“Traveller, there is no path,
You make the path by walking.”
Antonio Machado, Spanish Poet

When I started my business years ago, I didn’t think that I would still be working with business professionals 22 years later.

What an exciting journey it’s been!

Full of amazing experiences and surprises. 

But I can’t say I’m following a specific path. 

I’m making the path by moving forward. Learning to accept the unexpected and seeing where the journey takes me.

But that’s exactly what makes my work exciting!

Do you feel the same?

My medium was glass years ago. I was even interviewed by Radio Berg about my hobby. 

My goodness was I nervous. I was mortified to hear all those “Ums” and “Ahs” when I heard myself on the radio later.

But that’s beside the point.

If you’re an artist, you might like to listen to David Bowie’s important advice.

Of course, you don’t need to stop using the word ‘very’.

But good writers avoid it, as it’s often overused and can sound a bit boring.

So what can we do instead?

Expand our vocabulary.

Here are some examples:

very nice = charming
very boring = dreary, tedious
very clean = spotless
very cold = freezing
very deep = bottomless
very difficult = complex
very dirty = filthy

If you need help to find a suitable word, take a look at www.losethevery.com.

Just add a simple adjective and press the Get/Refresh Result button and see what happens.

Or press the Random button to learn new words.

I’d love to know if you find this tool helpful.

Do you have a hobby? Something you do in your free time that is fun, interesting and even challenging?

A hobby can enrich our lives, improve our confidence and self-esteem, expand our knowledge, reduce boredom, provide stress relief, strengthen our patience levels and help us connect with others.

The list of hobbies is endless.

There’s running, hiking, making music, singing in a choir, reading, dancing, cooking, baking, knitting, sewing, painting, drawing, crafting, fishing, bird watching, gardening*, collecting (stamps, coins, records, comic books and so on) and a lot more.

If you’re looking for a new hobby, take a look at this extensive list of 99 Hobbies You Might Consider Picking Up.

So do you have a hobby or are you thinking of starting something new?

PS Gardening is seen as a hobby in Britain—unlike in Germany where we talk about “Gartenarbeit”!

Of course you know what coffee is.

It’s the tropical shrub which yields coffee seeds, and it’s the hot drink made from the roasted and ground seeds (the coffee beans).

But did you know it can also be “the person upon whom one coughs”?

Well, that was one of the winning submissions to The Washington Post’s annual contest.

You can see the winning submissions here.

Did you know that it’s actually possible for you to say “I don’t know enough about this to have an opinion”.

Richard Feynman

I like the idea of adopting a “Sorry, I don’t know” attitude. Rather than pretending I know it all.

We can’t know everything, can we?

But we can know where to access the information! 😉