Goals.

And here comes the new year full of hope. Yet we step into it with trepidation, don't we?

We make all kinds of promises to ourselves - we will remake ourselves, we will change habits, we will do things differently, we will lose weight, we will eat healthier...

Nah.

. I don't believe a vague resolution works. I think resolutions fall on the wayside as we trek along to some new, easier to follow interest.

So how do we make that change we so badly want?

Think of it this way.

We have a house to clean. It's a massive task. We tackle it one task at a time, one day at a time.

How will this way of thinking work?

I plan to set goals...realistic goals. And, one by one, I will list the tasks I need to do to achieve those goals. For example:

GOAL:

Publish book 2.

Tasks:

Finish book cover.

Format manuscript.

Double check for errors.

Upload manuscript.

GOAL:

Market manuscript.

Tasks:

Write letters to Mr. / Mrs. / Media

Read excerpts from book on x, y, z platforms

Etc.

I plan to rate myself, each week, 1 to 5, to assess how I've done with each task.

Doing this has worked for me, and it anchors me to the goal. It's fun to see how I've progressed.

(Apparently, career coaches earn enough teaching people these skills. Would you consider being a coach?)

Wishing you all the best for 2025!

A time for giving.

It’s that time of the year when millions of people around the world will be shopping, looking for gifts for bosses, coworkers, friends and family. (I pray no one goes into debt.)

Apart from Christmas and birthdays, what are the other times that are perfect for giving presents?

For the past few months, I’ve been the recipient of gifts…one big gift, a sewing machine, and many small gifts, including help from siblings.

You see, for the past year or so, I hit a bad spot and was feeling at a loss. Even my effervescent Pollyanna-self felt as if she needed a boost.

Suddenly, as though they had colluded to help lift my spirits, a friend, my family, began sending these gifts. My brothers helped in other ways.

This has made me think…if people in my life are saying to me, you deserve, you’re special, then it’s my turn to show them that I am going to do my best to succeed. I would be a gift to me, to them, making them, myself, worthy of all they’ve done for me.

Next week, I will share with you photos of some of the gifts I have received, and I will share ideas for gifts that cost practically only a few dollars (or whatever your currency is).

In the meantime, read more here: 

Nothing like love…

Also, check the Money Tab where I will share ideas you can use to start a gift-giving business.

Love letters etc.

Today, in between doing the laundry, I’ve been thinking about these charming stickers at lisi-tana.

They’re on my mind for a couple of reasons. First of all, they’re cute! Another reason? They’re plastic-free - they’re not coated with plastic. Oh, there’s a third reason…I’ve seen people online saying they have so many stickers and they don’t know what to do with them.

Man!! How can anyone not know what to do with stickers? There are so many ideas running around my head. Let me share a few with you.

You can make the coolest invitations with them. You can create the sweetest notes. Paste them on coloured cardboard, write your notes, recipes, letters, invitations, and decorate them with stickers!

Take cardboard boxes, cut them into small shapes, paste white paper on one side, write your thing. On the other side, decorate with sketches and stickers!

How about empty plastic bottles? Cover the labels with coloured paper or fabric, and on the rest of the bottle, paste your stickers. In the bottles, put your rolled up notes and send them off to friends and family, customers.

That’s right. Customers. If you run a small business, you can use stickers in so many ways. The possibilities are ENDLESS! 

Got to go, more laundry awaits. Before I go, let me share this charming tale about suitors and letters:

MATCHMAKING. (Don’t forget, matchmaking itself is a biiiiig business…you can use cards & stickers for this too, right?)

Hunting for treasures.

Recently, I’ve been writing about treasures all because of a book marker that I found. The book marker said: 

This led me to thinking about a list I’d written. It included: sunlight on the stream of water falling from the bathroom shower; ice tinkling in a glass of water; sea breeze. You can read it all here:

Treasure Hunting.

As usual, when I’m writing, my mind begins to link the topic with a book or a story, a song, a memory. So off I went, remembering books, and the time my mother dreamt she’d discovered a tin can of diamonds. Oh my goodness! When I think about all the things I could’ve done if I had found those diamonds!

For your reading pleasure, here it is, A tin can of diamonds.

Daydreaming about treasures led me back to asking - how could some enterprising person start a treasure hunting business? What should people hunt for? What are treasures? Could it be a hunt for honey or fruit in the wild? Could it be trips to unknown places? Or a hunt for unknown storytellers and musicians and artists? Could the treasure hunt be a game that you’ve made up?

Life is so full of possibilities!

Home. Again!

Can you guess I’m obsessed with HOME?

It’s the one place I do not take for granted. It keeps us warm (in the cold weather), shades us from the heat. It’s our shelter, our haven. When the sky opens up every barrel of water and dashes it on us, we can be cosy and dry at home, drinking soup, watching a film or reading a book, playing games.

A wonderful home can be our restaurant, our library; it’s the gathering place for friends. Home was exactly this for my siblings, cousins, friends and me. My mother baked bread every Saturday, and our family home was filled with laughter and chatter as we ate bread with butter, drank tea.

Is it any wonder than I would write books about home life? Or that I would write memories of home, again and again? It’s my dream to see every child around the world in a safe home filled with delights. Let’s celebrate those parents who have managed to give their children a loving home.

I invite you to read more here:

Home Soup.

Now, here’s a thought that I’ve shared before: what if you could run a business that has the feel of home? I can think of so many things that can be done with this space to make it cosy.

No power!!

These past few weeks, I’ve been worried about the damages the hurricane season would bring to my family in Florida! I can’t wait for this season to end without any mishaps. 

Often, the after effects of a hurricane can be horrendous - drinking water shortage in the midst of hot temperature. Electrical shocks are also a risk despite the unending power cuts. 

I’ve survived one hurricane, and that was enough! If I’ve ever taken the simple things for granted before, I knew how vital they were after that hurricane. 

Another lesson I remembered was the importance of play, of seeing the humourous side of things, so after Hurricane Milton rushed away, I wrote this:

A li’l bit o’ madniss.

Now, speaking of power cuts…not necessarily caused by storms and hurricanes…would you think of deliberately making a space without electricity? Do you see any business opportunities in that? 

The business of caring.

Whoa!! My mother is 88! I still can’t believe it. Once upon a time, when she was 69, I thought that was old. (Forgive me, all 69 years old people out there.) In my know-it-allness, I wrote:

For quite a while I been seeing li’l signs of age coming on in she. These signs does scratch like a long-claw creature at me window in the night, wanting to creep in. I does get impatient, and I does push she to be aware, be conscious, pay attention. But now and then I does wake and see that me impatience is wearing a mask, and behind the mask, it is really fear stalking me. I witnessing a strong woman becoming a li’l fragile with the years.

So we trundle along, she age-ing, me fear-ing. I want to grab the steering wheel from she so that I ain’t got to worry when she drive into town alone. But I know that taking away a person independence is the worst thing to do. Besides, she gon put up such a fight I gon be the one huffing and puffing on the floor.

I decide that, today, rather than quiver with fear, I gon rename she birthday Affirmation Day.

Maybe one day, I gon find in me some of she courage, I ain’t gon quiver like coward whenever life dash two hard blows ‘pon me. I gon stand firm like she.

That, my friend, is an excerpt from a book about life with mother. You can read the book here: Big Ole Home By De Sea.

Mum watering my sister’s plants.

Life with the elderly can suddenly shift from fun to difficult. Many caregiving-offsprings have to resign from work to care full time for their dear loved ones. Sometimes, they need assistance and this, dear Reader, is where you can come in. There are just sooo many jobs in the caregiving business. I’ve even heard of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses, hiring staff to go out and do the actual, physical care. 

I must warn you, looking after the elderly requires TONS of patience and empathy. You have to be willing to listen and to know how to respond. 

And that, dear Reader, is where the training business comes in…if you can teach others how to care for the elderly, that’s your business right there.

If you’re a daughter caring for your elderly loved one, here’s a site that might help you: https://daughterhood.org/newsletter-archive/

All the best in everything you do. Sending light and love.

P.S. (Remember to check the MONEY tab for ideas to start your very own business.)

Paper And Glue, Part Two

A few posts back, I asked this question: 

What if all I had was paper and glue to make a living?

Well, here we go, one delightful example! IF YOU LIKE TO COOK, HAVE A LOOK!!

Check them out at:

Lisa-Tana Kitchen Helpers Stickers Sheet.

Y’know what I’d do with these stickers? 

I’d write notes to invite friends over for coffee, pizza, daal and roti, cake.

I’d stick them on the back of envelopes as a seal.

If I had a cooking business, I’d use them in communication with customers.

Oh! I’ve found out they don’t have plastic on them…soooo environmentally cool!!

There you go…one way to use paper to create a small biz for yourself!

Get talking.

What if you could start something that makes conversation the reason we go? Fire up your imagination…what can it be?

The beauty of straw.

Have you ever thought of how something as simple as straw could be used in the most fantastic ways? With straw, you can make delicate things such as paper, or strong structures such as walls.

The Amerindians of Guyana, South America, make straw from a special palm tree. The straw is used to create the most exquisite handwoven items. Here’s one of their attractive placemats to be used on the dining table. To be honest, I’d display it on my wall!

This being Amerindian Heritage Month in Guyana, let’s celebrate the hand made straw of the Indigenous People.

Once, my mother made a delicate ladies’ straw bag…and guess who purloined it…walking proudly with it around town!

My father!!

I kid you not. 

It was pretty, embroidered and all. I imagine the flowers looked something like this:

According to my mother, she who can stretch a tale to fit the occasion, my father was proud of her bag, creating a stir on busy Water Street, and whilst she described the scene to me, I imagined pedestrians craning their necks and staring! 

It’s a long, amusing tale, if you want to read more, hop over here:

My father’s straw-bag for ladies.

I will soon be looking at some of the ways we can use straw to earn a living.

Paper and glue can help you.

Hello! September is Amerindian Heritage Month in Guyana, South America. The Amerindians are the Indigenous People of the country, the first people who were there before everyone else!

They live in the interior of the country, but they are not cut off from the rest of the population. This means that we, the coastland citizens, have been privileged to see their wonderful craft. They make some of most exotic beaded items, handwoven baskets, and so much more. 

They also make small figurines of the wild animals found in the Guyana jungle. Here’s an example…this is made with the sap of the balata tree. This is Kaieteur Falls (the largest single-drop waterfall in the world). The golden frog lives near the waterfall.

You can read more here:

September is Celebration Month.

The balata figurines got my imagination revved up. What if all I had was paper and glue to make a living? It’s actually not that crazy an idea! You’d be surprised to see what creative people do with only that, and yes, you can too. I will add the list of things you can make in to the Money List. Watch that space, my friend.

A spare piece of land.

A few months ago, my brother took us to visit his friend who had some spare land at the back of his home. When I say “spare”, I mean massive spare. Acres of green until the horizon.

The home was a few miles out of town, far from the city crowd. That day, the sky was a piercing blue, the weather was extremely warm. There weren’t many trees to cast shade across the land which, by the way, was lying fallow. 

Oh my goodness!

My mind raced with all the marvelous activities my brother’s friend could host on that fabulous spread of green. Many of the activities wouldn’t cost me much. I day-dreamt about using the earnings to host more fantastic activities that would increase my earnings.

Seriously, what would you do if you had a spare piece of land around your home, out of town?

Writing this reminds me of the list I’ve recently sent to the owners of an orchard. The list contains a set of ideas that could be used to make the orchard a vibrant place for visitors. I will upload the list in the money section…look for LAND.

In the meantime, here’s a fun piece that will take you faraway, into the rainforest of South America: 

Fasten your seatbelts for this!

Happy travels, me hearties.

Imagine this!

Imagine this…

…a world without imagination.

What would we have?

Nothing.

No songs, films, clothes, jewellery; no art, bridges, towers, patios, benches in the parks, no bicycles or scooters, roller skates, skateboards…get my drift?

Look around you if you’re in a restaurant or a café, a home, bus, the subway. Anywhere indoors. Look at the roof, the windows, the floor. Every single human-made thing has come from someone’s mind, from someone’s imagination. And it’s highly likely that that mind has been fed with books.

Why then would you want to shy away from books? Books teach you about people, they show you how to observe life, how to engage your senses, thus helping your imagination to grow even livelier.

Want to give your imagination a good nudge in the right direction? Have some fun! Imagine if books could make sounds, imagine what sounds we would hear as they march into homes and schools and community centres what a tamasha, what a drama…what sounds would they make, those books?

Want to know more? Read here:

Commotion in de home.

Don’t forget to check out the Money tab to help you find ways to earn!

This walking business.

I love to walk…to stray. To explore. I have gawked at two men battling for a woman-vendor in the market; once, I wanted to take front view of two women fighting for a man but my mother kept me back, I was a mere child then. I must admit though, despite my  fassness…my curiosity, I have turned my gaze away from the homeless man in town flaunting he nekkid glory for the world to see. All these I will share with you another time, in books or elsewhere. Just know that, whilst moving around my city, you are given no trigger warning the way they do for films and books these days. It is life. Cry. Or laugh. 

Read some walking stories here: Come walk with me.

Do you like to walk, to explore? What if you could earn from taking people off the beaten track, being a tour guide, telling stories, describing history? My second brother would excel at this. He knows where all the wild fruit grow in Florida, and he knows tons of history about buildings, politics, sites. He knows where the cool nature places are too. (However, he already runs a UPS business so he would have no time for doing a tour business.)

If the idea of taking people on walking trips intrigues you, have a look at my Money section. Scroll down to WALK for a few ideas. Have fun!!

Home away from home.

If you could make your business place look and feel like home, what would your business be?

I would sell art, music, food. And books!! 

Because…

“ Every home should have books, my friend. Every home. That is my dream. I want to see books marching, huff-puff, hurray-hurrah, into homes and community centres throughout my lovely native land…all kinds of books, story books, poetry, biographies, philosophy, history, theology, travel and thoughts. I want to see the people reading sideways, upside down, on stairways, top of arch ways, in queues, out of cue, sitting, standing, anywhere, or waiting for the bus.”

That’s right. If I wanted to create a space that felt like home, there absolutely must be books! 

Read more here: Home-Soup.

I know so many people who don’t see books as adding value to their life…or even business place. They couldn’t be more wrong. If I had a café, I’d definitely make space for books. 

Truth is, there are so many ways to make money from books…with a little bit of creativity and imagination, it can be quite successful. Check the Money section for a few ideas.

We need more Mansa Musas today!!

 Today, being Monday, MoneyDay, I'm thinking of, working on, ways that I can earn as a writer.

By sheer coincidence, l've come across an article on Substack about one of the wealthiest men ever:

"Back in the 1300s, Europeans were stuck in the Dark Ages of feudalism, illiteracy, and pestilence. Muslim Civilization was thriving, but no one was thriving as much as Mansa Musa. From his ever-expanding Mali Empire in West Africa, Mansa Musa was raking in the big bucks due to the thriving gold and salt trade that flourished in and around the Sahara."

On his way to hajj, he used his wealth to help others. 

Can you imagine what this world would be like if all the wealthy people decided to be like Mansa Musa?

Read or listen to the rest here: 

https://jennavandenberg.substack.com/p/mansa-musa-the-worlds-richest-man

Pepper!!!

I swear, if I had a big plot of land, I’d grow wealth with a pepper business.

Think of the possibilities, my friend. There are hundreds of varieties of peppers. I can concoct all kinds of unusual food combinations with different peppers.

The most popular in my lovely native land are the wiri-wiri, scotch bonnet, mari-wiri, bird peppa, to name a few. Blended with garlic and other ingredients, it has helped the humblest of women in Guyana to make a living. In every single open-air market, without fail, you will see at least one vendor with a stand selling bottles of fiery sauce.

Want to read more? Have a look here: BALL O’ FIRE.

The shame, the joy, the freedom of words.

Apart from cuss words, did you know that there are words that can make people cringe in shame? 

I kid you not. In some cultures, certain words can make certain types of people feel embarrassed!

Some folk in my lovely native land, upon hearing the musical-sounding word aloo, cringe with more shame than if they’d been caught stealing neighbour’s laundry on the line. It’s unfortunate that, as educated (I use this word loosely) and as civilised (I use this word loosely too) as we’ve become, some of us are not aware that aloo is Hindi for potato, that our ancestors had lugged this bit of language all the way from India. Seems like we’ve put away pride in history and endless books about hardy folk crossing the kala pani…the black water…from India to Guyana. We have evolved. Aloo is now poked under a shelf lower than the lowest level of Creolese, hidden like the old-fashioned clothes you forgot to throw away, and don’t want your trendy friends to see.

Read more here: FUNDAY. And when you’re done, you can play the word game with the emojis.

Now, imagine this…that the only skill you have is with words. What would you do? Develop a word game? What’s your favourite word game? Mine is Pictionary! Another day, I will share with you how I discovered this game, and the outrageous nights, hours of fun.

Voice.

Greetings!

What a gwaan…wha’ a gwaan? What’s going on?

How y’do nah?

How nah?

Wha’ ‘appening?

Marnin’.

Good morning.

G’d’afternoon.

Respect!

I love the different ways we greet each other in the Caribbean. 

The school children, pouring out on to the streets after school in their uniform, are usually quite polite, greeting you, good afternoon. 

Maaan, It’s such a cool feeling, strolling in the hot sun, saying hello to complete strangers.

So many characters on the streets of my old home-town.

Some of them can make a gal nervous, especially if she’s not accustomed to chatting with strangers l Want to read more about these characters? Have a look here: Characters.

And speaking of greeting strangers, your tone of voice says a lot, doesn’t it? Even if you smile, your voice can give away if you’re not in a good mood, don’t want to be addressed.

Now, what if you could use that same voice to portray different characters, different moods, to earn a living right from your living room. Voicing ads, reading books for writers, being a voice actor. Of course, you’d need a really good microphone…hmmm…I’ve been searching for a good one, to be honest…

Dresses by Jackie.

I love the way we can take one skill, a few pieces of material, and turn it into $$$!

In a quiet place, across the Demerara River, Jackie sews the prettiest dresses.

She also sews school uniforms on contract. 

Jackie started with a basic skill which she learnt in school, then took a finishing course after sewing for a few years.

She works from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m., even on Sundays.

“I’ve always loved sewing,” she says. “I feel it’s a gift.”

Have a look ate her lovely dresses here: 

Dresses by Jackie.

(I forgot to ask her what sewing machine she uses!)