Howdy Dabblers!

I hope you chose to enjoy your week/end regardless of the weather (or because of it)!
Unusually, I spent more time out than at home, with Buskers Festival's Cirque BonBon on Thu (excellent!), shopping for a new bed on Sat (new bed + fresh sheets = one of life's greatest joys, no?), a last minute booking for Re-Loved clothing market at The Bridge on Sun, and there meeting two lovely new people (both stallholders (who I'll hopefully introduce you to soon)) and being invited by one of them to Mantra Band's Kirtan Experience at The Loons on Sun eve - which I will say is not something I would usually pick for myself and knew nothing about, but having just chatted to them about the point of the newsletter/practicing "being a terrible beginner", I figured it was the opportune moment to walk the dang talk.
​(cont. in Beginner's Luck)​
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NB: The only two photos I took all weekend were of food, soz 😆

Tell me what you got up to (or if you hibernated)?!

C.x ✨

(I love ya! And the berry crumble slice from Dune cafe in NB was soooo goooood)

Wednesday 28th January

🏋️‍♂️ Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Basics (4 sessions)​
​https://www.facebook.com/events/1237984691573870​
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Thursday 29th January

💐 All About Flowers (learn about growing, picking, styling and arranging - last Thu of each month)
​https://events.humanitix.com/all-about-flowers​

Saturday 31st January

🏄 Learn to Surf (2 morning session times available)
​https://www.facebook.com/events/1194281532820963​

🎨 Drop-in sesh for Stanmore Rd mural (have your say on what Kophie could paint!)
​https://www.facebook.com/events/2321177625050383​

🦦 Riverbugging - Hurunui River Trip (beginner/intermediate)
​https://www.facebook.com/events/1186433313636085​

Sunday 1st February (yep, already)

🎩 Buskers Festival Gala (the last hoorah - only a couple of tickets left!)
​https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=BUSKGALA26&v=CTR&p=ECTR2026633XY​

Tuesday 3rd February

👯 Burlesquercise Dance Fitness Classes (every Tue and Thu now!)​
​https://dangerdoll.co.nz/pages/burlesquercise​

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​Fire through your upcoming events here!

Overall, I enjoyed the Kirtan Experience. Unsure if I'll go to a regular Friday eve session (my brain is telling me that because the chanting is repetitive, I'll get bored, which, similar to a certain set of 26 hot-yoga poses, is part of the point to embrace that), but maybe once in a while!

I challenged myself to "play full out" and sat near the front. It wasn't until around halfway through when they asked us to shuffle forward, that I realised how many more people had come in - I think there would have been around 200 in the end?! (although I'm not great with estimating peoples' ages or appropriate cereal bowl sizes, so maybe there wasn't that many...?)

They also really made a point of encouraging you to move/sing/show up however you are and not to worry about how you think you sound/look, and I did find myself singing louder because a couple of people around me were too, so that was a nice little vote of confidence.

Dabble-O-Meter: 5.5/7 - for someone who, up until now, would describe themselves as "not a dancer", I'm pleased with myself for doing it anyway.
Would like a little more practice getting out of my head and being present - maybe I will go again...

Word Jumble: (hint: related to the events above, answers at the bottom of the newsletter)

EQBEICRUUSLSRE

ONTARSME

UIREGVRB​
​

Sometimes we need a reminder to show up as the creative, dynamic, awkward beings that we are, or however we are in that moment.
More than once, we bought the lie that other peoples' opinions are more important than our own desires (oh, we could talk about this all day), right?
I'm grateful the Kirtan facilitators reminded me of this in their own way, and it's something that's been on my mind recently (see, evidence...)

Open invitation to reply to me and talk about this all day, but to save your eyeballs right now, if you feel like playing a silly little game with me...?
​For the next 24 hours, choose you. Choose one;

• If someone asks something of you, hold your tong ue- pause before answering ANYTHING and check in with yourself to see if it's something you actually want to do. And if not, say "no thank you, I'm driving" (or some other version that adds juuust enough confusion/levity/assertiveness)
• notepad doodle every time you feel the draw to doom-scroll (pun somewhat intended)
• If someone grumbles about you doing something you do want to do/are doing- say nothing but grin with intense eye contact and continue (your call on level of guttural laughter and eyebrow wiggling)
• If someone invites you to something you wouldn't usually do, say yes- see what happens (you never have to do it again if you don't like it)

Time to enter the "finding out" phase.
(and tell me about it 😘)

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​Here are your quick links:​
🤘 Share your current hobby-obsession​
👋 Share your community event, business or opportunity
​🫶 If someone rad sent this to you and you wanna sign up for yourself​

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Now go be a loveable menace.

Cassie.x ✨​
​Publisher, The Dabbling​
​Your Unofficial Fave Hobby-Hypegirl

Fun answers:

BURLESQUERCISE

STANMORE

RIVERBUG