Will Power

I am doing my Bachelor’s degree via correspondence. I also work full-time. Those two facts are daunting together. They require some dedication and enough will power to be able to study in the evening after a long, busy day at the office. I have a renewed respect for anyone attempting this, especially those who push through however many years it takes and manage to get their degree. Well done to those people!

I have had it tough the last two weeks. This is my most heavily loaded semester so far. I had a tight schedule planned out and was managing to stick to it, at first. Then we had a friend from Italy visiting who was only going to be in Cape Town for a few days so I left my books alone for a bit. Next we had a heat wave; really it was more than 40 degrees! I sat at my desk, sweltering, and nothing seemed to go in. I did try to study but had to give-up after a while as the heat was making me cranky, tired and unable to concentrate try though I might. It was so hot a trip to the air conditioned Spar down the road was magical and I even considered taking my books there to study in their coffee shop area.

Luckily the heat broke somewhat on Monday, it is still hot but at least with a bit of a breeze in the evening I finally managed to be productive, about time! At that stage I was two weeks behind schedule. I will have a lot to do this week to catch-up. It will be possible though if I push through.

This is what minimalism has given me. The time I need to study and the focus to push on even when I am wondering why I am doing this and putting all this extra pressure on myself. It has definitely helped that my cleaning work load has decreased and that I am spending lee time watching TV. Intentional living has also forced me to re-evaluate what is important in my life and my studies has become a part of that. I even think that the will power I needed to exercise to not go shopping the last 6 months has helped. Will power is like a muscle apparently, the more you use it the easier it becomes. I will make this semester work.

Gardening

Yesterday night and over the weekend I spent some time in the garden. I am excited about my sunflowers coming up (they grow so fast!). My basil is going fantastic, and the rocket is growing like a weed (which it is I guess). I am just battling to get the neighbour’s cat from eating my celery, basil and chives. I sprinkled some chilli powder over these plants so I am hoping he gets a bit of a shock next time he eats them and thus learns to leave them alone. Being in the garden is calming. It is pleasant to be outside and busy. I am also seeing more of the neighbours as a few pass by where I am working. Everyone stops for a chat which is cool. I like our neighbours; everyone seems friendly and interested in the garden. My 2 upstairs neighbours have both been talking about extending the garden. Our building garden is divided into lots of small plots and the woman upstairs is talking about taking the small plot next to mine and seeing what she can do there.

I like the fact that my quietly getting on with things is inspiring other people to try new things as well. It’s true what they say; be the change you want to see. If you live your life the way you want then people will take notice eventually and consider your principles and actions. They might even start to change as well. All of this is non-threatening change, I don’t preach a message, I don’t judge. It may be slow change but I hope it is lasting and in the meantime I am getting to know the neighbours better and their interest in my garden has me motivated to keep working on it, so advantages all round.

Colour!

This week I’ve had some fun playing around with the colours already in my wardrobe and new combinations. I’ve been trying to decide on just a few colours as every post I’ve read so far on minimalism and cloths advises it. Wear just a few colours that all mix and match and you will find it easier to decide on outfits and need fewer cloths. Most suggest 2 neutrals (one dark for winter and a lighter one for summer) and 2-3 brights (which all go together). Ie Black, white, purple and blue.

I’ve already settled on Navy as one of my Neutrals. As a second I am considering white or grey but haven’t really decided which yet and am tempted to keep them both.

It is the colours though that were the most difficult to narrow down. I love so many! I had a look at the colours I already wear; all shades of blues, my hot pink pants, some purples, corals, mint and even some dark green. Then I had a look at the cloths I choose to make my capsules at the start of the week and which colours showed up there. While doing this I noticed one of the necklaces I had used on my Capsule pictures.

This necklace is perfect, I love the way the colours work together! It has coral, turquoise, hot pink and purple, all my favourites!

I wondered if 4 colours were not too much though. Most minimalists preferred far fewer (I have seen a fabulous capsule with only white, black and bright green). In order to get a feel for the combo I made this colourful collage. I worked only with these bright colours here to get a better feel for them, of course if this is too bright everything can be dampened down by adding some neutrals to the mix(Navy, grey and white work well with all these colours). Also remember that these colours are all already in my seasonal palette anyway, I am a clear winter (dark hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin) and might not suit everyone.

I was happy with the way it looked and thought I’d try a collage with some actual outfit ideas on there, firstly using only 2 of the 4 colours and working onto 3. I wore a variation of this to work this morning as a test. I had on my skinny purple pants, my coral shirt, a turquoise belt, some long purple earrings and my purple/orange and white sporty flats. I thought it looked good before I left the house and a colleague at work said as much, saying that they would never have considered the colour combination I used but that it really worked.

So success, I think I have a colour palette I can work with! Since there are so many colours I will have to be careful not to be tempted to go out and buy a set of items in every colour (ie 4 work blouses, 4 handbags, 4 necklaces, 4 scarves, 4 belts etc). Some restraint is needed. So while I already own a pair of long pants in hot pink and purple, I will not be buying others in coral and turquoise as soon as I can (although I might consider a pencil skirt in turquoise). I like that I am honing my style and colour palette. This no buying thing has really forced me to focus on a few items and given me time to properly asses each choice before plunging blindly into the next trend. Also making collages is fun.