How To Handle Hard Times ( In A City Like London)

Disclaimer :The following post is written purely from experience, if you are going through a hard time and feel the need to do so, you should seek professional assistance from the reverent sources. I am not a doctor, counselor or therapist, if you choose to take my advise you do so at your own risk. 

Before I get into this, I need to say that although I have acknowledged the king of this blog, in so much as I have asked permission to do this, I act alone in the following...

The nature of what I am about to share with you, is not something that anyone else should bare the weight of, since this is my decision, based on my own convictions.

I am sorry this sounds so dramatic, but anyone who knew the old me in person will know, drama and Hayley Esther kind of go hand in hand. I admit to this fully, and it is for the purpose of leaning into a language I have taught those that love and support me, to expect from me, that I now choose to make my exist in a dramatic fashion as the writing of this post.

I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

You see the happiest day of my life was and is the day that I died.

For those of you in the UK you may have noticed that the closer we get to Brexit, the more uncertain things seem to be becoming, however even in these uncertain times, let me assure there is still hope.

All you have to do is learn to die.

Let me explain,

Often times, something has to die in order for something else to live. There are births and deaths everyday, these two things are the only certainties in our physical world. We humans like seasons, just think back a few weeks ago, the end of 2018 brought on the beginning of 2019. I'm not going to labor on this point anymore, but I think you get the idea.

The fact is in life, seasons change and so things have to come to an end in order for something to new to begin.

Bottom line is in order for you lead an amazing, abundant, joy filled life, you first have to die to some things that are no good to you.

Now I know this would be the perfect place to share my faith in Jesus Christ, but that's it. This short two sentences, does just that, if you die to the world and come alive to Christ, you will experience joy on a whole other level, message me if you want details, but this post is not about that. ( This is a note for our seasoned followers)

The gospel of Jesus Christ should never be for sale, therefore there are no affiliate links in this post, but if you do want to support us, so we can focus on creating great content for you, please consider either donating or checking out my store. Thank you. Now then let's get on with it.

Before we get into it, I need to first outline 5 things you should die to in order to lead a more joy-filled life. These are general tips, my London specific tips will be up later this week.

1. You Should Die To Perfectionism

This may seem like a obvious one, but honey you are not perfect, and trying to be is only going to frustrate you and deplete your energy. That energy can be spent better else where, and the fact is that irregardless of how close you get to the mark, you will never, ever be 100% pure in every sense of the word. For starters, you can't control the fact you have breathed air that is polluted at some point in your life, not to mention all of the icky feelings you have experienced over time. Emotion is a good thing, and keeping it disciplined is important, this is true, but the fact is you won't succeed with this 100% of the time. For your own sake, let your hair down and just be who you are, not who you are trying to be.

2. You Should Die To People Pleasing

This follows on from the last point and I know it's a hard reality to accept but we can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Diversity means compromise, and part of that comprise means you have a right to your own mind and voice irregardless of what you are about. You absolutely should be respectful, but if you feel strongly about something you have the right to back up your beliefs with words, and actions...and what's more, most of the time you should because evil only increases when good people do nothing.

3. You Should Die To Happiness

Happiness is fleeting, it is a feeling,but fulfillment goes deeper than that. You won't be happy every second of the day even if you are fulfilled, but you will be happier a lot more of the time, just by consequence of being true to you who you are, and building towards a life build on firm foundations. Building life on any feeling is not stable, but let me remind you at this point, joy is not a feeling.

4. Die To Legalism & Come Alive To Peace

My definition of legalism is anything that seeks to create unrealistic standards with rules and regulations that go beyond the basics of what is needed to maintain the illusion of fairness. This can be in organised religion, but sometimes its not. 

Apply this to your belief structure.

Results may be varied.

Point still stands for those of you I have aimed to communicate this point with. I know my niche on this point, but forget the points and geometric shapes, they are just as restrictive, I'm sticking to flowers!

Life is far more peaceful that way!

5. Die To Grace & Wake Up To Mercy

On the flip side, where are my white nights at?

Let me just make this crystal clear for you, even if your intentions  are the best in the world, in the end, grace won't save you, mercy will. Seek the one who offers mercy and you will find the abundance of security and life they promised you. Those who trade freedom for security wind up with neither, this is a fact, but it is also true those that rely on hyper gracious freedoms will one day wake up to find they were just as trapped as those they mocked for being trapped in legalism.

For us humans, extremes are rarely good. Mercy is for sure the way to go.

I feel like I have pushed about as far as is reasonable in this post and so I am gonna leave it there for now. Expect part two later this week.

Until then,  catch us over on social media.

At the moment, Pintrest is a massive part of our every day life, but we are also on Instagram, Facebook. DevientArt  and Twitter. 

Hopefully we will see you over on one of those.

What To Expect When You First Move To London

So you've taken the plunge, it's official you are moving to London!

Congratulations you! 

You are about to embark on one heck of a journey!!

Here are a few little tidbits that may help you as you make this move. 

I've broken this post into 3 sections....

How You are likely to feel. 

How You are likely to be treated.

How to quickly adjust, or at least look like you are.

Let's get started.

So how are you likely to feel?

Well to tell you the truth, I would be concerned if you're not on a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster right now. Moving to a new city is a big deal. So much of your life is about to change. It should feel exciting, but it's normal to feel a little (or a lot) nervous.

Those butterflies in your tummy are a good thing when you first get to London, they will keep you sharp and alert. 

You need to be. It's a very fast-paced place, especially in the centre and even more so when travelling. 

It's okay, you will get used to it.

A little later in this series, I have posts about how to transition from the country to the city and lots of tips for London etiquette. For now, though, I'll give you the quick version.

When travelling around move fast, don't use much eye contact on the tube. Keep yourself safe. Stay alert, pickpockets are a thing here. Don't dawdle and above all else, enjoy the experience! 

You only get to know a city for the first time once. 

Enjoy that. 

People don't realise that London can feel like a planet all of its own, especially at first. I'm a country girl so I had the added layer of getting used to city life along with getting know and love this city. I was the definition of a shy small-town girl, if I can learn to thrive in London I am sure you can too. 

So that's the basics of how you are likely to feel now let's look at how others may treat you. 

Right, listen up because this is important. 

Let me let you in on a little secret,

Londoners may feel a little cold and unfeeling, but the truth is many of us are lovely people when you get to know us, we just know the importance of keeping our guard up.

That guard is not likely to come down very easily, we know better than that.  

Don't take it personally if people in London ignore you, (even when they bump into you) or if they seem unfriendly or unwilling to take to you. If you come from a culture that is known for its warmth, then this is likely to be a shock to the system at first. 

Yes I know this city may feel a little overwhelming, and you are a nice person, and all you want is a little help to get from A to B, but you could just as easily be about to steal my bag while I look down at my phone or watch to tell you the time or check the map. 

Most Londoners are not going to take the risk.

You will get the odd nice person who will help you out, but generally speaking, you are best to go speak to someone working at the travel station or visitor centre if you are stuck or confused about travel.

Also if you fall over in London, because of the chance you could be running a scam, most people won't help you up and unfortunately there are those who would take advantage of your situation. Again pickpockets are a thing here. Get up quickly because you don't want to get trampled. Go sit on a bench for a moment to catch your breath if you must, but when you are going to be in central London especially, the best advice is to make sure you are well-prepared for whatever situation could occur before you set out. 

Don't get me wrong, London is a wonderful city but as I have already stated, many Londoners are only cold because they have to be, it can be dangerous here.

With that in mind, if you know a local who can show you around until you are used to the city it can be really useful. 

Word to the wise, select this person carefully and please watch what you say in public. You never know who is listening. 

This whole series is about how to settle here and so we will be covering how to adjust here in much more depth, in later posts for now though it may help you to read some of my other posts about moving to London. 

how-to-handle-hard-times-in-london-when-your-not-settled

how-to-handle-hard-times-in-city-like-london

Hope this helped

Alterations - The Art Of Change Mangment - Day 3 - A Is For Alignment

Morning,

Okay I've given you tones of great cosy tips and resources so far, today we are gonna kick it up a notch.

A is for Alignment but I am NOT talking about The Law Of Attraction, The Secret or any of that New Age Stuffs (I'm being nice) although I am going to address it in just a moment.

But out first example is business.

So how does alignment apply to business.

Well, you need to align your business with your moral compass or else it will fail. For this I recommend making a values bracelet

Here's how it works.

Choose 5 different beads that represent the 5 main areas of your life and the most important value for each area of your life, that are core to who you are and what you stand for, and then put your business bead right in the middle, because your business will be the main thing your working on for a long time, and everything else will fit in around it because when you are the one with reagns, like with a business, if you drop them then your metaphorical horse could run off the edge of the cliff taking you and business with it.

Here's a picture of my values bracelet.

So this bracelet is built on these 5 areas and the core value for each.

1.Faith & Spirituality - Intimately
2.Relationships - Trust
3.Business -Integrity
4. Well-being (in my case stress management)-Consistency
5.Artistic projects-  Joy

So as you can see, my core value for business is integrity. This now becomes the driving force of who I am as a person, because I need to be integrate in life, in order to be integrate in my business.

So as long as I am working to make integrity the corner stone of my business, then everything else will fall in place, because being integrity means I need to take care of the other areas of my life.

Therefore I am aligned, in myself and my business.


Moving on to the using your art to help with your life change.

I'm gonna be straight with you guys, I am going to  expos the law of attraction in this section because so many people fall for this New Age rubbish and the law of attraction can actually knock you out of alignment.

We don't want that.

If you don't want your bubble burst, click off now.

Okay you are still here,

Awesome!

Let me unpack this.

Short version: All magic comes at a price.

I'm borrowing that line from the tv series once upon a time. It illustrates this point so clearly and is just really good writing so you should check it out, but anyways back on point.

You've heard it said that if something appears too good to be true, it most likely is. Well I'm sorry to tell you guys, but that's the truth about the law of attraction.

If you believe in the Law Of Attraction, then I'm guessing your a spiritual person and so let's call that thing that gives you the thing you want is actually just simply a form of magic.

It's common belief that magic can be good or bad, but actually the magic that causes the law of attraction to happen comes from the same dark source.  That dark source doesn't care if your playing with his seemingly nice little toys thinking they are safe. The snakes he hid in those toys, will bite you anyway.

Maybe you don't think there is a price but how many times have you or someone you know who has used the law of attraction, suddenly felt really unwell and been bed-ridden for ages.  Or how many times have you used the LOA and something special to you suddenly broke, or worse someone you care about died?

This happens.

The truth is that the Law Of Attraction is nothing more than a gateway drug to suck you into the New Age.

This is so dangerous. It can cost your life. Please don't mess with it.

My personal gripe with it is that the Law Of Attraction belittles God to be apart of His own creation. God is sovereign and He is the creator., He is the one that created you in His image and gave you your artistic abilities. Don't slap in the face by saying that He is no better than something He made. You wouldn't like it if someone said you are about as worthy as the piece of art you are most disappointed didn't end up being what you would have liked, and neither does He. You have free will and creation didn't give you that, the creator did. Okay, I'l leave it there. You can tell I'm fired up and that's because it angers me to see people get hurt needless, especially by the evil one, but instead of preaching at you here's a list of resources encase you want to study the topic further.

I'm not as qualified as some to whistle-blow this whole law of attraction thing, but I do know the spirit world and what goes on there very, very well. I've seen both the light and dark side and I am not afraid to say that although I don't ascribe to everything that churchianity teaches. I do count myself a Christ-ian. There's your out, if you want to just dismiss what I am saying as just religious nonsense, that's fine, but I'm not your advantage believer by any stretch of the imagination, and I am talking from experience when I say that the number one thing that the law of attraction causes is brain fog and all the lovely things like depression and anxiety that comes with it.

A foggy brain won't make good art.

If you are serious about making this change you need to align with yourself using the tips I gave in the business section, then align with your creator.

That's as close as we get to any faith based content and I think this was heavy enough for one day so let's leave it there and tomorrow I promise to go back to playing nice.

See you then.

Alterations - Day 2 - H is for Hope Cautiously

Morning all, hope you slept well.

Today we are going to talk about the mindset you need to successfully navigate changes in life.

If you are going to get from this season to the next, you need hope.

Okay so this one doesn't apply to our business example as much as the life and art one so let's get that out of the way first.

If you are looking to start a new business, hope for the best but absolutely put fail safes in place in case it doesn't work out or  the worst happens.

Hope is not foolish. Hope knows that the thing it is aiming for may or may not happen, it just chooses to think the best of the situation.

Don't go into a new business thinking that it can never work, because you won't put the work in to it to make it work if you don't believe in your busies/dream.

It's okay to be scared, especially if this is your first business or the stakes are high for you, but that fear should not be the driving force. You need to find the good in the situation, even if you are not sure this new venture is going to work. For this I use two business tools that are awesome for the new startups. Peter Jones Business Guide and a SWOT analysis The swot analysis won't only show you where your competition is so you can work out a strategy to beat it, but also it will show your opportunities  and and help you realise how much you really do have in your hand right now.

This will bring hope to your heart and your head and with that, you could be unstoppable.

Now on to our second example.

How can you use your art to inspire hope?

Again ground level zero make a playlist to help you get there. Or if you prefer you can come follow me on Spotify and check out my lists.

Then make an inspiration board. This is similar to a vision board, (we talked about this last post) but it's different in that we aren't looking at what we are going to achieve we are looking at things that inspire us to work on it right now.

Another great tip is if you did get a journal going, then add some hopeful inspiring bookmarks to that, so that every time you see your journal you are given a quick dose of hope.

I also use my laptop desktop to put up a image of something that inspires me to keep going.

Again Pinterest can be great for making this kind of board, but be careful, there is such thing as inspiration hangover.

Well, I think that's enough for you to have fun playing around with today.

I will see you tomorrow.

Have a great day guys!

The Art Of Change Management - Day 1 - C IS FOR CREATIVE SOuLUTIONS

Good Evening!

We start now with the first letter of our C.H,A.N.G.E curriculum.

C is for Creative Soulutions 

In order to really drive my points home I need to use some examples. I'm personally most comfortable taking about business startups and entrepreneurship so we will use that as our first example. Also, I wrote the book on using your pain to fuel your art, and until this point I have been very much in the life coaching and mindset arena, it makes sense to also use that as a framework for sharing these tips with you.

The two examples are separated by green text for business and purple text for life. That way, you can skip to the section that you need advise on.

Now that's established let's get going shall we?



So when you are going through a big life change, it can play havoc with your emotions. When you are in the midst of all of the inner turmoil, and all the things going on around you on top of that, it can be hard to see what you need to do to move forward. 

That's okay though, I got you!

I've got two posts I highly recommend if you are feeling stuck that will help if that's where you are at the moment, but for the purposes of this post I am going to assume that you've moved from stuck to seasonal, embarrassed the change that you know is inevitable, and now you are ready for the steps you need to change to have a smooth transition into whatever your new season looks like for you.

If you are there then the first thing you need to do is look at what you have in your hand and start exploring your box.

Hayls what does that even mean? I hear you say, so let me unpack it for ya! 


Think about it this way. 

Each of us has a certain number of talents, resources and circumstances we need to take in to account when we're thinking about making changes in our lives. If you had a box that was full of physical objects that represent all the areas of your life, and all your talents, what would be in your box? 

The very first thing we all have available to us, is conventional wisdom. It is repeated so often for a reason ya know!

So then in your situation right now what does conventional wisdom say?

 Will any of that work for you?( If not, it's cool we have some suggestions of things that could work)

For example, conventional wisdom says that if you are looking to start a new business, you need to make a business plan.

Does that sound like something you can do?

If not, why not? 

Do you need to take a course maybe to learn the skills for this? 

Or hire an expert? 

Or are you just not the kind of person that WANTS a business plan?


For whatever reason. you may be the sort of person that doesn't want to write a business plan just yet. Maybe you don't know if it's worth it just yet, Maybe you are a pretty laid back person and you just want to see how it goes before you write a business plan, because that feels too official and you just don't need the pressure right now. 

If this is you, then don't write off this conventional wisdom just yet, you need a creative solution. You're in the right place for that. 

You see, there's no right way to do a business plan and it doesn't have to be super long and detailed.

Yes there is a traditional plan, with lots of pages and lots of information and all the plans for the next x number of years, but then there are plans that are just one page, and a whole lot less stressful.

On the flip side maybe you are super committed to this business, and the 5 year plan just isn't long enough in which case maybe you should try a longer  business plan. 

If the idea of a  business plan is just a big fat no for you right now that's cool, maybe you could just write a write a paragraph on a page about what you intend to do and then list a few goals so you have at-least some idea of what you are aiming for. 

That would be a creative solution, you won't feel so pressured but still have some direction and clarity about what you are doing and that can really help with anxiety. 

Maybe that's the compromise for you. (I will be taking on new clients very soon so if you want to work with my directly, feel free to drop me an email or message me on whatever social platform suits you best)

If  you are in this stage of life/business maybe these links will help. (of-course you can go without a plan all together, but there are very good reasons why this is not advised by even the most laid back of business advisers)


Moving on to that second example,

So for this one I am going to assume that your pretty broken up about something right now and that you  are well aware of the thing you need to do for your personal development but you just don't know how to get rolling. I'm so sorry that thing happened/is happening to you! 

My advice?

Use Your Art.

Artiest are usually very visual and so here's a couple of techniques I've used in the past to use my own creativity to help propel me forward for a goal.

1. Make a Vision board. 

Yes I know you probably heard every blogger and their mother recommend making a vision board, but that's only because it really works. You get a little off track when you use that board with New Age concepts like the Law Of Attraction, (gonna address this later in the week) but as a general rule, seeing your vision right before your eyes, can really motivate you to get moving and show you what you need to do next. I've make mine over on Pinterest and I like to make physical crafty vision boards in my project life binder. Check out some tips for these here.

2. Brain Dump Method.

So for this one I am gonna recommend a you-tuber that gets this concept across so much better than I can. I warn you though if you are easily offended by less savoury language, this is not going to be for you.

3. Music Is The Manna

Make a playlist of songs based on the goal you are aiming for, it will help get you into the head space you need to do the work needed to move forward. Then if you feel brave enough, express these goals through dance, feeling it through your body can really help align you, so that every part of you is feeling the goal in the moment. Check out the playlist I made for you to show you how it's done.

4. Lists!

I'm not talking typical written lists I'm talking doodle lists. Doodle the goals this builds off the dance thing, but instead of dancing out what you are aiming for, you draw it out. When you connect your art to goal, it becomes more tangible.

5. Art Journal.

Okay so here I also recommend building a life management binder, with a clear focus on your goal, but there are lots of ways to journal these days. Here's a board I made on  Pinterest on the topic. Also look out for my post on some of my favourite ways to journal and products I highly recommend for this later this week.


Right I think that's enough for one day, I will see you tomorrow!

Introducing Alterations - The Art Of Change Mangment

Today guy's I'm just going to jump straight into this.

It's been a while since I last put a post out and that's purely just been because I've had to take a little time to restructure things.

You see my season of life has recently changed.

I was very much in a dry season, now it's raining metaphorically speaking.

I'm pretty use to seasons changing and so I want to spend a week focusing on sharing my tips for change management. There are some pretty big changes coming to Daisy Change shortly and I want to make sure my awesome readers are ready for that.

Also I know with all the uncertainty in the world right now, chances are you're going through some sort of change too.

I hope this comes at just the right time, it's my gift to you to say thank you for sticking with me all this time, which is why even though this content is awesome and I could easily make money off of it, I'm choosing to put this information in a blog series format instead.

Let's get to it shall we?

Okay so you know I love anagrams, they are littered all over this site, so it seams fitting that at this point, we use the most obvious anagram that has been hiding in plain site this whole time.

C.H.A.N.G.E

Each letter is the first letter of a word or phase that I think is the embodiment of a concept that is vital for change management.

This is going to be so much fun and you just might learn a thing or two. I've never been more confident about writing a blog series in my life, and it will be packed with some great resources along the way, so you really are in for a treat!

So dear awesome readers, I invite you to come along with me on this week long journey to help you navigate the changes that may be taking place in your life.

Posts go live at 8PM Pacific Daylight Time as from today, then other other day  until this project is completed next week.

We get started tomorrow.

Until then,

Great Books For Savvy Artists.

So I talked it over with the king, and we've decided that there's something to be learnt from recent events. One tiny little lesson before I give you what you came for, our book recommendations for savvy artist's life and business. I read a lot so I have a lot to say in just a moment but before we get there.

It doesn't feel right to overload my awesome readers with content after such a heavy post like the last post. Click here if you didn't see it.

So instead of that, we have decided to put out today's post celebrating world book day, then leave posting for a while to give time and space and respect to our loved ones currently grieving.

Hope that's cool with you guys!

Anyway, 's let's get on with it, shall we?

I have decided to put this in 3 sections and there are roughly 12 books in all. Again I remind you pretty much all of these are affiliate links, this means that we may make a little tiny commission if you buy any of the books we suggest, but this will be no extra cost to you. It basically just means we get more jaffa cakes and hot chocolate to keep churning out content to inspire and encourage you guys.

Sound good?

Great!

Our First Section Is Life

Ok, guys, the whole point of these books is to help you be a better you. A better you will likely be able to produce better art. Get it?

Quick note, there's nothing wrong with the you, you are now, but we as humans are always moving towards something, it may as well be something better.

Here's the list.

Off-Balance On Purpose - Dan Thurmon I believe that work/life balance is a myth that can interfere with our art. Dan explains what's better to do instead of trying to balance things. 

Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life This book was life-changing for me. If you are fed up of fluffy little self-help books and need something with a few more nuts to chew on. This is your book. Loved it! Still, live by many of the principles in this book.

Calm - Fearne Cotton  If you want something a little more gentle then Fearne Cotton has got you covered. All of her books are fab, but this is my favourite.

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway - Susan Jeffers This was such a good book that really helped me get over myself so that I could just get on with getting my art up online. It's been one heck of a journey ever since, and I owe that in part to the lessons and simple writing style of the late, great Susan Jeffers.

Our Second Section Is Business

This is my personal favourite section and narrowing this down to just 4 was hard, but here's the best of the best when it comes to business books.

Craft a Creative Business: Making & Marketing a Successful Creative Business This is such a good little handbook for all artists wanting to sell their work.

She Means Business: Turn Your Ideas into Reality and Become a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur Pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy the surprise.

Small is the New Big - Seth Godin  - Seriously if you haven't read any of Seth Godin's books you should! Bonus because I can't not include it Linchpin that book revolutionised my business!

Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar It's been a hot minute but from what I remember, it's pretty good.

Our Final Section Is Art

So for this section, the listings are not going to be explained because I want to list a fair few and I know that these books will impact different types of artists in different ways. Enjoy guys! 

The Simpsons Handbook Secret Tips from the Pros 

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way

How To Draw Stupid And Other Essentials Of Cartooning By Kyle Baker

Manga Martial Arts: Over 50 Basic Lessons For Drawing The World's Most Popular Fighting Style

The Animator's Survival Kit (Paperback) Richard E. Williams


If you like my style of books, please come follow me over on GoodReads