GREAT CREATIVE PROJECTS TO TRY WHEN YOU'RE NOT VERY "ARTISTIC"

Paper art collage - something to try when you want to be creative but don't see yourself as being "artistic"


BEING CREATIVE WITHOUT AN ARTISTIC STREAK

I mentioned in last week's post that I've been wanting to try my hand at activities that use the right side of my brain. Apparently right brain dominant people are more creative and artistic, and left brained people are more logical and analytical. If that's the case, I definitely tend to be more left brained and now I have more time on my hands, I thought it was my chance to try my hand at something a little bit "arty".....But where do you start when you've never dabbled in that area?

3 AREAS OF LIFE TO CULTIVATE FOR BALANCE AND GROWTH

3 areas of life to cultivate and focus your energy into that will lead to you thriving in Midlife.

CHOOSING 'CULTIVATE' AS MY #WOTY

Every January since I started blogging I've chosen a Word of the Year instead of making New Year's resolutions. Previous words have been Release, Embrace, Rise, Enough, More, Symphony, and for this year, I chose "Cultivate". I had mulled several words over in my head, but the idea of consciously setting out to cultivate aspects of my life that would lead to me thriving as I headed towards 60 just seemed to fit what I was looking for.

I originally came across the word in Brene Brown's "Daring Greatly" book and a pin I saw online that summed up the 10 areas of life we need to cultivate to live Wholeheartedly. It got me thinking about what areas of my life I wanted to grow more in, where I wanted to deepen my life, and where I wanted to focus my energy.

"YEAH.....NO" - SAYING YES TO WHAT MATTERS AND NO TO THE REST

It's easy to get caught up in all the "should do" and "must have" hype, but maybe it's time to say "Yes" to what really matters and "No" to the rest.

BEFORE I CHOSE TO SAY "YEAH.....NO"

If you're anything like me, you grew up in an era of trying to be all things to all people. Somewhere along the line we had convinced ourselves that we could do it all, and do it with a smile (well maybe, occasionally, with a long suffering sigh...) During the first 55 years of my life I tried my hardest to be the good daughter, the great wife, the hard worker, the hands on parent, the always available volunteer, the committed friend, and so on and on it went. Tie it all together with a lot of self-judgement and that was pretty much my life for a long time.

At the time those things were super important to me, and I thought I was doing a great job of keeping all the balls in the air. It gave me a sense of satisfaction to have said "Yes" to so many responsibilities and to have not drowned under it all. But that was then and this is now.....

REFINANCING YOUR HOME LATER IN LIFE: HOW TO MAKE IT A SUCCESS

Are you planning on retiring soon but the mortgage payments are still an issue? Refinancing your home loan may be a great option to consider.

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Today I have an interesting collaborative post that gives some insight into an area of retirement that I haven't covered previously here on the blog. My husband and I have been very diligent throughout our working lives in putting extra payments into our mortgage whenever possible, our goal was to have it paid out well before the 25 year lifetime of the loan. We also didn't move often, so that reduced buying and selling costs.

By the time we reached our 50's we were debt free and that made the decision for me to retire early a LOT easier. The pressure of being locked into a mortgage (especially one that's at a higher interest rate than the current ones on offer) can be very disheartening. So, today's post discusses an option that might be of interest if you still have those monthly mortgage payments hanging over your head.

WHOLEHEARTED LIVING - CULTIVATING A SENSE OF BELONGING

Are you thriving in retirement, or are you feeling at a loose end when it comes to finding new connections and a sense of belonging?

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Today I have the next guest in my series on Cultivating Wholehearted Living - thriving in the second half of life. Leslie is a fashion blogger, a Bucket List blogger, a book blogger, a home styling blogger, and writes about all of these things over at Once Upon A Time And Happily Ever After. She's writing today about a topic that has been in the back of my mind for several months - and I'm sure others have struggled with some of the same thoughts and feelings. So, on that note, I'll hand it over to Leslie from here....