Sunday, 30 March 2014

Sunday Selfie: My Love for Geography

Sunday Selfies are here. Each Sunday I plan to write a post all about one aspect of my life that I find interesting. Hopefully you will find this series interesting. Comment below if there is anything you want me to write about. 

My blog header says that I "fill my days with geography and gymnastics" and tonight I'm going to explain the first half of my refrain.


I have always loved geography 
I think I have loved geography since before I knew what it was. My father described me once as "the girls who has always been obsessed with maps." My map fascination is yet to fade and still holds strong, I was even given a street directory for my last birthday!

my parents are cuties.

As I've grown up, I have learnt that geography goes well beyond the mapping of our environment.Geography is the study of our world at the present moment and gives meaning to our politics, demographics and humanity. Geography will continue to expand with our world and that, my good friends, excites me beyond measure.
I specifically love urban geography 


Seoul Skyline. Not my picture.

Cities speak to me. I'm currently studying to be a town planner, and really, I just always want to be surrounded by urban geography. Understanding what makes a city function, and why makes each city special brings me great joy. At risk of a total nerd-out, I love that we can't know everything about a city, though I plan to try. 


Geography allows me to create
I never really understood how you could learn and contribute to knowledge at the same time. Geography is pretty much entirely based on research and since starting university I have been able to not only draw upon the ideas of others, but synthesize and add to knowledge. 
With the help of team members whom have better computer skills than I, I've been able to make cool shit that present ideas in new ways. 

                         

also no credit belongs to me

Geography makes me think, and makes me ask questions. 
I grew up spending a large amount of my time surrounded by the black and white worlds of gymnastics and mathematics. Geography is essentially the opposite of those cut-and-dry disciplines. Geography prompts thought, prompts queries, prompts higher thinking. There are always different ways of looking at the same thing, and in that, geography provides a pretty damn good metaphor for life. 

Geography contextualizes my little, tiny piece of this world. 
I'm often guilty of forgetting that I do not live in the centre of the world. I'm from Australia, and like many countries, we tend to think that the world revolves around Australia. Truth is, Australia isn't the centre of everything, we are connected globally by an enormous amount of factors. Geography allows me to not only learn more about where I am from, but to learn about how I fit in to the big picture. 



Until next time,
Meggeth x

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Shall we talk about time management?

I think we shall

Time management is something that I have pretty much always struggled with. I make my coworkers laugh when I say "I would have more time if I spent less time organizing my time," but that comment is less of a joke and more of a self-aware musing.

I go through what can be best described as time management phases. For several months at the start of each year I will keep a diary with most of my dates. I'll buy a new phone and put EVERYTHING into the calendar. I once carried around a A4 notebook of to-do lists. Most recently I bought four small dry erase boards and put them in a place I'll see when I wake up.

All of these strategies work for me for a small amount of time, then I inevitably seem to get bored and go back to double booking myself. I can usually fit in work, university and family time fairly well, but I frequently over-commit and find myself having to back out of plans.

Here is the thing, I'm not sure if I actually want to be 100% on top of my schedule. Allow me to explain what I mean by that. I would very much like to not forget about my commitments, but I feel like I need some room for spontaneity.

Keep your schedules free
Meggeth

Friday, 28 March 2014

Why hello there, and welcome.

So here it is boys and girls, my first real foray into the blogging world.

Oh hi there Meg, what are you doing here?

I moved here from twitter, where I found the art of expressing myself in 140 characters quite a challenge. I'm a naturally gabby lady and I'm planning on blabbering on here until I can get all my thoughts out.
Its early days as yet, so there will be changes for sure, but as it stands there isn't yet a concrete schedule.

Do you know anything much about blogging Meggeth?
Um, no not overly. I have a tumblr and I read other people's blogs plenty, but as for running my own? That will be a learning curve.

How will you spend your time when you aren't blogging?
I have 2.5 jobs (more on that later), I attend university full time (that will also come up for sure), I also paint my nails frequently, exercise haphazardly, play in a community orchestra and occasionally bake. So if I'm not there, I'll be here.

What do you mean, "just be remarkable?"
Somebody I respect very much once referred to me as "just remarkable." I was so moved I nearly cried right then on the spot. Since that moment, I  have been thinking that being "remarkable" is probably a pretty good goal.

Will all your posts be about being "being remarkable?"
No of course not, I'm not entirely sure I know how to do so myself. Though that qualitative goal is definitely in mind.

Until next time lovelies xx