Turning Up

  Being a Garden Designer would be a very nice way to earn a living. And if I can do it where I work from home even better. An old wooden desk. Swivel chair. T-shirt and jeans. Bare feet. A small stereo unit with a collection of music recordings to stir my creativity, and a nice hot mug of tea. What a conducive way to work, right?

  However for the time being I am learning the trade and acquiring the knowledge as it were by embarking on a diploma in Garden Design. Before enrolling I looked at a few design schools in London that specialised in garden design and was very impressed with KLC School of Design, in particular their 'off campus' Design Diploma course. And that's the one I chose. It is a fabulous campus situated at Imperial Wharf in London. On paper it looks and sounds fantastic. And you know what? It is. Except for that one major obstacle: procrastination. But it is myself who creates these obstacles. And I know I'm not the only one but you have to be very disciplined to make this work. I don't even own a television or have a Netflix subscription, but sometimes when I come home form work I just want some 'down time'. I practice yoga of a night time which has been so beneficial as I find gardening and yoga compliment each other beautifully, but it still eats into my spare time even if it is time well wasted. When I sit down at my work desk with a desk lamp switched on and the 'Festival in the Desert' album playing in the background - it just feels great. I relish the evenings spent studying and learning landscape design. 

  This is how I motivate myself to turn up at my desk to work and study: "Remember how energised and inspired you felt when you were working away at your desk? Do you remember? Great. Well, it's going to feel exactly like that again. So turn up!"