If You Are a Dreamer...

My best friend had her baby shower last week.  The new trend is requesting guests to bring a book instead of a card to help build the baby's library.  I walked into Target trying to think of a book that would capture both my 15 year relationship with Kristen (and still going strong) and everything I wanted the little nugget to learn from his or her Auntie Katy.  My eyes fell to Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends and while it wasn't a baby book, I could see the values Kristen and I share in every page of the poetry.  The inside jacket of the book has his poem "Invitation" ---->

by Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends

I have always been a dreamer, a wisher and a pretender.  And, while I probably shouldn't admit this, I am a pretty good liar (it goes along with the whole pretender thing).  I have so many dreams I want to test out before I die.  I want to build my own tiny house (see Tumbleweed Tiny Houses) and buy a plot of land and live in it while paying off all my debts and simplifying everything.  I want to put the house on wheels and experience living in places like San Francisco, Seattle, Boston and Maine.  I want to try living in a big city and living in the middle of nowhere.  I want to blog about how I still cook and bake and live happily in a tiny house.  I would be free to find my happy.  I dream of being a teacher - the dream changes from little kids to college aged "kids".  I would love to be in a musical just once, even if in the chorus.  I dream of building a darkroom in my apartment and go back to taking pictures wherever I go, on real film, and developing them myself.  I dream of being a mother and teaching my children that quirky is good and anything can happen.  I have so many dreams, I lose track of them all as they slip out of my ears as another one is born in my brain.

by Shel Silverstein Where the Sidewalk Ends

I have been restless for some time and I think while I can't quite follow any of these dreams just yet, I can start enacting change in my life to put myself on the path of change.  I love Cleveland, but my dreams involve seeing other places.  I love the people at my job, but my job doesn't embody quirky and independent.  So, my readers, I have accepted a job (still as an accountant) at a quirky company in Chicago.  While I'm not in a tiny house with no set job, I am shedding the required busy season and going to a company with a unique culture.  I am scared.  I will miss Cleveland a lot.  But this is something I have to do.  I can't be a magic bean buyer if I don't ever head to the market.

Have you been keeping up on your dreaming?

Workout Your Brain With Hobbies!

Humans are meant to create.  Hobbies are cultivated from what a person enjoys doing when they could be doing whatever they want.  I have found, especially with my peers, that hobbies are disappearing.  If any hobbies are engaged in at all, they tend to be athletically driven like running, hiking or cycling.  I workout for endorphins, health and clarity; however, if I could have a fit and toned body without working out?  Those 45 minutes would most definitely be spent doing something else.  Therefore, for the sake of this post, I'm referencing creative hobbies.  I'm talking about painting, singing, photography, writing, baking, gardening, playing an instrument, wood-working or party planning.  Something that makes the left side of your brain ramp up and start firing on all cylinders.

Creative hobbies can benefit your professional life, too.  There has been a plethora of papers and articles supporting the connection between having a creative hobby and increased mental dexterity in the workplace.  Evernote's Phil Libin wrote a piece for Inc. magazine about teaching himself piano in his 40's:

"When you learn a new skill, you learn new patterns. And then you start seeing these patterns interwoven into the familiar world. The impenetrable becomes less so. Things you always knew, you now know better […] I feel the effects at the office.  I'm smarter than I was a few months ago, with new ways of seeing things, a new mental vocabulary, and greater cognitive dexterity.  I feel more creative than ever, and I get more done every day."

I feel this myself.  Knitting during busy season quiets my brain.  My head no longer spins about how many audit reports I need to issue, how I can get my team to have more attention to detail, or when I'm going to have that difficult conversation with the client.  If I focused on those things instead of my knitting, I'll screw it up.  Knitting is repeating patterns, math, and a balance of tension… basically a mental workout that hones skills I use in the workplace.  Plus, in the end, I created something and creation taps into your four year old self's "look what I did!" pride.

So try it - for ten minutes build a city in the original Sim City game you haven't touched since you were nine (or maybe you were a Rollercoaster Tycoon kind of kid?).  Find some colored pencils and just doodle.  Bake a cake even if it isn't someone's birthday.  Our society is craving creative outlets - why else would Pinterest and Etsy be booming?  You don't have to share it with anyone… you don't have to be good at it.  View it as CrossFit for your brain.

a self-focused summer

Something that I know for sure?  In the end, you really only have yourself.  Yes, you can fill your life with family, friends and mentors.  Allowing yourself to rely on others is important as it helps to share burdens and makes you accessible to loved ones in return.  The issue is that relationships change, people die and priorities shift.  The only relationship that is 100% guaranteed is the one you have with yourself, which is why it is so interesting that this is the relationship most neglect.

New workout program: Kayla Itsine's Bikini
Body Guide.  My face after day one… ouch.

I have recently felt disconnected from people in my life.  Most have become self-focused in order to concentrate on various life changes.  I felt forgotten until I realized that I could use this opportunity to also become self-focused.  In this spirit, I have been invoking changes to increase the happy and decrease the unhappy.  I am dialing back my spending because being broke makes me unhappy.  I started a new workout program because I missed feeling like a boss.  I am trying to say "yes" only to things that I want to say "yes" to.  I'm going outside as much as possible.  I am watching Full House reruns whenever they are on Nick@Nite.  I am conducting a thorough soul searching mission to identify what more can be done to get my joy back.

To fuel up for big life changes, I needed a big breakfast today.  However, my typical Sunday pancakes, high in refined carbohydrates, probably aren't the best foundation to support all my grand plans.  Therefore, I gave the new "it" breakfast a try.  The three ingredient pancake is all over the Internet and it was only a matter of time before I succumbed to the trend.

My favorite traditional pancake recipe is Barefoot Contessa's sour cream banana pancakes.  My 3-ingredient interpretation uses the same flavor profile.  Only problem?  My ingredient count is at five.  So here is Katy's Five Ingredient Three Ingredient Pancakes (say that five times fast… or three times fast… or five times three times fast?)

Ingredients: 

• 1 medium banana (3/4 mashed, 1/4 small dice)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Spoonful of plain greek yogurt
• Dash of vanilla extract
• Almond meal (about 1/8 - 1/4 cup, just enough for pancake batter consistency)

Directions:

1. Preheat greased pan over medium heat
2. Combine eggs, mashed banana, yogurt and vanilla in small bowl, mix well
3. Add almond meal slowly while mixing, stopping when desired consistency is reached
4. Fold in diced banana, reserving a few pieces for garnish
5. Pour batter into pan and cook pancakes until golden brown, then flip (time depends on your pancake size, mine took about 5 minutes)
6. Plate pancakes, cover with desired toppings such as local organic maple syrup and 'nannies

Do you have any self improvement goals on the docket?