A whole page? Just for me? Oh boy!
Havi Brooks.
That’s me. Hi.
How do you pronounce that?
It’s HA-vee.
Pretend you’re saying “Harvey” with a British accent. That probably doesn’t help at all. Let me distract you with a bunch of other things!
Honestly? I don’t actually have all that much to say about me, other than this list and oh, you know, everything I’ve posted to the blog for the last several years.
So here are some other about-ish things.
What we talk about around here.
The relationships in life that don’t always get enough — or any — attention.
Specifically your relationship with your internal world, your stuff, your stucknesses, your business (if you have one), creative play, and fuzzball monsters who may or may not like cookies. With time and with space and with piles and with projects.
I avoid the conventional names for this stuff — “self help”, “personal development”, “marketing”, “time-management”, “productivity” — like the plague because I find them depressing, embarrassing and kind of vomit-inducing.
But basically it’s a mix of those themes, except not cheesy, annoying, preachy or obnoxiously motivational, and with a lot more light-heartedness, mindfulness, play and fun.
We talk about destuckifying, biggifying and projectizing.
That’s what I write about during the week, with lots of notes from my own process.
On Fridays I review the week (it’s more of a Revue than a review) with something called the Friday Chicken.
Feel free to join in. Lots of people do. It’s such a sweet thing, and it’s really become a gathering place of sorts. Lucy calls the Friday regulars the Chickeneers of the High Seas, which I think is hilarious.
And on Sundays, I write Very Personal Ads, which are little gwishes (goals/wishes), hopes, dreams and things that get thrown into the pot. Another neat communal experiment that has become a shared ritual.
See also: Whee! The People for what my people are like and who tends to hang out here.
Cast of characters!
You may have noticed that I mention a lot of people who are not actually people.
Selma.
Selma is my business partner.
We’ve been teaching together for many years now, and I put up with her being a diva because look at her.
When I launched this site in 2005, a number of Highly Influential Biggified Advice-Givers told me that I should not mention the duck, because (they said) it was weird and off-putting.
This always makes me think of Fawlty Towers and “Don’t mention the war!”
I did not listen to them. This turned out to be a good thing.
Fun fact: Selma has been called a whore by no less a personage than the fabulous Naomi Dunford, making Selma quite possibly the only lady Naomi has ever called a whore and then kissed on the nose.
Scootch.
Scootch is a hedgehog. He is my muse.
My muse and my love and my obsession.
I actually don’t write about him all that much because he’s so adorable I can hardly stand it and then I’m all schmoo schmoo schmoo look at my little scootch-bug-buttonlet, so really it’s better if I don’t mention him.
Stopping. Now.
The Schmoppet.
The Schmoppet is a schmoppet. It’s difficult to describe him other than that.
He is loud, emphatic, charming, and as extroverted as his vocabulary is limited, which is to say: very.
Also extremely if unintentionally hilarious. To me.
You can see him with me at the top of the page. That picture pretty much sums up our entire relationship. There’s also a video of him up at the Frolicsome Bar (what I call Facebook).
Hoppy House.
Hoppy House is my house. It’s where I live. It’s extra-hoppy. Like an IPA. Or a trampoline.
Guns N Rollers.
My beloved Guns N Rollers! That’s the roller derby team that we sponsor.
Because mindfulness and knocking people down is such a winning combination. Ahahahahaha. And because I’ve always wanted to order a giant black and hot pink camo banner and now I can.
An imaginary interview! With me!
Side notes!
1) You can also read this actual interview with me to support the Communicatrix in her amazing 50-for-50 project.
2) Also! A sort-of interview with me where TJ gets me to confess to the 30 Things I Love Right Now.
Okay.
Define yourself in a ridiculously limited series of words.
Uhhhh …. thinker of thoughts. Writer of words. Educator. Trilingual bookworm. Obsessed with patterns. Baker of great (sugar-free) bread. Smart-ass. Eccentric.
Convictions, beliefs and such: do you have any?
Things I believe in.
Love. Love is awesome. And it’s inside you which is kind of weird but also really liberating because it’s there whenever you need it.
The generosity of strangers.
The often hard-to-access inner ability to really, truly get to know yourself — with all of your stucknesses and horribleness — and like yourself anyway.
Things I don’t believe in.
Mt. Hood.
Things I don’t believe in but wish I did.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Alas, Pastafarianism is not for everyone.
One thing you might not know about me.
I’m the #2 world expert in …something you may not have even heard of. Shiva Nata is brain training that looks like martial arts and acts like drugs-that-make-you-smart-and-hot.
One thing you probably don’t want to know.
I dislike the word “diphthong” with a passion. In fact, even typing it is creeping me out. It’s my kryptonite.
One thing no one should know.
My filing system is organized by chakras.
I know. I warned you, though.
Life philosophy?*
- Napping is good.
- So are pretty much all forms of quiet, intentional, guilt-free navel-lint-contemplation.
- Use your powers for good. Live by what you teach. When you can’t, forgive yourself.
* Just my personal take on things, not something I expect anyone else to live by.
Looking forward to getting to hang out with you in the online world.
Or maybe we’ll get to meet in real life if you come to one of my programs at The Playground. That would be so amazing.
Or at the Twitter bar. I’m @havi — say hi whenever. Actually, you can say kazoo. I’ve heard that works really well.
Take care, my dear. See you on the blog.
Havi (and Selma)
Photos by Jillian Kay Photography, except for portrait of Havi and Selma at bottom – Kylie Springman.