How to judge success?

My Dad, Harold Garner (1924)

This random quotation on my blog today started me thinking:

Success is a journey, not a destination  -Ben Sweetland

Today a patient said to me that I have a very calming voice and that my soothing tones had helped her through a stressful examination. This is not the first time a patient has said this to me so I have to believe it. We rarely hear our own voices do we? And the few times I've heard mine played back to me I've cringed with embarrassment, but in dealing with patients every day over the years I must have subconsciously adopted a tone that patients find comforting.

Positive feedback from patients and the knowledge that I have helped them in my small way is important to me. It's what makes my job worth doing. It's why I've never accepted promotion to Management because I would lose that one-to-one contact with real people.

Everyone has a history and a story to tell, however humble and unimportant on the world stage. I find all people interesting, especially the elderly. They can make me smile just by telling me about their childhood or their wife or their kids or 'the old days'. I wish I could talk to them longer. I really do have a wonderful job and it's the individuals I meet every day who make it so.

(The stress comes with the targets I have to meet, the meetings I have to attend, and not enough time in a day to do what needs to be done!)

Compare me then to an actress or pop star and I am not successful, not at all. My name is not in the daily newspapers, my bank balance doesn't run to 6 figures! But what is the measure of success? Who can measure success? Is it yourself, your family, or others?

I have my health. I have a family, a home and a job I love. Truly, what more success is there?

Another Brighton Tradition

Burning The Clocks 2007

Tomorrow is the annual Gay Pride Parade in Brighton when thousands of people are expected to arrive in the city. I remember last year standing on the beach getting soaked by the rain as the cavalcade passed by. This year I will be working - and the forecast is for rain yet again!

But there's another Brighton Tradition that is less well known. The 'Burning The Clocks' Parade takes place every year near the Winter Solstice, just before Christmas. It is an event that anyone can attend as the parade winds it's way through the city centre and down to the beach.

Apparently, the parade was originally devised as an antidote to the excesses of Christmas! The participants wear brightly coloured costumes and make paper and willow lanterns. In the weeks leading up to the event there are lantern-making workshops for anyone taking part. It is a popular event with schools, and children form a large part of the parade, along with musicians and bands of drummers. It is amazing how large some of the lanterns can be, needing several people to carry them aloft. The lanterns are all sorts of shapes and are lit from within, making a ghostly sight as they move slowly along the streets.

On the beach a huge bonfire is lit and there is a  fireworks display. The lanterns are ceremonially thrown into the fire and the bearers make wishes for the coming year.

It is an event well-worth seeing if you're in the area and can brave the cold weather. Bring your coat and your camera!

Evolution

Having just made some order out of my scrapbook pages it is very clear that there has been an Evolution over time in my scrapbook style. I guess most people are the same, in that their style changes without them noticing they even have a style, which has happened in my case.

I started with very simple pages incorporating the photos, an embellishment or two, no title, and no journalling (that was too scary to contemplate at the time!). Looking back at those pages I am not happy with the way they look. Should I change them and make them more stylish and informative? No, I will leave them as they are. I can always write 'who, what, where' on the back if I want to at a later date.

Then I ventured into scraplifting other people's ideas and techniques - just experimenting really- and included small amounts of journaling which was always hidden from view. No-one likes their own handwriting do they? Also I started to add a title to each page.

Finally, after 4 years of scrapping, I realise that I include quite a lot of journalling to put the photos into context and tell the story. Embellishments are less important to me now, but I do still like to use different techniques on pages. I know that I am a stamper at heart and often stamp or emboss to add interest or texture. I don't feature very often in the photos but I try to make the effort to tell my story too with the occasional appearance. And of course, there's a preponderance of blue in all my albums!

Scrapbooking is still fun for me after all this time and that's what counts!

You Craft Too Much When.....

Seaford Beach July 2009

I'm playing around with these words for a scrapbook page I'm making:

I know that I craft tooo much when:

- STORAGE for my stash becomes a problem
- there's no time to keep stash TIDY, I'd rather be crafting
- I subscribe to TWO scrapbook magazines at the same time
- I time my days off to coincide with QVC Craft Days
- craft PARCELS arrive in the post every other day
- the POSTMAN doesn't knock anymore, just throws the parcels in the lobby
- I have to set a monthly BUDGET for Craft
- attending a MONTHLY scrapbook crop just isn't enough
- I have a large box of handmade CARDS and no-one to send them to
- I keep IDEAS books for quotes, card-making examples and scrapbook page photos
- I have a scrapbook page design in my head BEFORE I take the photos
- my FAVOURITES on the computer are all craft sites

- I check BLOGS every day to see what's new
- I've more blog FRIENDS than family members
- I'd rather be crafting than outdoors on a SUNNY DAY.......

I'm sure you can come up with lots more of your own. I'd love to hear what your 'crafting too much' examples would be.