my heart to leave behind, but that’s another story.

When I came home, I discovered Crate & Barrel had a website – and that they ship, too, for a price. It made shopping way too easy. The first order was a duvet cover and pillow cases that perfectly matched our lilac/lavender bedroom. And being the Marimekko brand, which reminded me of my time in Finland with my penpal, it held extra meaning. (Sorry, no photos; that’s where I draw the bloggy line.)

Arriving last week in a somewhat battered box, the second order contained the next step in the ongoing makeover.

And the large box means I can pass on a fair number of unneeded items to the thrift store, keeping the clutter at bay.

The cuddly teddy bears on the chair beside the bookcase were replaced with a throw blanket with all of my crazy colours.

The floral sheet covering the couch – which makes washing easier when it gets covered with cat hair – was replaced with a gray flannel one that I had on hand. My Chief Feline Officer insisted on offering her assistance, of course.

With fresh paint and coordinating pillows, this place feels new again. After being here for ten years, our home finally has our own touch. It only shows that makeovers need not occur all at once or be expensive to have an impact.

Faith has given the new couch her paw of approval for cat naps.

All year you have been working hard on a major project. You have been focused, driven and passionate. You have come back after setbacks, and have found creative solutions to imposing barriers.

You have received amazing support from all of those around you.

You can nearly taste your just reward.

With the finish line in sight, you stumble and fall. While down you realize how completely drained and exhausted you are. You pause for a moment and think, “I don’t have any more left. I have given it my all, I have nothing more to give.”

What do you do?

Do you walk away, saying you did you best? That you will try again another time? 

Do you you give into the those naysayers who said that you wouldn’t finish? That you wouldn’t go all of the way?

Do you listen to the nagging little voice that kept saying you wouldn’t make it?

Or…

Do you pick yourself up and dig deeper than you have ever dug before?

Do you find from somewhere, anywhere, some way, any way, to do whatever you need to do?

Do you reach that finish line with your head held high and claim your just reward?

What is your Stanley Cup in your life?

Yesterday I tweeted “Imagine we’re sitting around, chatting. What might you want to ask me?”

Four people welcomed the invitation:

John Foliot asked, “Can you name one thing that often makes you want to “give up”, and one thing that inspires you to “push on”?”

Encounters with people (and systems) who do not see beyond my disability to see my abilities and the real me inside – and there’s still many of them out there – are extremely discouraging and devaluing. I am left feeling what’s the point of trying when my capabilities aren’t validated, aren’t valued.

But then I reconnect with that part deep within myself that doesn’t give up, that keeps going, no matter what. That reconnection might be sparked by listening to one of “my” songs, witnessing someone else struggle and thinking “if they can do that, then I can get through this”, or writing a cathartic blog post and then getting on with it.

Holly Salsman enquired, “What would you say your biggest challenge has been, and your biggest accomplishment?”

Communicating verbally with those unfamiliar with Glenda-ish has always been, and remains, a challenge. A high school counsellor once asked if I would prefer to walk or to talk. My response was immediate: talk. People are so quick to judge one’s cognitive abilities based on her ability to speak; if they don’t understand her speech, they tend to discount her other abilities. I am constantly proving that I am not hearing or cognitively impaired; that I understand and I am capable. The iPad has helped enormously, in some situations, but I am finding it is not the magic bullet every time. Face-to-face communication will likely remain an ongoing challenge through my entire lifetime. Thank goodness for blogging and tweeting!

To date, my biggest accomplishment has been writing and then self-publishing my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself – a project thirty years in the dreaming, researching, planning, learning and creating. Opening the first box and seeing my baby for the first time was such an emotional experience!

However, I sense my ultimate accomplishment is still yet to come. Stay tuned.

The Badass Project queried, “You clearly can do it yourself, but what or who could you not do it without?”

I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by encouraging, wise, giving, creative people who I can call on when working on a project or when struggling to figure out something. With the list lengthy, the top spot goes to my wonderfully supportive and patient husband Darrell Hyatt. Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

(By the way, I love the mission of The Badass Project! Check it out.)

Karen Putz asked, “What’s on your bucket list?”

Great question. One that made me stop to think. Here’s what comes to mind initially:

• Do the zipline trek at Whistler
• Try sit-skiing
• Climb the stairs at Philadelphia Museum of Art with the spirit of Rocky Balboa
• Transverse the Sydney Bridge in Australia
• Write another book or two
• Get off of social assistance once and for all (in the good way)

No doubt this list will grow with more time and more thought.

Your turn: What would you like to ask? Your question might become fodder for a future post.