Day 258: picture this.

I live in New York city (in a great one bedroom apartment on the lower east side). I have an awesome job writing for a range of hip publications, businesses and ad agencies which is a lot of fun and pays me the best money I've ever earned. The varied nature and hours of my work also suits me perfectly because it gives me the time and flexibility to play in and promote my band. The band is doing awesomely. We have grown really popular in cool circles in New York, and our live shows always pack out. Our first EP (of which we are immensely and justly proud) is selling well in record shops and on iTunes. We're currently working on our album with a very talented producer, and will soon embark on a sold out tour playing a selection of North American and European summer festivals. I am feeling freakin amazing because I am finally living my rock 'n' roll dream. Oh, and you should see our film clips - they're so fucking cool.

To be continued.

My yoga teacher was talking last night about the power of visualisation. Mainly he was trying to get us to see ourselves doing the perfect posture so we'd be more likely to achieve it, but he was also talking about using it in other areas of life. So I thought I'd try it. And what I found is that picturing your perfect life is actually quite hard. My teacher talked about the importance of visualising the exact reality you want as though you're already living it, and being careful about your phrasing. He reckoned the phrasing would come true to the letter. So, if for example you said "I have met the boy of my dreams" the reality would be that yes you would have met the boy of your dreams, but he may have passed you by, or be married, or gay or anything else. Is this true? I don't know. But as I tried to work out my ideal life scenario, I realised that defining it perfectly and unambiguously is a tricky task. Even the bits I found easy to see - like the living and working in New York scenario, and the success of my new band - had fuzzy areas; people that hadn't fully formed yet, locations or next steps I wasn't quite sure of. It made me think. Does your vision of your desired goal need to be crystal clear for you to achieve it? And if such a feat of visualising and achieving can be successfully performed, is it actually a good thing? I mean, you might see the future you think you want, successfully achieve it and then discover it comes with a whole set of consequences you never expected. In fact, I'm thinking that would be pretty much guaranteed. But what of it? Isn't that simply the stuff of life? That you set out confidently in one direction only to find the laws of gravity have changed and you're floating aimlessly, wondering how to negotiate your new airy terrain? At least if I can visualise and achieve my current dream future, I'll get to play some amazing live shows and live in a seriously cool town. So, as seems to be my answer to everything these days, let's roll with it. May the clearest, most beautiful parts of my vision become reality, and may the gaps be filled by some very happy surprises.