What you've learned in the past year.

After a brief pause to allow me to go and bounce around a big muddy field in the rain laughing so hard it hurts (otherwise known as Greenbelt) I am back ready to finish the blog challenge. Only a couple more posts to do now.

I'm not sure if I've learnt anything huge and life changing this year. If I have it isn't making itself known to me right now! I do recognise, however, that I have learnt a few smaller things.

The first is that the crafty, arty side of me that I've always had as a hobby can actually be more than that. I've really enjoyed having the time and the opportunity to try it out this year as a way to make money for myself. Turns out people want to buy what I make. Crazy. I'm enjoying making things, mostly sitting crochetting away merrily, and I'm relieved to find that I'm not getting bored of making the same things over and over.

This is probably because I do other things at the same time to keep my brain going. I listen to podcasts by howstuffworks.com which I recommend to everyone ever, or I watch programmes on 4od. I was very pleased to find 173 episodes plus all the specials of Time Team on there which I am making my way through. I've learnt, or perhaps relearnt, that I love to learn. Even more so, I need to learn. I don't think I would be able to sit for long periods of time crafting like I do without feeding my brain something. Interestingly, I get bored of what I'm making quicker if I watch trashy tv shows rather than something a little more intellectually challenging. Although I will admit to putting the crochet down for a minute or so to gape at whatever find they just pulled out of a trench.

On a more practical note I learned how to put air in the tyres of my car. That made me feel a little less like a silly girly type. So, yay for that.

I think what I've noticed this year is that I don't seem to need a lot to be happy. I can be quite content when left to it. My world might look quite small to others looking in on it, but I don't think it is. I'm quite happy on this little island reading my way through a stack of books, crochetting my way through a pile of wool, while filling my head with stories of the great wide world. Don't get me wrong, I would like to see the great wide world first hand. And I'm not denying that I like to buy new shiny things just like anyone else. I'm just recognising that it isn't essential to my happiness. Some things, I guess, are more important.