Middle Age Ramblings

Two Different Worlds

2012-01-23T23:11:00.000+11:00

Isn't it an amazing world we live in, being able to connect and share our lives via blogging and Flickr etc with people we have never met in real life.

What is perplexing though is none of my real life or offline friends engage with me on my blog, although they all know I blog regularly. Perhaps it's because they knew me before I blogged, I don't know.

They haven't a clue as to what goes on in the blogosphere or the sort of conversations/thoughts that take place here. I am sure some of them think of blogging as being some sort of narcissistic exercise that has little value.

It's almost like they don't know me as well as my online friends. Such a strange thing to say, isn't it.

Our blogs, photos say much about where we are at the moment, where we are going and who we are becoming. Both posts and comments provide a wealth of information.

I feel I live in two different worlds or living a double life. My online and offline lives are, while fundamentally the same, incredibly different.

I think both worlds serve a unique purpose. I don't think they need to necessarily converge, but it does become frustrating to have that sort of gap when you're speaking to somebody (real life). Then again, I suppose it's entirely different type of growth and experience.

I was "talking" to my lovely, talented online friend Maureen the other day and here is part of what she wrote.

"I can honestly say that I get more support and encouragement from my online friends than I ever have from my other friends.
Not that my friends aren't supportive, but they have lives that go in different directions. Here, online, I have friends that have common interests and goals and dreams. Hey. None of my real friends talk about their dreams, or their One Little Word (OLW). And that's a bit sad, but it's the truth."

I am so grateful to have found so many likeminded people in cyberspace who realise the power of sharing and giving of themselves and I have been so fortunate to have met many bloggers in real life and look forward to meeting more in the future.

So keep shining my wonderful online friends and I hope you realise how loved you all are.

Namaste.

"In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him."
~~ Anonymous

I discovered I could still make cards on Scrapblog (they were bought out by Mixbook) so I made another card to place in the books I leave in the park opposite my house.

Enter The Dragon

2012-01-19T09:14:00.000+11:00

Chinese New Year 2012 begins on 23rd January and ends on 9th February 2013.

This year is the Water Dragon. I was born a Water Dragon!

"Water Dragons are able to see things from other points of view. They don’t have the need to always be right. Their decisions, if well-researched, are usually better since they allow other’s to become involved."

Here are a few things I discovered about the Dragon in Chinese astrology:

"The dragon is the only animal of the Chinese zodiac year that is not real. It is quite special and very much revered and was seen as a powerful almighty king because it was made up of different parts of animals such as a tiger, fish, snake and an eagle."

"They certainly are not shy – they demand attention and respect."

"They are free spirited creatures who believe that rules and regulations are for other people. Naturally confident and very fearless, they are usually very successful."

So what does 2012 hold for a person born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon?

"Such people will double their efforts in whatever they do - work, education and other projects. Their natural talent and abilities should stand out with great results."

Let's welcome the Year of the Dragon with open hearts, open minds and open arms.

I know I will!!

Namaste

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?"
~~ John Lennon

On my daily walk I spotted this dragon or wyvern on a roof.....cool eh!! - August 2011.

A Change of Mindset and Perseverance

2012-01-05T00:12:00.003+11:00

The world most of us live in is hectic, fast-paced, fractured, hurried.
What’s more, most of us are conditioned to think this is the way life should be.

Life should be lived at break-neck speed, we believe. We risk our lives in cars and we break the speed limit, rushing from one place to another. We do one thing after another, multi-tasking and switching between tasks as fast as we can blink.

All in the name of productivity, of having more, of appearing busy, to ourselves and to others.

But life doesn't have to be this way. In fact, I’d argue that it’s counterproductive.

If our goal is to create, to produce amazing things, to go for quality over quantity, then rushing is not the most effective way to work. Slowing down and focusing is always more effective.

Rushing produces errors. It’s distracting to flit from one thing to the next, with our attention never on one thing long enough to give it any thought or create anything of worth.

Hurrying produces too much noise to be able to find the quiet the mind needs for true creativity and profound thinking.

So yes, moving quickly will get more done. But it won’t get the right things done.

The most important step is a realization that life is better when you move at a slower, more relaxed pace, instead of hurrying and rushing and trying to cram too much into every day. Instead, get the most out of every moment.

Is a book better if you speed read it, or if you take your time and get lost in it?

Is a song better if you skim through it, or if you take the time to really listen?

Is food better if you cram it down your throat, or if you savour every bite and really appreciate the flavour?

Life is better when unrushed. And given the fleeting nature of this life, why waste even a moment by rushing through it?

As this is my first post for 2012, it brings to mind my Word of the Year.

This year I have chosen Perseverence. I am hoping that when life's obstacles cross my path I will be able to focus on the positive and keep on keeping on.

"When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~ Author Unknown

My inspiring friend Dianne, who spent Christmas and New Year in hospital does not know the meaning of "give up", she lives in hope for her cancer ridden body to be healed so she can enjoy her grandchildren Joseph and Charlie for many years to come. - Photo taken Manly Hospital 24 December 2011

Good Company

2011-12-30T19:50:00.002+11:00

The evening closes in on a warm summer's day and also another year.

The wine is coursing through me and through my friends but not down into the tributary of political discourse that can end up in an almighty row, but down the waterfalls of laughing memory.

Long forgotten stories and cackles emerge of times past while grand plans are made for the future still to be lived.

Sharing bread, barbeques, wine and those generous anecdotes - the simple gentleness of caring for the people we love.

Here's hoping 2012 is an awesome year for all of us. May everyone experience calm, peace, excellent health and success.

And may it be filled with good food, good friends and good memories......oh yes and good wine!

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
~~ Oprah Winfrey

When barging in Eastern France in July 2008 my friends and I experienced good food, good company, good memories and good wine!

I have put my favourite photo taken in Norway as my header photo and imagine floating away into the mist on a wonderful adventure.

"Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy."
~~ Lao Tzu

Reading Poetry

2011-12-22T19:02:00.000+11:00

It's a forgotten pleasure in our rushed days, to leaf through a slim volume of verse, perhaps while sitting in a train or when resting by a tree in the city park.

Everyone should keep a book of poetry about their person.

Even to read four lines of Keats while waiting for a friend will enrich your day.

Here is Keats, for example, on the pleasures of red wine:

O for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long ago in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country-green,
Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!

What a phrasemaker he was!

Words well chosen can fill your heart with joy.

So reject the empty clatter of the penny dreadfuls and keep a book of poetry on your person at all times.

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words."
~~ Robert Frost

I was out bushwalking in Cromer, Sydney in April 2010 and came across this heart carved out in a stone.....it made me smile.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my very special blogging buddies a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy Hanukkah! May all of your aspirations be realized. And please take care and stay safe.

Warmest heart hugs
Peggy xxx

Choices Not Goals

2011-12-19T20:20:00.000+11:00

It is amazing by changing the use of a word, we can change our thought patterns.

When I thought of the word "goal" I thought of the word "should" and that lead me to rebelling against achieving my project/task.

By changing the word to "choice", I felt freer and less stressed. I found it to be a much more powerful motivator and the pressure subsided.

Consequently there is no timeframe when I "choose" to do the project, resulting in a pleasurable experience as opposed to the pressure of achieving a "goal".

Once again it comes back to enjoying the journey rather than focusing on a specific destination.

So I choose to be open minded and curious and accept my shortcomings, just as I welcome the rainbow.

I also choose to accept and love myself unconditionally and to love, nourish and take care of my body.

Today I choose to embrace the silver lining of my imperfections and as always am thankful for the abundant blessings I have in my life.

"Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit."
~~ William James

I want to be like this tree on Sydney Harbour, I want to grow and succeed even when the odds are stacked against me. Photo taken October 2011.

Walking with Toddlers

2011-12-14T17:05:00.001+11:00

Toddlers don't understand the concept of walking as a function. For them it is a chance just to amble about while staring at bricks and clumps of earth and marvelling at how they came to be on the pavement.

They double back, walk sideways and often simply stop walking altogether before staring attentively up into the sky.

Instead of getting cross and trying to hurry them on, embrace the way they follow one impulse of curiosity after another.

Toddlers are the masters of instinct. Once you have rejected your agitated impulses that seem intent on driving you on and on you will discover what it truly means to be relaxed.

At first this process may be frustrating for a hassled adult, but once you have abandoned the hope of being somewhere at a specific time you will find yourself revelling in a state of childlike torpor.

While following this nobler means of perambulation the world around you will begin to morph into a more magical place.

Sticks you would have otherwise trodden over turn into the staffs and swords that swoosh through the air to the echo of brave, long-forgotten heroes.

"The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe".
~~ Lawrence Kutner

These are photos of my beloved Joseph when he was a toddler. He is now 5 years old and will be starting school in 2012. I feel so blessed to have shared one day a week for 5 years looking at the world with this beautiful soul.

Philosophising and Art from the Streets

2011-12-11T22:14:00.000+11:00

Sometimes you have to talk to find out what you think!

"The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it."
~~ Bertrand Russell

My friend Rosemary invited me to an exhibition on Cockatoo Island in Sydney on 7th December called "Outpost Project" - "Art from the Streets".
Below are some photos I took at this vibrant event. It was such an enjoyable day and we also treated outselves to a delicious lunch with a glass of wine and listened to some fabulous reggae music.

Shadow Watching

2011-11-26T15:59:00.002+11:00

We're told we're hiding in the shadow of others if we don't "achieve" as much as we could.

Also shadows are said to be where bad people lurk!

But shadows are the essence of something far more meaningful than a reflection of physical form. Shadows are the corners of our mind the light of reason rarely touches.

They offer a window into another world. The world of eternal darkness that all too many of us love to fear.

It was the Chinese Han dynasty that gave us shadow puppets. One of Emperor Wu of Han's concubines died and he was so stricken with grief that he ordered his servants to raise her from the dead, and so, with a lamp and a figure made of donkey leather, they brought her shadow back to life.

Things turn even more eerie when it comes to shadow people. These are dark figures that are said to inhabit our peripheral vision (accompanied by a feeling of terrible dread) only to vanish if you try to look at them directly.

But these metaphors of fear hide a much more relaxing and wonderful truth.

Those dark corners of the mind are not full of fear and woe, but are the first steps on the path of truth if we allow ourselves to find out more about them.

"Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides".
~~ Junichiro Tanizaki

"Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler".
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Holidaying in Broome, Western Australia in May 2007 we went on a camel ride along Cable Beach. The sun was setting and I took this photo while up on the camel.

Want-Self verses Should-Self

2011-11-15T15:47:00.001+11:00

Who/What is the stronger our Want-Self or our Should-Self?

How often do you find when decisions are being made, our want-selves take over and we do things that ignore the ethical implications of our actions.

Psychologists say we have different systems for wanting things and liking things. So some of the stuff we really want, and spend a lot of time pursuing, doesn't give us as much satisfaction as we thought it would once we've got it.

This explains why children will spend weeks nagging parents to buy them a guitar or a pet but quickly lose interest once they have it.

One of the most ubiquitous problems in daily life is achieving self-control.

We need to control our natural urges to eat too much, to smoke, to drink too much, to gamble too much, spend too much, watch too much television, get too little exercise and even to work too much.

Here, again, we seem to have two selves at work: an unconscious self that's emotional and shortsighted and a conscious self that's reasoning and farsighted.

We have trouble controlling ourselves in circumstances where the benefits are immediate and certain, whereas the costs are longer-term and uncertain.

When we come home tired from work, for instance, the benefits of slumping in front of the telly are immediate, whereas the costs - feeling tired the next day; looking back on our life and realising we could have done a lot better if we had got off our backside and played a bit of sport, sought a further qualification at tech, spent more time talking to our partner/children/friends etc - are not so clear-cut.

Similarly, the reward from eating food is instant whereas the costs of overeating are uncertain and far off: being regarded as physically unattractive, becoming obese, becoming a diabetic, dying younger, etc.

As everyone who has tried to diet, give up smoking, control their drinking, save or get on top of their credit card debt knows, it's hard to achieve the self-control our conscious, future-selves want us to achieve.

"The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn."
~~ David Russell

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, Nov 2011. The artist Peter Tilley called this "Domestic Bliss" and his statement said:
"Contemplating the next move in an ordinary domestic situation".

The 11:11 Phenomenon

2011-11-10T23:11:00.002+11:00

The 11/11/11 is a very special day, a date that occurs only once in a century.

Please join me and 3 of my close friends in sending light and love into the Universe....especially at 11:11am. By opening our energy centres to earth and sky we can become light conductors.

I believe the use of Light was once (or many times in our history) a very important component of everyday life, and that with time its knowledge has been lost and found time and time again.

Being a Lightworker is not a special dispensation reserved for just a few....we are ALL potentially Lightworkers.

So Lightworkers Unite. Our world could certainly use an abundance of light, love and peace.

Above photo taken at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi on 8th November 2011. The artist, Alison Lee Cousland called it 11:11! Her statement about the sculpture said:
"All places on our planet are unique and special. As 'inner sacredness' is activated, we come to recognise a sacred place as if for the first time. 11:11, a universal gateway, dedicated to world peace. Releasing the past. Being grounded in the present. Welcoming the future"

My friend Stoneweaver, who is visiting from New Zealand, and I spent a wonderful day admiring the beautiful sculptures as we meandered from Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach and back again.

"In every phenomenon the beginning remains always the most notable moment."
~~ Thomas Carlyle

Dreamland

2011-10-31T21:39:00.001+11:00

Dreamland is the original cyberspace, our own built-in spiritual virtual reality.

Our dreams take us into other worlds, alternative realities that help us make sense of day-to-day life.

Dreaming is a connection to our unconscious, to our selves.

It is to be treasured.

Isn't it extraordinary that an activity which takes up so much of our lives is so often relegated into the realms of unimportance.

We are based on dreams, they are our centre.

Listen to them.

"Dreams are like stars....you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny."
~~ Anonymous

Top photo taken in Wisconsin, USA in August 2010. It was early in the morning and we had gone to the pier to watch the Tall ships arrive. As you could imagine we saw very little.

A pottery sculpture by my multitalented friend Dianne - December 2007

Déjà Vu Sensations

2011-10-27T09:55:00.000+11:00

There are many theories as to what causes déjà vu.

One hold that our "spirit" can actually travel faster in time than our earthbound bodies so it charges off into the future from time to time for reasons we can't explain.

Another claims that it's because we are reincarnated and old memories from past lives are seeping through into our current consciousness.

And then there's the parallel Universe theory that suggests our lives are always splitting off into different directions whenever we make big decisions and that at the point of experiencing déjà vu we are connecting with these parallel worlds.

All of which rather ignores the actual sensation of déjà vu that is simply joyous and mesmerising regardless of what it actually is.

Déjà vu experiences stay with us too, logging themselves into our memory banks where they can be withdrawn whenever those "déjà vu" conversations occur, usually over a few glasses of wine late at night!

"There's an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It's when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar."
~~ Chuck Palahniuk

Top photo is a sketch penned by my friend Dianne in 2004 after she has suffered a stroke in 1999. She said it described how she felt when everything was muddled in her brain.

When Annemarie and I were in Norway in July 2010 and we stopped at this place for a short while, an eeriness came over me as I photographed this scene. I wanted to hop in that boat and paddle into the mist.

Yin and Yang Worlds

2011-10-23T23:11:00.000+11:00

In the yin and yang worlds of work and life you'll often find opposite methods of doing a similar thing.

Usually one is quicker and more efficient.

For instance, take the speedy commuter train verses the dawdling bus.

If the commuter train is spawned from the world of "work" then the bus is surely from the world of "life" and the top deck of a bus, therefore, is a slice of heaven.

The mental map you draw of the landmarks on your journey will soon join up with mental maps of previous journeys - then the once dark and daunting city will become familiar and bright.

From the top deck you can gawk at people milling in the streets below, hide behind shades in the summer sun or doze freely, knowing that a little bell will precede every stop and wake you if your slumber threatens to sink too deep.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge; knowledge is limited, while imagination encircles the universe."
~~ Einstein

My friend Dianne loves her garden and made this "tree face" person to welcome visitors to her house. - October 2011

Make a Pot of Tea

2011-10-18T16:00:00.000+11:00

When life gets too much don't fall for the doctor's potions and pills that conspire with your body to get you straight back to work.

Have the confidence to listen to yourself when you can feel that something is wrong.

It's not you that's wrong!!

You're having an entirely reasonable reaction to the chaos of the modern world.

There's nothing wrong with having enough of chaos every now and then.

Put a "Do Not Disturb" sign up outside your front door.

Ignore the phone when it rings.

Turn your mobile to silent and fling it into the bottom of an old drawer.

Forget about the newspaper.

Unplug the TV.

Unplug the computer.

Leave all the chores for tomorrow.

AND MAKE A POT OF TEA!

"Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos"
~~ Will Durant

Back in April 2008 when I was addicted to Scrapblog several friends and myself formed a Tea Pot Club and we each made a scrapblog of our teapot. This is my grandmothers teapot.

Patience - It Ain't Easy!

2011-10-11T20:08:00.000+11:00

There are moments when other people just set you off, and you lose your patience.

It is the downfall of many of us — co-workers, children, spouses, other drivers, irritating people on the train — they can grate, they can anger.

And it can ruin your day. You clench your jaw, you replay imaginary arguments in your head, or worse, you snap. And then you feel like crap.

How can we find the patience?

I will admit that I’m no saint. Just like everyone else, I get annoyed, and I will say things in a less-than-kind tone........I’m learning!

Here’s what helps me:

First, I learn to be aware of the emotions that rush up from nowhere.

I learn to accept those emotions as perfectly fine.
And I watch them, but don’t act.

I will talk to those emotions, like they’re a little child:
it’s OK to be mad, but breathe.

I remind my childlike emotions:
other people are different, and that’s good.

When people live and work together, there will be friction, and that is a part of the mix of humanity.

I remind myself:
life is too short to waste my days in irritation and anger. Don’t let other people’s problems become my own.

I then give thanks.

Gratitude solves all problems.

I am grateful for having this friend, or stranger, in my life, and I’m grateful for the chance to even be here, and for the incredible life I have.

Patience isn’t an easy thing, but the alternative is much worse.

Love will triumph if we let it.

"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears."
~~ Barbara Johnson

Ellie, one of my cats, is teaching me patience and I love her dearly for it. Photo taken March 2008.

The Greatest Speech Ever Made

2011-10-05T15:23:00.005+11:00

Charlie Chaplin's final speech in "The Great Dictator".

What makes this even more amazing is the fact that this is Charlie Chaplin, a comedian. He wrote this movie. And within the comedy there is this message, a man's powerful message. He drops the comedy for a few minutes to spill this.

The passion he has is just amazing.

2:05 "Machine men, with machine minds, and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are MEN." I love how he says that.

"Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness"......

"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening."
~~ Dorothy Sarnoff

Creator or Consumer

2011-09-25T20:00:00.001+10:00

We live in interesting times.....we’re blessed that way.

The world is changing rapidly.

The way we work is changing, the way we live has already changed.

Entire industries are crumbling, and more are growing on their ruins.

People are empowered to express themselves, to create, to become a part of a global conversation and transformation, in a way that has never existed before.

What will we do with that?

What will our place be in this new, interesting world?

Will we have a voice? Will we be a creator, or just a consumer?

I suggest we do something.

DO SOMETHING INTERESTING!

Here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling.

• Help others achieve their dreams.
• Read and read and then write.
• Love and love and then help others to love.
• Start a new company doing only one thing, but doing it very well.
• Inspire others by being inspiring.
• Be the voice of those without one.
• Be profound.
• Say something that no one else dares to say.
• Put your heart into something.
• Explore the world and blog about it.
• Write poetry and put it on the web.
• Teach young children to do amazing things.
• Take old stuff and make new stuff from it.
• Be open-minded.
• Be brave.
• Be honest.
• Be hilarious.
• Put a smile on someone’s face......every day!
• Dare to be wrong.
• Start NOW
• TRY!

"The beauty of empowering others is that your own power is not diminished in the process."
~~ Barbara Colorose

I took this photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the Pylon Lookout looking north. Amazing 360 degree view of Sydney from the Lookout - May 2011

Ask a Child

2011-09-17T22:42:00.000+10:00

The older we become the more we tend to be influenced by our experience and set in our ways.

Children on the other hand have a much less tainted view of things. They tend to see things from a totally different perspective than adults.

Because children have fewer assumptions (if any) and are less inhibited they tend to give a more honest and black and white view of the world.

Often they'll give us a totally left of field response without any concern for convention.

SO ASK A KID!

Mind you you'll need to phrase things in a simplier way - which in it's own right is a good thing!

"Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas"
~~ Paula Poundstone

This young boy is my teacher! (Three photos of Joseph in 2010)

Choosing Happiness

2011-09-11T19:49:00.000+10:00

I can honestly say right now I am the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. And what I know for sure, is that happiness is a choice.

I did a lot of work to get where I am. But before the reading and research, before packing a camera in my purse every day in the hope of capturing interesting images, came making up my mind to be happy.

The first step, in everything in life, is making a choice. We make choices in every moment. Right now, you are choosing to read this article rather than fold laundry, watch TV, or give the dog a bath.

Right now, because I want to spread joy, optimism and inspiration, I am choosing to write this article rather than wander into the kitchen and fill a bowl with chocolates for a late night snack, which would really only bring joy to me (at least until regret sets in and I begin calorie counting).

The point is, we choose every second. Even when we lay about doing nothing, we are making a choice every moment to continue to lay about, rather than getting up and doing anything else.

We seem to equate choosing with changing. Often when we stay the course we feel as though we’re not making any choices at all, yet we are making choices - we’re just not making different ones.

It has been said that we think 60,000 thoughts every day. And ninety percent of them are the same thoughts we had the day before. With that kind of habitual thinking it’s no wonder choosing different thoughts can be challenging.

What you have to ask yourself is, are you happy now? And if not, what are you willing to do to be happy?

For me it was a matter of becoming so uncomfortable where I was that more than wanting change, I felt it was necessary. I got to the miserable, prickly place where staying the course I was on was no longer an option. I didn’t like myself depressed and feeling worthless. At the moment that realisation overtook me, I made a different choice. I chose to be happy instead - to enjoy my life and be a joyful person.

It is through choice that we begin to create our lives. Through choice we grow and feed and prune our days into the life we want.

"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
~~ Anon

I came upon this ancient Moreton Bay Fig tree while walking in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney on 28th August 2011. I stood and admired its beauty for some time.

Quality of Listening

2011-09-03T20:43:00.000+10:00

I came across this beautiful story narrated by the prominent Buddhist teacher and Psychologist Jack Kornfield. It touched my soul and I felt I needed to share it with my blogging friends.

"In Africa. There is a story that illustrates the quality of listening that can come through meditation.

In a particular East African tribe or village when a child is born they don't count the birthday of that child from the day the child comes from its mother’s body or even the day it is conceived as in certain other cultures, but rather from when that child was first a thought in its mothers mind, that is the real birthday.

And as soon as the mother realizes that she would like to have a child with this particular partner, she will go off and sit out in a field under a tree, and listen, and wait until she can hear the song of the child that wants to be born in her heart that will come from the wedding or the coming together with this particular man.

And when she hears this song, she sings it to herself, and then returns back to the village and teaches it to her partner so that when they make love together, joined together in love, they sing this song and invite this child to be born.

And later as she is pregnant. She sings the song to the child in the womb and teachers it to midwives so that when the child is born the first song or sound that it hears is those gathered around singing its own unique song.

And as the child grows the people of the village learn the song of this person so that when he falls or she falls and hurts herself someone picks her up and sings her song to her, or in the rites of passage or rituals of the village the song is sung, the wedding ceremony where both songs are sung until finally even at the end of life, the song of this child now as an old man or women is sung for the last time, and say their last words...

When I first heard the story in it touched in me a longing to live in a place where we heard one anothers songs, where we were so in tune with ourselves and with one another that we could greet each other in that way, to meditate allows us to hear the song within ourselves and to be respectful and hear the song of those around us."
~~ Jack Kornfield

Do you know your song? Can you hear the song of others?

Take the time to listen.

"Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we really listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other. We are constantly being re-created."
~~ Brenda Ueland

My gorgeous friend Joseph, one day old - August 2006. We sing his song together every week.

Gudju Gudju - The Great Rainbow Serpent

2011-08-14T23:22:00.000+10:00

Back in the dreaming when everything was dark and cold, lost dreaming spirits were wondering the land. Gudju-Gudju, the great rainbow serpent spirit roused from his sleep decided to create a world of beauty and purpose. The process of creation began.

He rubbed the coils of his body so hard fire was created for the first time. He called on the spirit of the Kookaburra to call the sun to rise and to create the first day.

All the spirits marvelled at what stood before them. With one great flash of light they came before the Rainbow Serpent and found him pulsating with magnificent colour. The spirits were told to go into the world and to create beautiful living things, animals, birds, trees and fish.

The earth rose into shapes of mountains and hills, rivers and creeks, then he blew on the sky and his breath formed feathery white clouds. The trees began to turn various shades of green, the mountains to violet and purple, and the birds began to display colours of the rainbow.

He told his people: What you are witnessing is part of you, and you are part of it, you must respect everything you see, hear and feel. Without this respect you will drag yourselves back into the freezing darkness for all eternity. I will now sleep forever but will guard the treasures which were created this day.

Story told by Paddy Jerome an elder of the Undami people North West of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Another Aboriginal dreamtime story which is part of the curriculum that we teach to the kids who attend Mt Druitt Learning Ground in Sydney.

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high, There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby"

Above mural photo of a serpent taken in Treagear, Western Sydney in August 2006.

Be Here Now

2011-08-07T21:34:00.002+10:00

When I studied Practical Philosophy for 3 years the words BE HERE NOW were repeated over and over. There was a very simple reason why these three little words became my mantra.

In the chaos of the modern world, there is a beauty in simply doing.

We’re buffeted wildly by whatever emails, conversations, news, events, demands, that are going on around us.

Our minds become a constant deluge of thoughts dwelling in the past, worries of the future, distractions pulling us in every direction.

But all of that melts away when we focus on just doing.

It doesn’t matter what the doing is: sitting, walking, writing, reading, eating, washing, talking, snuggling, playing.

By focusing on the doing, we drop our worries and anxieties, jealousies and anger, grieving and distraction.

There is something profound in that simplicity. Something ultimately heart-rendingly breath-takingly gorgeous.

So when you are caught up in the sandstorm of thoughts, feelings, to-dos, meetings, readings and communications.

Pause. Breathe. Let all of that fade.

Now focus on doing one thing, right now. Just choose one thing, and clear away all other distractions.

Seriously, clear it all away. Turn off your Internet. Stop reading this article (OK, read a couple more sentences, then close your browser!).

Let all thoughts about anything other than the doing also fade away. They’ll come up, but gently make note of them, and then let them go. And return to the doing.

If you’re washing a dish, do it slowly, and feel every sensation. If you’re eating a fruit, taste it, feel the textures, be mindful of your hunger or lack of it. If you’re writing something, pour your heart into that writing, become the writing, inhabit the words.

Just do.

The rest of the world becomes meaningless distraction. It’s just you, and your doing.

And you realize: this is all that matters. In this, there is everything.

"Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water".
~Zen Buddhist Proverb

This sign caught my eye when I was walking in Paddington, Sydney today - 7th August 2011.

A Tale of Two Writers

2011-07-25T20:13:00.003+10:00

Once upon a time, there were two aspiring writers. The first, named Susan, wanted to write a novel and sat at her desk each day, between the hours of 8am and noon, dutifully writing her set target of 1500 words.

She wasn’t sure what her subject was yet, let alone the characters or plot, but some creative writing teacher told her that if she merely continued to put down words on the page consistently, over the weeks and months these narrative necessities would magically emerge, like a time-lapsed image of a Polaroid.

The second aspiring writer, Bruce, also wanted to write a novel. He had a few ideas about the characters involved, a vague notion of the story's turning points but wasn't sure of which point-of-view to choose, or how the drama might resolve itself.

He realised intuitively that novels aren't linear but cellular, tiny patterns of interconnnectedness that, when fully grown, form their own, unique mosaics.

Bruce didn't mind the discipline of hard work but didn't feel ready to embark on a first draft with his ideas in such an embryonic state. So, instead of writing lots and lots of words every day, trying to summon characters, motives and basic plot, Bruce kept a notebook for about a year but he didn't write in it religiously. But whenever he had a "eureka" moment - it could be on a bus, standing in line at the supermarket, or sitting on the loo - he'd scribble it down.

He didn't just jot down plot ideas or character traits; sometimes he'd draw diagrams of imaginary country towns, or the floor plan of his protagonist's house, or the genealogy of his fictional family.

Sometimes, when reading the newspaper, an item would pop out that would either inspire his subject matter or even resolve a narrative problem that had long been teasing him.

He pasted them into his notebook in no particular order, along with pictures and photographs.

Whenever he overheard something witty or intelligent he always made a note of it, in the same book, before time erased it forever. Bruce had learned the art of "writing without writing", a process that allows the imagination to wander freely; to make unconscious connections between narrative possibilities without the pressure of producing a consistent tone, a tight prose style, beautiful sentences and starting metaphors.

When it came to writing his novel, Bruce had prepared himself so well that he wrote it in six months and only had to revise it once.

Bruce was published and lived happily ever after.

Susan, however, is still at her computer, checking her word count and watching the clock!

"Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance"
~~ Dan Greenburg

Full moon 14 July 2011 taken at the front of my house in Sydney.

Foresight

2011-06-14T00:12:00.001+10:00

I read an article recently that suggested we can make lifestyle decisions that reduce our risk of developing eye diseases like macular degeneration.

It said certain aspects of the eye are directly related to the physical body. Just like in reflexology, where they press our toes and neck pain releases, symptoms like myopia, cateracts and glaucoma are directly related to parts of the physical body such a back pain.

We can improve our own eyesight naturally, through an approach that begins with the brain.

People can have eye surgery to see clearly but the symptoms held with the brain aren't addressed.

Here is the technique that Allison Fahey, the Dorrigo based Yoga and Pilates teacher, learnt at the Yoga School of Perfect Eyesight in Pondicherry, India:

"The first thing to do is to blink regularly, to lubricate the eyes".

"We like to use our full range of movement in our joints; the eye muscles are the same".

"First look up and down, slowly.
Then look left and right.
It's quite hard as the muscles will be tight in certain areas"

"Other steps include standing in the early morning sun and swaying side to side with closed eyes and gently covering them with the palm and concentrating on seeing black"

"When you have good eyesight, you should see black only; if you see other colours, simply visualise black"

"It should be a pleasant experience".

Other suggestions include:

Eyes tire when looking up close for long periods. When reading or using a computer, look into the distance for a couple of minutes every hour.
Soothe tired eyes with a cool moist face cloth for 10 minutes.

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."
~~ Henri Bergson

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney - November 2009

Autumn in Sydney

2011-05-28T23:11:00.003+10:00

Autumn is a gorgeous time of year when nature gives us a spectacular show of colour and richness to enjoy before we are plunged into winter.

As I walk around my neighbourhood my heart sours as the russets, golds, scarlets, crimsons and the purples of all those wonderful autumn leaves fill my eyes with their beauty.

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth
seeking the successive autumns."
~~ George Eliot

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."
~~ Stanley Horowitz

Here are some photos I took recently to attest to it's wonderment. I have included my favourite one as the header photo.

Liquidamber Tree - 21st May 2011

Outside the front of my house where I play in the leaves of the Liquidamber tree each day. - 23 May 2011

This is Diego, my next door neighbours cat, he followed me around while I was taking some photos at the front of my house and insisted in being included in the Autumn photo shoot as he blended in well. - 23 May 2011.

Closing Doors

2011-05-22T09:35:00.000+10:00

I am in the process of ordering things.....Not Around......Just figuring out some new sequences and structures and putting things in their place.

Ending things that need to be ended.

Closing all the doors that need closing.

Here are the questions I’m asking myself today:

What doors can I close right now?

What would make my life easier right now?

What will make this more lighthearted and playful?

What here needs order?

And what here could do with a little intentional chaos?

So. Here’s what came up.

What doors can I close right now?
Well this is a tricky one and the jury is still out on this one.

What would make my life easier and/or better right now?
A grilled avocado and cheese sandwich.

What will make this more lighthearted and playful?
Going for a walk to clear my head before I need it.
Music.

What here needs order?
The sequence of doors that need closing.

And what here could do with a little intentional chaos?
Everything, probably. When I intentionally step into chaos in order to regroup, I intentionally choose the flailing and the confusion to force the brain to generate creative solutions.
And then I systematically build new patterns.

What else will give me that sensation of intentional chaos?

What can I turn upside down?....or downside up?

You know what?

I’m going to mess up the pile and spread it all over the floor.

And then pretend that there is a sequence to it. And look for clues.
And then eat a grilled avocado and cheese sandwich!

Big love to you all on this seriously Sunday-esque Sunday!

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open"
~~ Alexander Graham Bell

This is Diego, my neighbour's cat, who visits every day. He is wondering why the cat door is closed! - January 2009

How the Waratah Became Red

2011-05-15T20:23:00.002+10:00

Way back in the dreamtime when all the plants and animals, trees and humans were being formed there lived an Aboriginal Tribe in the shadow of a story mountain.

On the side of the mountain there were flowering plants and among them the waratah which shot up above the other plants looking bold and beautiful. Most of the flowers were coloured white. Among them lay a red-bellied black snake called Gurri-Gurri. He found a nice warm spot on the top of the waratahs in the sun.

The women of the tribe came to dig for yams. A young baby girl had seen the snake laying in the sun and crawled towards him. She need not have feared Gurri-Gurri though because he was her totem and her protector. A woman saw Gurri-Gurri just as he lifted his head into the child’s lap and she hurled her digging stick at him.

Quickly Gurri-Gurri wrapped himself around the infant so the sticks wouldn’t hurt her. But the women threw more and more sticks and Gurri-Gurri’s blood began to spill on to the waratahs as he crawled away.

The sun came out and shone down on the waratahs, making them grow tall and strong. Their vivid red colour still marks the connection of plants and animals to mother nature. The red-bellied black snake still lies among the waratahs looking for his sun spot.

Story told by Kevin Smith from the Murramarang Tribe Southeast Coast, NSW, Australia.

This Aboriginal dreamtime story and many others, we relate each week to the children who attend Mt Druitt Learning Ground in Sydney. The stories take my breath away.

"When I dream, I am ageless."
~~ Elizabeth Coatsworth

Above photo taken in Canberra, Australia in October 2010. - Waratah (Telopea, Shady Lady)

What a Nonce!

2011-05-05T22:27:00.000+10:00

Nonce words live and die in the moment, or that's the usual fate of Nonce words.

For example Pandora, the planet in the James Cameron movie Avatar , there the blue people speak a language called Na'vi, where trr'ong means dawn and frawzo is wonderful.

Paul Frommer, the American linguist invented the ET-speak from scratch, a language that sounded unearthly yet could still be uttered by humans. In short, an A to Z of nouce words.

Anthony Burgess did likewise in A Clockwork Orange, his fable of urban decay written in 1962. Alex and his fellow droogs (or mates) speak a slang called Nadsat, a hybrid of Russian and Cockney rhymes. Deng is money and bezoomy - mad.....neither word slated to survive beyond the novel's covers.

Because that's what happens. We see a nonce word we like and adopt it. We feed it milk (and oxygen) much like a stray cat.

This happened to the word quark. It was sitting unloved in James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake when a New York physicist called Murray Gell-Mann plucked it off the page and used quark to label one of the three hypothetical particles that form the basis of our Universe......Quite the honour, when you think about it!

As readers, we fall in love with inspired nonsense. We refer to runcible spoons (Edward Carroll) and mimsy wabes (Lewis Carroll), despite not grasping what the terms truly mean. From doh to supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, we collect nonce words like sea-shells. And the moment we pick one up, the term outlives its own transience to become a genuine part of speech.

"Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work"
~~ Carl Sandburg

This very friendly Magpie, that enjoyed sharing our apple in Palm Beach, Sydney, had a very quizzical look on her/his face as I was talking to him/her. Maybe I was talking Nonce! - 12 March 2011.

Eden Gardens

2011-04-24T21:50:00.001+10:00

I needed some plants to spruce up my backyard, so my friend Dianne and I decided to combine lunch and plant shopping at Eden Gardens in North Ryde, Sydney last Wednesday. (about 15 minutes by car for my house).

We had a fabulous day, a delicious lunch and I bought half a dozen plants that I hope will survive and thrive.

Some days are magical days, when the weather is perfect and you find a beautiful place where it feels so good to be alive.

"A Garden is a Friend You Can Visit Anytime"

The photos below were taken in the Eden Gardens complex - 20 April 2011

Turning Pain Into Knowledge

2011-04-22T10:23:00.001+10:00

Sometimes when I think back on various phrases of my life, it’s hard not to think of all the hurt.

The misunderstandings, the pain, the missed connections. The ways that I screwed up.

The residual frustration about all the ways that other people - weren’t able to be the people I wanted them to be, which by the way is not their fault!

All that time spent being annoyed about how hard it is when you "can’t get blood from a stone".

My focus was in the wrong place.

But here’s what the Word of the Year reminds me to do:

I am allowed to have my grief and my pain. And I can also look at all that agony and remember that it’s business school tuition.

Instead of a diploma, I can just frame the Word of the Year and put it on my wall. And look forward to the next one, because it will be unbelievably useful.

We all have our stuff. We’re all working on our stuff. It’s a process.

We let people have their own experience, and we don’t give unsolicited advice.

"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge."
~~ Lao Tzu

Spent a lovely day with Charlie and Joseph on 13 April 2011. We caught a ferry from Manly to the city and Charlie who is not quite seven took this photo of the seagull landing near where we were sitting.

Finding Curiosity

2011-04-14T08:15:00.000+10:00

The message I got from my brain yesterday was as follows:

Replace worry.

To which I said, huh?

And then I got this:

Replace worry with curiosity.

Curiosity.

I like this so much!

Normally when people say things like “just stop worrying about it” or “don’t worry so much”, I feel frustrated.

Because it’s not that simple. Definitely not for me. I can’t do it. I don’t know how. And it generally seems kind of violent.

Because the traditional ways of “DON’T WORRY!” tend to involve repressing or delegitimising all the internal stuff that comes together to create anxiety.

It’s like fighting your MONSTERS......not recommended.

But when I bring in curiosity, I still get to interact with my small, scared, anxious parts. In fact, I get to interact with them even more.

Only now it’s in a way that’s receptive, non-judgmental, inquisitive, and caring. I’m not pushing the worry away. Just extracting its essence.

And the main point.

This is not about not worrying. Some things in life are worrisome. They just are.

We still get to give legitimacy to everything that’s hard. We’re totally allowed to have worry. It’s part of being human.

And we get to be curious about what help us get a little breathing room. Moving from tension into possibility.

We get to be curious about perspective — where we’re standing in relation to the worry.

So useful.

"Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly."
~~ Arnold Edinborough

Wilson - my beautiful, relaxed cat - March 2010.

Ellie - my pretty girl who loves to wake me up in the wee hours - September 2009.

My Commitment

2011-04-09T21:49:00.001+10:00

To appreciate what comes.

To be curious.

To talk to the monsters.

To dance dance dance!

When people are in their stuff.

But they don’t know they’re in their stuff, and they have NOT developed the ability to take responsibility for their stuff.

There is not much I can do in this situation, other than:

a) give them a hug.

b) meet my frustration with understanding and love.

c) meet their frustration with understanding and love.

This is one of the great challenges of....oh, being alive.

I know I’m getting better at it, but man, it’s still a lot of work sometimes.

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating -- in work, in play, in love."
~~ Anne Morriss

Went for a wonderful but difficult four hour walk on 3 April 2011 in Garigal National Park. This view is overlooking Bantry Bay, Sydney.

We came upon a beautiful rock formation on our walk - Garigal National Park, April 2011

We stopped for lunch in Bantry Bay and this very friendly Kookaburra was very happy to have his photograph taken. I was only a couple of feet away from him taking this shot.

Just One Thing

2011-04-02T20:11:00.001+11:00

Everything is connected. At least, theoretically.

And even if it isn’t, I can pretend (or assume) that within the world of me and my me-ness:

Connections are everywhere.

This comes in handy whenever things get overwhelming. Or when my to-do list is seventeen million miles long!

Look at the garden.

It’s a beautiful garden. It’s the place where all my projects, hopes, possibilities, things that might happen and gwishes are growing.

But there are way more things growing in this space than I could ever possibly tend to.

Sometimes it seems like there isn’t any point in taking care of any of these flowers, when taking care of one means abandoning all the others.

Here’s what happens.

I just decide.

Every time I lovingly, intentionally do one caring thing for one flower, something about that act and the process is secretly working to nurture and support the other ones.

Or you know what? Even when I do a sloppy, half-assed thing to care for one flower. It still counts.

And so I keep doing just one thing.

Any thing at all, really. Just one thing.

Today I will not be able to accomplish the shocking number of things that need and want doing.

But each piece will count. And somehow it is helping the entire garden.

So I don’t have to do everything.

Even though the urgency monsters say that actually I do.

One thing at a time.

Each thing activating, untangling, supporting and helping all the other things.
Even if I can’t see it or feel it. Even if it’s underground.

I’m going to let the fractal flowers do the real work, and I will do what I can, in the way that I can. Trying to trust that every piece counts.

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly.
"One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
~~ Hans Christian Andersen

In Western Sydney where I occasionally work I spotted this mural on a wall. I felt a strong connection with the painting. - Durali Aboriginal Centre - June 2006.

Full Circle

2011-03-25T22:20:00.000+11:00

After a long, long time, many years of soul searching, study and self-discovery I believe I have finally 'got it' and now understand the difference between the deepest agony and misery of the human condition and the greatest joy!

I 'know', from my own experience, that the difference is simply between feeling separate, isolated, lonely, lost.....and feeling 'at-one', whole, home.

I think many people live with a kind of homesickness; a sweet nostalgia which they can't quite put their finger on as if they were once in a place that they can't quite remember but desperately, somehow, want to get back to.

I believe that at our deepest level (our core, Being, essence, soul, DNA) we inherently know that we are one with each other and with all things.

The trouble is in our mental-minds. We have a deeply rooted idea that we are separate, a deeply engrained belief. This causes a split between what we think and what we intuitively know; a distance between our heads and our hearts.

From day to day we live from our heads, our thoughts.....and this causes all our problems, all our misery. We're going against our deepest instincts!

It is said that while in the womb (and also as very young children) we are in a natural state of one-ness, love, union, innocence, bliss. Then after a while, gradually as we grow up in the world, we begin to realise that "I am this and you are that", "I am here and you are there", "I am me and you are you". We start to feel separate, we become 'self-conscious', we become afraid.

We go on and on accumulating knowledge, identity, conditioning and this sense of 'Me' gets re-enforced over and over again. We develop an "Ego".

Psychologists reckon that this is essential for survival at this stage of our lives. However, although necessary, too much "ego" can eventually become a heavy burden.

As adults, we feel isolated, lonely, small, restricted and incomplete.
Trapped in this prison of a mind-made-ME, we long to expand, to grow, to melt, to merge with someone, something.....anything.

We ache to be back in that place that we once knew. This has all happened because we have forgotten Who We Truly Are. Our light has become hidden under the bushel of fear, a false self, a mask, a defence, and/or an idea.

THE CURE IS LOVE.

Love is the essence of who we are and it is our way out of this mess.

Love and fear are opposites. Fear was the problem, love is the solution. Fear means separation, love means union.

Love is freedom. Love heals us, makes us whole again.

So it seems that our lives are a journey from knowing, through forgetting, to (hopefully) remembering again. We start out open and free and end up open and free.

Somewhere in the middle we pass through a narrow tunnel. This tunnel is our identification with our small-self, "ME", a conditioned-ego, our cocoon.

"Life at any time can become difficult: life at any time can become easy. It all depends upon how one adjusts oneself to life."
~~ Morarji Desai

This sculpture called "Presence" was made by Steinunn Thorarinsdottir from Iceland for Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, November 2008. His statement about the piece was "Look and See"

Heart Hugs

2011-03-17T22:46:00.001+11:00

It's really interesting, the power of hugs. I personally feel that in today's society a lot of us are stuck and locked in our own personal little bubbles.

We have almost forgotten that sense of "community" and interconnectedness with each other.

Hugging is an intimate and communal thing and it's something I believe should be brought back as a widely accepted greeting and behaviourism in societies. Not something that is shunned or feeling weird about when someone reaches out for one.

In the middle of January I visited my dear friend Stoneweaver in Christchurch, New Zealand and we held up "Free Hugs" signs with her sister and another friend in Cathedral Square. The energy we gave and received was incredible. The power of touch was quite addictive.

Stoneweaver came to Sydney last week and stayed with me for a week, one reason being to get away from the aftershocks of the earthquake.

I took her to Newtown, an inner city suburb, for some shopping and while there we popped into a shop called The Tree of Life. We got chatting to the owner of the shop and the subject of hugging was brought up.

To our surprise she asked us "Do you know how you hug matters"? She then proceeded to tell us that a left handed hug (left arm up, right arm down) forms a strong electrical current linking heart energy to heart energy.

We tried it, hugging the owner of the shop, whom we had just met and received a wonderful energy boost.

So as Kathleen Keating wrote "Give generously and watch yourself grow rich in what matters most".

"A hug is like a boomerang – you get it back right away." ~Bill Keane

Most of my hugs in New Zealand were right hand hugs! Looks like I will have to return and try out left handed ones.

Creative Realm

2011-03-08T01:05:00.000+11:00

How does anyone - artist, writer, musician - get up in the morning and start creating?

Anyone have an answer???

I remember a story I heard about Picasso - how he worked in a studio at the top of a long staircase and he said that by far the most difficult part of the day was walking up those stairs! Once he was up there, all was fine. He had crossed the boundary somehow, from the ordinary world to the world of intense concentration, of unwavering attention, of laboriousness, of not knowing whether the day would be completely wasted or would end with some great discovery.

This is the only thing we know for certain about the creative process - that it's a mystery....Well, that's not completely true. There is one other thing we know: it's very, very hard work.

How do you cross into that creative realm?

"Another word for creativity is courage"
~~ George Prince

I soaked in a wonderful outdoor bath when we stayed at the Stony Bay Cottage in New Zealand during our trek in January 2011. We had to heat up the water by building a fire underneath the bath, which took over an hour, but it was worth the wait. The plank was in the bath so we wouldn't burn our derrieres!

The bath was hidden amongst the bushes so we enjoyed some privacy while we soaked in all our naked glory.

Adaptation and Change

2011-02-25T20:41:00.004+11:00

We work on what we need to learn

And while it's a healthy practice sometimes it sucks to be in it.

So we create safe rooms and we dance our patterns and we talk to our monsters.

We give legitimacy to the part of us who doesn't want anything to change and the part who wishes everything would change faster already.

And then we move some more things around.

Change is a given. And it’s often also incredibly uncomfortable.

There is really only one thing more important than change. And that’s the ability to adapt to it. Adaptation!

Adaptation is an intentional practice. Sometimes I will intentionally mix things up more than necessary, just to jumpstart that process of adapting.

That is why ....We work on what we need to learn!

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."
— Charles Darwin

I took this photo while trekking in New Zealand on the Banks Peninsula track in January 2011

Making Up Our Own Minds

2010-11-20T01:04:00.000+11:00

"Make up your mind" is a phrase that's rarely used without some undercurrent of frustration or impatience.

It is likely to be thrown at us when we can't seem to act decisively. Or when we can't choose instantly between competing possibilities. We might use it ourselves if we know what we want and someone else seems to be dithering.

It is a phrase that sends a strong message of criticism - as though instant decision-making were itself a virtue, regardless of the seriousness of the situation.

The chance to make up our own minds - and to know them - is one of the greatest gifts of human consciousness. In lives as privileged as most of ours are, "choice" has real meaning.

We can "make up our minds" about our most fundamental decisions - including our lifestyle, values, relationships, beliefs and goals.

We can't determine everything that happens to us, but we can decide what steps we will then take. We can think hard about our strengths and how we are using them. We can also take charge of what influences us......recognising this can be daunting. But I see it as liberating.

"Making up our own minds" means we are not letting circumstances, laziness or other people make up our minds or run our lives for us.

Self-responsibility triumphs here.

And it lets us set the compass for our future!

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
~~ Ralph Emerson

My friend Dianne made up her mind that cancer was not going to sap the life out of her. She is fighting it and winning! Photo of Dianne in her art studio Feb 2007.

Farkle

2010-11-17T22:43:00.000+11:00

Use it or lose it, they say!

Usually the slogan refers to memory or frequent flyer points but the same applies to vocabulary, too.

Maybe you learnt a word last week - let's call it "farkle" - and unless you use farkle in a sentence pretty soon then the same word is likely to melt into oblivion.

Let's pretend farkle means to pick up an object with your toes. Anglers at low tide can be nifty farklers of buried pipi shells, just as anyone who's gathered a sock off the floor has been known to indulge in farkling.

That's the problem with acquiring strange words. Unless we use them, then the farkles of this world will only grow stranger to us.

According to different sources on the web this is what I learnt about farkle:

"Motorcycle enthusiasts may install accessories, called farkles (also spelled farkel), to customize their machine. The term Farkle apparently originated among the ST1100 riders. It is an acronym:"

F ancy
A ccessory
R eally
K ool &
L ikely
E xpensive

"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use."
~~ Wendell Johnson

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, 2010 - The artist Angus Adameitis called this sculpture "Beside the point". I feel this sculpture represents the word "Farkle" explicatively.

Peace of Mind

2010-11-07T23:32:00.000+11:00

It's one of the great paradoxes of human psyche.....we want to be left in our comfort zones and yet we thrive on the experience of being taken out of them!

Our intuitive understanding of that is why, even among the most settled and comfortable of us, there's a lurking desire for something to happen.

Perhaps that helps explain a fundamental contradiction in our attitudes to this thing called "peace of mind". We claim to be yearning for it, yet we often act as if that's a mere fantasy. We say we want to slow down, de-stress and learn how to relax. We pay a fortune to massage therapists, yoga teachers, acupuncturists and other practitioners in our search for relief.

We seek counselling; we attend meditation classes; we swallow tranquillisers; we drink too much; we cling desperately to "the short break" as a kind of high-octane holiday, or the furious weekly work-out at the gym to compensate for the lack of gentler more integrated exercise every day. We push ourselves to extremes, high on endorphins, mistaking exhaustion for contentment. The struggle to find ways of reducing our stress often looks stressful in itself.

Are we fooling ourselves with all this talk about de-stressing, simplifying and slowing down? Some people have found personal pathways to peace yet many more act as if stillness is tantamount to death! Most of us seem addicted to stimulation and find silence hard to cope with, even in small doses - like a pause in the conversation. Yet even the most restless souls occasionally claim to hanker after "peace of mind".

Observing these swirling contradictions, I'm tempted to ask: is the buzz, the rush, the stimulation generated by our busy-ness, something we crave - and perhaps even need - more that the stability and calm we often say we want? Most of us would say we SHOULD be trying to strike a balance between the two but why does the achievement of that balance seem so elusive?

I suspect it's because many of us actually welcome distractions from questioning the meaning and purpose of our lives. We half-know that, if deeply examined in a contemplative moment, such questions might lead us to a radical rethink about the way we live.

If we were all preoccupied with the quest for personal peace, perhaps nothing would get done - too much om and not enough oomph doesn't sound like the right balance either. After all, it's the irritating grain of sand in the oyster that creates the pearl; it's the itch that gets the book written, or the picture painted, or the deal closed.

The world needs souls to be restless sometimes!

"We seek to find peace of mind in the word, the formula, the ritual. The hope is illusion."
~~ Benjamin Cardozo

Sculpture by the Sea, Oct 2010. The artist gave it the title "Mirroring". For me it represents the struggle we have with ourselves in finding that elusive balance.

Possibility

2010-10-30T23:27:00.001+11:00

I'm thinking about two especially frightening mental places to find yourself in life.

The one where you think everything is limited.

And the one where you realize that everything is possible.

Everything and Nothing!

There is truth in the statement that everything is limited.

And there is also truth in the statement that everything is possible. And there is the truth of the continuum.

Part of accessing possibility is the ability to ask, “What else is true here?”

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."
~~ Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)

I took this photo at Sculpture by the Sea on 29th October 2010. The artist Peter Tilley called it "Dreams of ordinary people". He also made a statement - "Imagining a voyage through time: a journey through life's obstacles".

Ode to Nature

2010-10-24T13:30:00.008+11:00

As I walk along this delightful path with the light above me, I can feel the warm sunshine on my skin and a slight breeze mussing with my hair. My lungs fill with air that smells fresh, not city stale.

As the trail continues the light changes to a speckled dance along the path. A rustling in the undergrowth delivers my very first sighting of a wild creature. Something I would have missed if I hadn’t been using my ears as well as my eyes.

As I venture further I can feel the leaves brushing my arms and the subtle change in temperature as I move between patches of sunlight.

As I emerge from the trees I am confronted by open fields surrounded by a sea of golden grass. The sun is strong and I can feel perspiration forming on my back.

I feel calm and full of life as I soak up the beauty of nature, in all its forms and am thankful that I have five senses with which to experience such a wonderful place.

I penned this after my encounter with nature. Sometimes it is wonderful to walk alone, not with a destination in mind, but just to see where the path leads.

I am reading a very insightful book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron given to me by my good friend Stoneweaver. Amongst other things Julia encourages her readers to have an 'artist date' each week by ourselves to nurture our creative consciousness.

Well I had a wonderful 'artist date' and the plan is to have another one next week to feed my artist child!

Stanwell Park, a coastal village near Wollongong, NSW, Australia - October 2010

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful".
~~ Alice Walker (American writer, b.1944)

Dream It, List It, Do It!

2010-10-11T22:10:00.003+11:00

I have been so fortunate to cross off 3 items on my bucket list this year.

Two bloggers helped give my dreams wings and shared in the adventure/experience.

First item crossed off the list was swimming with dolphins in March at Kaikoura in the South Island of New Zealand with my blogging, now real life friend, Stoneweaver. What a mind blowing experience that was!!!

Next when I was in Texas, USA in July staying with another blogging, now real life friend, Annemarie we danced in the rain with her son. That was a wonderful, joyous occasion.

The third item was climbing a tall tree. Once again Stoneweaver put her hand up and when she visited me in Australia with her husband in September we drove down to Balmoral Beach in Sydney and after much huffing and puffing managed to climb an ancient Banyan tree.

My next dream is to set up a Foundation to help Not-for-profit organisations run their programs.

So Universe.....how about it!!!!!!

"The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms."
~~ Lao Tzu Chinese taoist Philosopher, founder of Taoism, 600 BC-531 BC

Update Bulletin - 24th October 2010

My Foundation is now up and running! I have called it "Bella Jules" meaning beautiful and youthful. I will be handing out my first donation next week which is a very exciting moment in time. Thank you Universe!!!

That is me in an amazing, ancient banyan tree in Balmoral, Sydney in September 2010

Here is the Banyan tree in all it's glory!

Fable of the Porcupine

2010-09-24T22:50:00.000+10:00

Received this message via email today.

This story is great, a real eye opener, if only we can just remember it!

"It was the coldest winter ever - many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.

After awhile they decided to distance themselves from each other and they began to die, alone and frozen.

So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive."

Moral of the story:
The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

Quick-Witted Child

2010-09-22T23:47:00.001+10:00

At my supermarket I noticed a woman with four boys and a baby.

Her patience was wearing thin as the boys called out "Mummy! Mummy! while she tried to shop.

Finally she blurted out, "I don't want to hear the word Mummy for at least ten minutes!"

The boys fell silent for a few seconds.

Then one tugged on his mother's dress and said softly,

"Excuse me, miss!"

I smiled all day remembering that conversation.

Hope something or someone made you smile today and vice versa.

"You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face, And show the world all the love in your heart, Then people gonna treat you better, You're gonna find, yes you will, That you're beautiful as you feel".
~~ Carole King

Here is another quick-witted child that keeps me on my toes! Joseph in our favourite park in Cromer, Sydney, September 2010

Great Mysteries

2010-09-16T22:17:00.002+10:00

The Bermuda Triangle. The Mary Celeste. The Loch Ness Monster. Crop Circles. Atlantis.....

These are some of the great mysteries of the world that have always fascinated me.

But really we don't need to look to exotic locales, alien life forms or the seabed for mystery - it lurks right at home, in our wardrobes and drawers!

So after years of research with archaeologists, UFO investigators and experts in the paranormal, I have assembled the ultimate list of the Great Clothing and Style Mysteries:

How do fine gold chains get knotted and tangled sitting in a box in a drawer?

How do earrings put away in pairs become solo?

Why do hems fall down and buttons drop off only when you are in a horrendous rush?

How do moths know which is your most expensive cashmere jumper?

Why do you always lose the expensive sunglasses, but seem able to keep the pair you bought in a service station for years?

How does the tissue manage to escape the pocket inspection you always do before the black wash?

How does the pair of new black undies hide away in the drum of the washing machine just before you put a white load on hot?

How do silk blouses attract salad dressing?

Why are so many leading designers of women's clothes men?

Why do people with naturally straight hair always want curls, and the reverse?

Ditto large/small bosoms? And sticky-out flat bottoms?

Why can you never find anything you like when you have some money put aside to spend on new clothes?

Why are the "special occasion" dresses, shoes and handbags we pay the most for the ones we wear the fewest times?

Why do we continue to judge female politicians on what they wear?

WHY OH WHY IS IT SO!!

"It is completely unimportant. That is why it is so interesting!"
~~ Agatha Christie(1890-1976)

Both photos below were taken in Gudvangen on the west coast of Norway near Flam when Annemarie and I were on our road trip through the most scenic country in the world in July 2010

Choosing My Thoughts

2010-08-25T23:51:00.001+10:00

Being away from the blogging world while I was travelling the past 6 weeks gave me an opportunity to pick up and read several books.

I forgot how "delicious" books can be and how much I enjoyed devouring them!

I read about destiny and choosing our thoughts. Fascinating subjects.

Destiny is like a relationship - a play between divine grace and willful self-effort. Half of it we have no control over; half of it is absolutely in our hands and our actions will show measurable consequence.

We gallop through our lives like circus performers balancing on two speeding side-by-side horses - one foot is on the horse called "fate" and the other on the horse called "free will". And the question we have to ask every day is - which horse is which? Which horse do I need to stop worrying about because it's not under my control, and which do I need to steer with concentrated effort?

I feel there is so much about my fate I cannot control, but other things do fall under my jurisdiction. I can decide how to spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body, life, money and energy with. I can select what I eat, read and study.

I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life - whether I see them as curses or opportunities (and on the occasions when I can't rise to the most optimistic viewpoint, because I'm feeling too damn sorry for myself, I can choose to keep trying to change my outlook).

I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all I can choose my thoughts.

I am learning how to select my thoughts just the same way I select what clothes I'm gonna wear each day. Because if I can't learn to master my thinking, I will be in deep trouble!

So this is my mission and it will never end.

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking"
~~ Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900

Photo taken in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, August 2010. We got up early to see the sunrise and then the fog descended upon us. I am hoping my thoughts will not be devoured by fog.

A "Real" Friend

2010-06-16T00:12:00.000+10:00

"What is real?" asked the rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you, and a stick out handle?"

"Real isn't how you were made." said the Skin Horse, "it's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.

It doesn't happen all at once." said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time.....Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been rubbed off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby.

But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

This excerpt was from Margery Williams book "The Velveteen Rabbit".

It sums up perfectly how my friends have helped me "Become Real".....especially my cyberspace friends. Isn't it interesting what influences in our lives mould and shape us.

I love the person I have become.....I could never imagine writing that 5 years ago! I feel I have finally woken my soul.

So once again bless you my wonderful Internet friends for helping me "Become Real"!

"A friend is someone who helps you up when you're down, and if they can't, they lay down beside you and listen."

Stoutheartedness

2010-06-11T22:00:00.000+10:00

Courage is doing what is right for you when no-one else thinks it is!!

So step outside your comfort zone, give it a try.....don't wonder "what if?"

Sometimes suffering brings us the freedom and confidence to make bold choices about how we want to live the rest of our lives.

Believe in the power of your spirit.

Difficult journeys can offer us the chance to learn that we are loved and cared about.

I count myself fortunate to have had this chance to know so clearly and so strongly.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
~~ Confucious

This Sculpture by the Sea photo taken in November 2009 was called "A Man Above" by Philippe Moreau.

All About You

2010-06-05T12:15:00.000+10:00

THERE'S you, good old you, not too bad, not too good, safe, sure, reliable, steady as you go YOU!

A bit of a deterioration really from the perfect baby your mother claims you were.

What can you possibly add to the sum of yourself that would make you love yourself more?

Not something for the kids, or your husband or wife, or your friends.

No more self-sacrifice or feeling sorry for yourself.

Add something that makes you more valuable and lovable to the person you talk to all the time. That person is YOU!

Keep thinking for as long as it takes to find the value you want to add. Unless you're perfect already, it's generally not too hard to find a least one "If only...."

You know, if only I had the time, money, education, intelligence, talent, I would.....

If you're going to add value to yourself you must make yourself the top priority. You are, after all, the most urgent project you can possibly undertake.

Working on yourself is the single most rewarding thing you can do.

Eventually everyone you know will benefit hugely from the result.

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
~~ Carl W. Buechner

My cats Ellie and Wilson always know it is all about them!! - May 2006

January 2009

A Smile

2010-06-02T20:32:00.004+10:00

Is the most beautiful and multi-lingual silent statement.

A smile can mean so many things:

Hello

I am so happy

Guess what I've been doing?

I am a friend

Thanks

Pleased to meet you

No one can tell I'm in pain

Everything will be all right

It's great to see you back on your feet and looking so well

I'm here if you need a hug!

"You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face, And show the world all the love in your heart, Then people gonna treat you better, You're gonna find, yes you will, That you're beautiful as you feel."
~~ Carole King

My favourite photo of Joseph taken in Dee Why February 2009.

Here is Joseph's version of the ABC song - he is my little ray of sunshine and always makes me smile! - May 2010

No Interruptions Please

2010-05-27T19:07:00.001+10:00

OK, we get it. People in Iceland are perpetually cold. But does that mean they have to take it out on the rest of us? For the past couple of decades, they've been doing their best to bring the world to its knees.

First it was the export of Bjork, a woman whose singing pitch causes seizures among laboratory mice. Then it was the global financial crisis, with Iceland queueing to be the first country to go broke, after a collapse in the futures market for herring.

The Icelandic economy still had its AAA credit rating but the three A's were henceforth followed by the letters RRRGGGHHH. Suddenly, everyone realised Iceland mainly consisted of ice — a fact, you may think, the Icelanders had disclosed when they named it Iceland.

Still, no one was more surprised than the world's financial experts — a group of people who were already shocked to discover that unemployed people in the US's south sometimes found it hard to repay their home loans.

In the aftermath of these revelations, the world demanded that Iceland start paying its way. In response, Icelanders have developed a new export industry: ash.

They are distributing it by air, all over Europe, sourcing it from a volcano, the pronunciation of which is impossible unless the speaker is simultaneously regurgitating fish.

Traditionally, when a volcano went up, the response was to throw in a few virgins to propitiate the gods. Presumably, the world's airlines tried gathering cabin staff for sacrifice but were stymied when Qantas couldn't find any virgins.

I find myself spluttering with arrogant questions. Can't we just pour concrete into the volcano? Or blow it up? Or have Bjork sing to it?

Apparently not. We are like ants running around this thing. It's a power beyond us: a super-sized lava lamp with a missing "off" switch.

Annemarie and I are flying to Norway on 13th July and return 27th July. I hereby ask (plead) Eyjafjallajokull to take a vacation as well, in the depth of your own being and curtail any eruptions until after those dates.....or for another few hundred years!

"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasent things as interruptions of one's "own" or "real" life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life---the life that God is sending one day by day: what one calls one's "real life" is a phantom of one's own imagination."
~~C.S. Lewis

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney - November 2009

Centre of the Road

2010-05-23T11:11:00.002+10:00

I've spent much of my life walking down the centre of the road.

I tell myself it's important to be safe. Security comes first.

It's a hard cruel world, so I'd better play it safe now than be sorry later.

Fools rush in.......

But nothing is more certain than if I walk down the centre of the road, I am going to be hit by the traffic coming from both directions.

Playing it safe is the most dangerous thing I can possibly do.

So I am going to dream the impossible dream and start walking towards it.

Lyrics from Left of Center by Suzanne Vega

"If you want me, you can find me,
left of center, off of the strip
in the outskirts, in the fringes,
in the corner, out of the grip"

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, November 2009.

Downside Up!

2010-05-20T19:58:00.000+10:00

can you remember

when you were a kid

and you'd lie in the grass on your back

and watch the clouds scud above you

and dream of what you were going to be when you grew up?

well, what happened?

"Downside up, upside down
Take my weight off the ground
Falling deep in the sky
Slipping in the unknown"
~~ Peter Gabriel

This is how I saw Joseph downside up! - May 2010

Visualise!

2010-05-18T10:10:00.000+10:00

If you don't know where you are going, then how will you get there?

This is what I do:

make pictures in my mind.

see the destination.

imagine my arrival.

dream in perfect detail.

make myself a road map.

study it every day until I know the way and the destination by heart.

see myself the way I want to be when I arrive.

see myself arriving.

"Without this playing of fantasy, no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable."
~~ Carl Jung

I wonder what my cat Wilson is visualising? - Taken in February 2008

A Friend of the Truest Kind

2010-05-14T22:36:00.000+10:00

A friend.......

is someone who keeps your secrets

and never divulges them, even if tortured -

or worse, tempted with chocolate!

is someone who quietly destroys the photograph

that makes you look like a beached whale.

is someone who knows you don't know

what you're talking about, but allows you to reach

that conclusion on your own.

is someone who goes with you on a diet -

and off it too.

is someone who doesn't say "I told you so."

no matter how tempting it might be.

A friend of the truest kind is kind and true.

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose."
~~ Tennessee Williams American playwright. 1911-1983)

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney - November 2007

Synchronicity

2010-05-01T14:48:00.001+10:00

I have been thinking about synchronicity quite a bit lately.

According to wikipedia "Synchronicity" is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.

The term was coined by the famous psychologist Carl Jung who used it to explain occurrences like a beetle flying into his studio just as a patient was discussing a beetle in his dream.

Carl Jung also believed in clairvoyance, telepathy, ESP, telekinesis, and astrology; he believed in what he called a "collective unconscious", a sea of consciousness in which we all swim.

What distinguishes synchronicity from coincidence is meaning. Synchronicity is the experience of meaningful coincidences. I believe that life is not a meaningless string of random experiences that happen to us and over which we have absolutely no control.

I believe there are no un-meaningful coincidences!

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it Intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why"
~~ Albert Einstein

I was out bushwalking in Cromer, Sydney on Wednesday and came across this heart carved out in a stone.....it made me smile.

Pay It Forward Day

2010-04-28T00:55:00.000+10:00

Thursday April 29, 2010 - Pay It Forward Day

Please join me on Thursday and lets create a ripple effect that will last all year.....until 2011 when we can do it all again.......like Ground Hog Day!

One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else then the cycle of generosity and kindness can spark us to become better people.

Operating on the premise that we all have it in our power to help another, one individual truly can change the world.

A day of giving....how great is that! And kindness is contagious!

"They say don’t believe your own hype, but if you don’t why would anyone else? To be great you have to believe you can do great things."
~~ Charley Johnson

Photo taken at Sculpture by the Sea, Nov 2008

A True Story

2010-04-24T10:49:00.000+10:00

The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.

Dear Dogs and Cats:
The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a pawprint in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's bottom. I cannot stress this enough!

"The little furry buggers are just deep, deep wells you throw all your emotions into." ~~ Bruce Schimmel

"Man, unlike the animals, has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it." ~~ Samuel Butler

The expression on the faces of my cats Wilson and Ellie says it all...do you think they are listening!!! - March 2008

I've Learned

2010-04-13T21:16:00.001+10:00

I've learned that the most creative ideas come from beginners - not the experts.

I've learned that worry is often a substitute for action.

I've learned that if you like yourself and who you are, then you'll probably like almost everyone you meet regardless of who they are.

I've learned that everyone has something to teach.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned that the greatest challenge of life is to decide what's important and to disregard everything else.

I've learned that you can't be a hero without taking chances.

I've learned that my greatest fear is that in later years I'll look back at a long list of things I "never got around to".

I've learned that lying in the green grass of an empty field makes you feel so good.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people and doing the very best you can happiness will find you.

I've learned that animals can sometimes warm your heart better than people can.

I've learned that sometimes life hands you situations when all you can do is put one foot in front of the other and live moment to moment.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn!

"I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries."
~~ Theodore Isaac Rubin

My favourite tree in The Rocks, Sydney - taken 7th March 2010.

Myths, Misconceptions, Beliefs

2010-04-11T00:12:00.003+10:00

Most of us like to think we have a pretty good idea how others behave. It's one of those basic adult skills, based on self-knowledge, our observation of others and the inherited wisdom of the ages.

Understanding human behaviour; how hard can it be?

Well according to this article I read, it's difficult and many of us go through life with deeply flawed notions of how people feel and behave. Statements/questions like:

"Do you believe most teenagers experience a period of turmoil"
"People use only 10 per cent of their brains"
"Criminal profiling works"
"Do you think individuals commonly repress the memories of traumatic events"
"Men and women communicate in completely different ways".

If we believe these things, we're wrong. But we are not alone!

There are various reasons why such myths become lodged in our minds but at the base of the problem is the simple fact we seem to need a set of such beliefs to function.

But what really caught my attention was the section about happiness and the myth that says happiness is mostly determined by our external circumstances. Meaning if we change those circumstances, we can make ourselves much happier.

According to the "experts" we are each born with a genetically determined "set point" of happiness, a baseline from which we bounce up and down in response to short-term events.

So it appears that most happy people are that way because they're born like that, which, of course, is terribly unfair - another reason many of us would rather believe happiness can be acquired through effort. The brutal conclusion was that "trying to be happier is like trying to be taller".

I do believe when I read one of the greatest of all myths is that the major determinant of happiness is material wealth. The research shows that above a modest level of wealth, money doesn't make much difference. Nor, by the way, do life events. Happy people tend not to experience more awards and promotions.

But it did say enjoying quality time with friends and loved ones, memorable trips with people we care deeply about and special nights out with romantic partners will contribute to our happiness.

Sadness is increasingly seen NOT as a normal part of life but as a weakness, something to be eradicated.

I agree we should embrace those dark parts of our life, they are natural and normal. When we embrace those darker sides of experience, those times when we're sad or sorrowful, we often learn things about ourselves that we would not learn had we simply remained content.

Many myths apparently stem from an overestimation of the role of early life experience and the notion that the first few years of life are somehow much more powerful than the later years.

Other myths stem from the myth of fragility, the idea that most of us are delicate creatures who easily crack in the face of trauma.

We don't hear/read about strength very often, certainly not in the media. There is no drama in buildings that stay up, trains that run on time and people who cope with pressure.

"We can keep from a child all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from him the need for mythology"
~~ Carl Gustav Jung

Dianne & I, Easter 2010. She is such an inspiration and believes she will beat the horrible cancer that is trying to destroy her body.

Stroke Me Stroke Me

2010-03-29T23:18:00.010+11:00

Why do we blog??.......OR more to the point WHY DO I BLOG?

I have given this question considerable thought and concluded it is because I love being stroked, complimented, flattered, hugged........am I being shallow?

Probably!

Blogging has enhanced my creative side and expanded my knowledge 100 fold. I actually feel I am a better person since I started blogging.

I blog to be part of a community of people whom I respect; I want to understand your thinking and I want you to understand mine.

I blog to be part of the conversation. I blog to remember. I blog to refine my thinking. I blog because I don't think I really understand something until I write about it.

Finally I blog because there are truly remarkable people in the world, who perhaps would not be recognized by the world. I blog to connect with persons who share some (if not all) of my values.

So I keep coming back to blogging because of YOU my friends, yes YOU, I keep coming back because of YOU. BLESS YOU.

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked".
~~ Bernard Meltzer

BTW the dolphin encounter was mind blowing. Everyday I relive being graced by those amazing creatures.

This is a postcard of the spectacular Dusty Dolphins that Stoneweaver & I had the privilege of playing with in Kaikoura, New Zealand, March 2010.

Dreaming of Dolphins

2010-03-19T18:00:00.000+11:00

I am leaving for New Zealand tomorrow for a week's holiday and to make one of my lifetime dreams come true......swimming with dolphins in the open sea!

I will also be seeing my now 'real life' friend Stoneweaver again which will be awesome....AND AND AND we will both be meeting up with another blogger Marja for the first time.......LIFE IS GOOD!

I have decided to rehash a post I wrote about dolphins back in November 2009. When I wrote this post I had no idea that just a few months later I would be making a connection with these incredible creatures.

So take care dear friends, "see you" in April.

Please remember to......Keep smiling.....Keep shining.

One day a long time ago, I was watching a documentary about dolphins and something inside me clicked. I was well into my late 20’s and was watching the television as if I was glued to it. It felt as if I was in a mind-meld with the dolphins and it was too a point that I started to cry because on some spiritual level, I understood what these dolphins were saying. I just knew that the dolphin was my Spiritual Animal Totem, I just knew it!

The beautiful, graceful, sleek dolphin carries many messages for the two legged! A key to understanding because the dolphin meaning is connected with themes of duality. It has to do with the dolphin being both fish and mammal. It is both of the water, and an air breather. Ergo, dolphin symbolism talks to us about "being in two worlds at once." Indeed, the dolphin is a great conveyor of the concept of yin and yang.

It is playful, and is a reminder that time to play is a crucial element in walking in BALANCE. It moves through the water quickly and with great grace, ever moving with the flow. Dolphins tell us to move with the ebb and flow of life, and not to search for brick walls to smash into. To spend our energy fighting the current gets us nowhere. Being constantly at war with others, with our surroundings and with circumstances we cannot change, destroys the spirit, eats away at hope, and consumes the joy of life.

The power of the Dolphin is community in BALANCE.

"The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth".
~ Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928

A Bit of Advice

2010-03-14T13:31:00.003+11:00

Joseph 1 day old in August 2006.

Letter to be given to Joseph on his 18th birthday:

Dear Joe, may angel face friend

Don't listen to baby boomers who tell you you've got to slow down and "smell the roses". We never took that advice when we were young and neither should you. Throw yourself at life!

Don't cross the road with your iPod on....or whatever the devise is called in 2025.

Never get into a fight with your neighbours. Apologise. Make Peace. Buy them a case of beer......anything.

When meeting someone over lunch, the way they treat the waiter is a better guide to their character than how they treat you.

Eat your vegetables and clean your teeth.

You are what you eat but also what you read and watch and hear. Don't feed your brain with rubbish, at least not all the time.

Don't be negative. Whingeing is for people who want to blame others for their troubles, because it's easier than finding their own way forward. If a friend makes a habit of bad-mouthing other people, take a moment to wonder what they say about you. Spend your mental energy on people who think you are terrific, not people who dislike you.

Tread carefully if a friend asks you to counsel them about their love life. Never agree with their assessment that their ex-partner is horrid, as they will make up the next day.

Never ignore an invitation to dance.

Never buy an expensive umbrella as you'll lose it within the month.

Don't be tight with your money when it comes to your friends or charity.

Surround yourself with people who bring out your best side; people in whose company you become fabulous, funny and wise.

Remember the most important decision you'll ever make isn't about career or investments, it's your choice of life partner.

And remember I will always love you unconditionally.

Namaste
Pegs xxxxxx

"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." ~~ Author Unknown

Joseph - March 2010, Cromer, Sydney - In our favourite park.

Turn The Page

2010-03-09T01:58:00.001+11:00

I threw my phone books out the other day. For months they'd sat in a corner of my office, unopened and unused, victims of a world where, with a click of a mouse, I can get anyone's phone number, their educational history and a tour of their street.

Beyond its cockroach squishing properties, the phone book has outlived its usefulness. Yet parting with something as archaic and unwieldy as the telephone directory came with some unexpected nostalgia.

When compared with other anachronisms such as the typewriter or Polaroid camera, the space the phonebook occupies in my cumulative reference library of associations is limited. But as I dropped the volumes into the recycling bin, I felt a little of my life went with them.

It is difficult to comprehend a world without the phone book. How to forget the hours trying to find the number of a teenage crush. And what of those black-and-white scenes of detectives drinking coffee and spending all night calling every "Schultz" in town until the mystery blonde in the negligee picked up the receiver and whispered: "Be careful my husband might be listening". Does Sam Spade googling photos of someone's company fun run carry the same air?

A future without phone books is a radically unfamiliar world. Corrupt policemen will beat suspects with modems, and strongmen in sideshows will tear laptops in half. Interior designers will add "period" touches to the apartments of investment bankers by scattering copies of the Yellow Pages.

Every year the world and I grow a little more unfamiliar. No one sends postcards anymore. Wallets are being replaced by mobile phones with built-in credit cards.

Life before Twitter, cyber bullying or Paris Hilton had something to recommend it, if only that it didn't have any of them.

It was slower, knowledge was more precious for having been hard won, there was no glowing oracle to tell you every answer. If you wanted to find that forgotten high school love, you had to open a book and start turning, one page at a time.

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers."
~~ Charles W. Eliot, The Happy Life, 1896

My bookends

The Real World Rocks

2010-03-05T14:54:00.003+11:00

The real world is a magical place especially when it collides with the virtual world.

Stoneweaver flew to Australia from New Zealand last week (although she was sitting in an aeroplane as she hasn't grown wings yet) and we hung out for 5 days. What a delightful lady to explore Sydney with. To laugh with. To share stories with. To eat with. To drink with.

We would never had met if we hadn't blogged. So three cheers for the blogosphere.

Stoneweaver is returning the favour and I will be flying to New Zealand on March 20th for a week. As well as exploring her lovely country we will be swimming with dolphins at Kaikoura. All my life I have been wanted to swim with dolphins, it is a dream come true. I am sure these dolphins will touch me in a special way that my heart will leap and their beauty and grace will bring me to tears.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
~~ Albert Einstein

Stoneweaver & I took a ferry ride to Watsons Bay where we enjoyed the most delicious lunch at Doyles. - Feb 2010

A Platform For Our Lives

2010-02-17T01:24:00.002+11:00

The internet is not just a place to find a bargain or a mate - it has become the platform for our lives.

In 2007, Facebook exploded. Ordinary people posted their pictures and profiles online, proving that the web was no longer an arena just for geeks and gossip hounds, music buffs, porn addicts and lonely hearts.

It was for everyone. On a mass impulse many of us jumped on board the electronic merry-go-round.

Did we do it in a spirit of adventure or resignation?

Was it inevitable or had we gone mad?

I believe the answer is YES, we are nuts and worse, we can no longer opt out! Our lives have changed irrevocably.

If one factor changed the face of the internet, it was broadband. Once the internet was switched on all the time, everyone from toddlers to maiden aunts became intimate with it.

The world that computing makes possible can no longer be thought of as parallel to the real world: the two have merged.

The web is now the platform on which we live our lives. From this point on the story of computing is no longer the history of a machine. It is the story of a culture, though it is barely five years old.

I have been trying to take a break from blogging to see what it would be like to live in the real world without my virtual friends. I may succeed this time, at least for a couple of weeks anyway.

So if you don't see me around it's because I am wandering around smelling the roses. I may get lost, but I am sure I will find my way back home....because YOU are family!

Keep shining.......keep smiling.

"Computers are magnificent tools for the realization of our dreams, but no machine can replace the human spark of spirit, compassion, love, and understanding."
~~ Louis Gerstner

As well as smelling the roses I am going to talk to the animals. These cockatoos visit Dianne's house in Cromer, Sydney every day. (photo taken 31st January 2010.)

Telling Tails

2010-02-09T08:44:00.001+11:00

Have you ever seen that episode of The Simpsons where Bart and Lisa meet a mad professor and they can see into the future?

Bart as a teenager with a big belly in development is pretty funny, but the moment that made me hoot with laughter was one of those passing vignettes the show is so good at.

The scene pans over a futurist streetscape and as it reaches a shop hoarding saying "Plastic Surgery", Selma - or it could have been Patty; one of Marge's dreadful sisters, anyway - walks out of the building. She is sporting a fine bushy tail. I shrieked. Mainly because I've always wanted a tail and what a brave new world it would be that had such plastic surgery in it.

I mean, why not! I think a tail would be not only devilishly attractive, but awfully useful. Monkeys use their tails as a fifth limb, but you can also be very expressive with one, as any pet owner knows.

My friend's dog, Ollie, practically takes off wagging his tail when pack members like myself arrive at the house. We often comment that it's a shame we couldn't harness his tail-wagging energy for the national grid.

But it's probably cats that take the language of tails to the highest level. I adore it when a cat stalks into a room with its tail held aloft at a perfect right angle to its butt, anus fully revealed. It's so incredibly snobby and most felines seem to do it when there are visitors. "You may briefly inhabit my sitting room, oh pitiful unknown human. I will allow it. But you must admire me."

My own furry lump, Ellie, conveys irritation very eloquently with tail twitching, developing into full swishing, when I groom her (she finds it very insulting). Once the tail starts to whack slowly from side to side, I know I have only a few seconds before serious injury. Ouch!

One of my favourite Simpson quotes:
Homer: "How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?"
Marge: "That's because you were drunk!"

My cats Wilson & Ellie in Nov 2006 waiting at the door to be let out. Their tails are in perfect sync.

Pen and Paper

2010-02-04T00:01:00.001+11:00

I read an article the other day that urged people to consider setting aside our computer and all the writing habits we associate with it and to write in our journals by HAND.....scary thought eh!

Picking up a pen, allowing our hand to move across the page, engaging the intricately related activities of brain and hand may not produce "better" writing, but it can certainly produce freer writing and, in journal writing, that can quickly lead to insights we seldom expect.

What's more, the article suggested, handwriting can tell a story in a way that print on a screen never can. Like what was happening on the day our writing was so rushed that we can now hardly read it? Or about the day when we took time to draw sketches alongside the writing, or lavishly underlined so many of our words.

After reading the article it occurred to me how vital it is for all of us to spend time in physical activities that connect us with the real, rather than the virtual world.

Observing children, it becomes obvious how great their need is to play in sand, to create a miniature world with sticks and mud, to throw themselves into the ocean, to pick flowers, to dam a small creek, to sleep under the stars or in a tent or to run up a small hill and roll all the way down.

Swimming, running, riding, taking long walks for moment-by-moment discovery and not to get anywhere, listening to and telling stories, playing "make-believe" or playing and co-operating without comparing or needing particular skills; this is the best therapy - the best play, the best fun - any child could have.

A child's longings can't be satisfied by virtual experiences only.

They - and we - need first-hand experiences to feel content and complete.

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning."
~~ Maya Angelou - American Poet, b.1928

Sculpture by the Sea, Nov 2003. The artist Phyllis Koshland called this bronze piece "The Swing" and stated 'everyone should have fun with sculpture'.

Sculpture by the Sea, Nov 2003. Artist Willemina Villari called this piece 'The Viewers'.

Spoon Fed

2010-01-28T00:39:00.000+11:00

"I'm NOT a pheasant plucker;
I'm a pheasant plucker's son.
Nonetheless, I pluck pheasants all day
Until the pheasant plucking is done."

Phew, I made it. Not one slip-up, despite the traps lying in the schoolyard rhyme, each one spring-loaded by the Reverend William Spooner.

He's the Oxford don who said "shoving leopard for loving shepherd."

Nowadays, we call such gaffes spoonerisms. Even when Spooner was among the living, the term had made the dictionary, the source himself still lecturing at New College, saying tasted worms instead of wasted terms, and worse.

"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."
~~ E. M. Forster English Novelist and Essayist, 1879-1970

Another Sculpture by the Sea photo taken in November 2007. The artist Tomas Misura called it "Twisted Reality"

Simplicity verses Complexity

2010-01-18T09:22:00.001+11:00

The Buddhist scholar and teacher Stephen Batchelor stated:

"How much of our life is spent in avoiding what we really are?
Yet in a quiet corner of ourselves, do we not secretly recognise the deceptive strategies of such avoidance?
How often do we find ourselves happily indulging in some trivial pursuit, even though a deeper awareness is whispering to us of its futility?"

I feel we live in a society where we like skating over the surface of things. We prefer simplicity to complexity in the way we consider our needs and the way we organise our collective lives.

Photo taken at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney, Nov 2009.

Fear-le-well

2010-01-15T01:52:00.001+11:00

I have written about fear several times since I started blogging. This four letter word that we often give so much power to is one of the most debilitating emotions one can experience.

Maybe we could look at FEAR from a different perspective.

The myth of fear is that we're supposed to overcome it or conquer it.

The truth about fear is that if we learn to talk to it and treat it with respect, it will teach us how not to be afraid.

Yes, it can be horrible and crippling and awful.

Trust me on this one. I know fear pretty well. I know the kind that causes full-body trembling and awful heart palpitations. And the kind that makes you think demons are flying at you through the windows. And the kind that has you sobbing and writhing on the floor.

Fear can be debilitating. So I don’t mean to be going off on some annoying spiritual kick about how it’s good for you or something. It’s just that you don’t want to battle it.

And not just because battling it makes the fear stronger (it does), but because — when you talk to it — your fear is the best teacher you will ever have.

Instead of kicking fear, you can dissolve it. It can kick back, but it can’t dissolve *you*. The only way to get the fear to dissolve is to interact with it. Just like you, it wants to be noticed and cared for.
Your fear needs to know that you are taking steps to keep yourself safe. So give it some reassurance.

Think of it this way. Your fear is like a knight. It has a mission or a quest or whatever to keep you safe from failure and humiliation and things going horribly, horribly wrong.

So it keeps you from working on the thing you want to do. It shows up again and again, with worry and doubt and what-iffery.

A misguided strategy, yes. But well-intended. Annoyingly well-intended.
If you want your fear to stop scaring you silly, you’re going to need to reassure it that its mission has not been in vain.

In fact, you can tell your fear that you’re going to release it from its quest and take over the mission of looking out for your own well-being.

Talking to your fear is a great way to achieve distance from it. When you’re talking to your fear, it isn’t you anymore. It’s just a temporary part of you. You contain it, but you contain a lot of things.

This distance, paradoxically, allows you to befriend it.

Befriending it, paradoxically, allows it to become something else.

I know. Argh, stupid paradox. Is it scary to talk to your fear? To even acknowledge its shadowy presence in the room? Absolutely. I’m sorry.

So — that’s the sum of my wisdom today.

Your fear is normal. Your fear is legitimate. Your fear is talking to you. Find out what you need to know.

Much love to you as you take this journey.

"Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here."

I have used this photo before but I feel it represents what I am trying to convey in this post.

I Do Exclaim!!

2010-01-13T23:58:00.001+11:00

Mamma Mia had one. So did Moulin Rouge and WHAM. Musicals, in fact adore them, with Oliver and Oklahoma each getting their slice of the action. As did Keating and Hello Dolly.

I'm talking about the exclamation mark, that stand-up, shout-out piece of punctuation that stabs the modern message. There's Jeopardy! and Yahoo! And the gossip mag OK!

Back in 1972, when Grease was the word, it didn't need an exclamation mark. The word was enough. Not now.

Nicknamed "screamers" by printers, exclamation marks are cold sores of the keyboard. One peck and the itch goes deeper. Germans have the right idea, using the symbol as a warning on autobahns, a shorthand tip to steer well clear.

As a kid I played a board game called Sorry! and failed to suspect contagion. Help! sang the Beatles, and we never lifted a finger.

Before 1970 the exclamation mark was a three-key operation - full-stop, backspace, then the apostrophe - but that would be unthinkable in these emphatic times.

Research suggests the punctuation to be ironic, a wink at a trend among comedies such as Airplane! and Run, Fatboy, Run!

F.Scott Fitzgerald said "An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own joke."

"When my sonnet was rejected, I exclaimed, 'Damn the age; I will write for Antiquity!'"
~~ Charles Lamb English Critic, Poet and Essayist, 1775-1834

This is my sweet Miss Ellie relaxing on the BBQ January 2010

This photo I feel could warrant an exclamation mark or two!!

Calling All Angels

2010-01-07T01:48:00.003+11:00

According to my good friend Dianne (Joseph's grandmother) I have a young soul.

When we went to "The '80's Are Back" Exhibition this week, which by the way was excellent, the conversation turned to angels and Dianne related many stories about angels that had visited her since she was a small child. Wonderful, fascinating stories that had me listening attentively and wishing I had at least experienced once.

The reason we were talking about angels was because Dianne has recently been diagnosed with Stage 3 Bowel Cancer from which she could die. As some of you know I believe in angels and was given a small metal one by Wendy, another dear friend. I told Dianne I wanted to lend my angel to her until she gets well. She gratefully accepted the gift and promised to hold this angel tight whenever she needed support.

This is not the first time Dianne has needed the angels help. 10 years ago an aneurysm burst in her brain leaving her severely disabled. Over the years she has slowly regained her speech and movement on the right hand side of her body. She even regained her driving licence!

So I am calling on all the angels. I want my friend around for a few more decades. I am learning so much from this old soul.

I wrote 2 poems in July and August 2009, "Ode to Angels" and "Believing in Angels". I was obviously surrounded by angels when I penned them. The final words from the last one are..."I am burning a candle right here in my heart, I MUST Believe".

"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly". ~~ Author Unknown

This is Dianne at the '80's exhibition, Sydney, January 2010.

New Beginning

2010-01-02T17:09:00.000+11:00

Well a new decade has arrived.....twenty-ten. Sounds like the future doesn't it. Not the present.

It’s been an incredible roller coaster of a decade and I’m ready for something new although I haven't got a plan yet, at least not for the first six months.

I’m feeling optimistic but that is nothing new. So out with the old and in with the new....maybe my new word for the year should be NEW.

Anyway dear blogger friends when I have a plan I will share my journey. It will probably be mainly in photos and quotes as my blog was very wordy in 2009.

Let the games begin......Carpe Diem

"You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being -- not because anybody says so, not because you're successful, not because you make a lot of money -- but because you decide to believe it and for no other reason.”

Wayne Dyer quotes (American motivational Speaker)

My mother (Beryl) dancing and singing to her favourite song by Nat King Cole, "Rambling Rose"....30 December 2009, Lindfield, Sydney (not bad for 87 years young!).

Final Reflection On Our Words - December

2009-12-31T12:03:00.003+11:00

This post is our final reflection on our words for 2009. I chose the word BALANCE because I hoped it would empower me to leave my unbalanced life behind in 2008. Overall it actually helped in the most simple of ways. That is, when I was feeling quite stressed out throughout the year, I would, now and then, remember, "oh yeah – balance" and take a few deep breaths.

Today's reflection is about spirituality:

The philosophy of balance can be found in many of the world’s religions, particularly the eastern religions. In both Hinduism and Taoism, the idea of balancing your mind, body and spirit is very important.

In Hinduism it is believed that the body is made up of seven basic "chakras" or energy centers, each of which correlates to different bodily functions, levels of consciousness, emotional states and so on. In order to stay healthy, we need to ensure that these chakras remain balanced.

Similarly in Taoism, there is the concept of "chi", which is the vital energy that flows through the body. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that illness is caused by imbalances of yin and yang in the body, which blocks the free movement of "chi". Thus, to stay healthy you need to maintain the balance between yin and yang in your body.

In western culture, a commonly heard phrase is "healthy mind, healthy body", which encourages balance between mental and physical health. Having a healthy mind and body, however, is only a part of the story. As suggested by the following Taoist quote, we also need to bring our spiritual selves into balance:

"Unless the mind, body and spirit are equally developed and fully integrated, no [wisdom] can be sustained".

Annemarie's - word is DISCIPLINE

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (NIV) Hebrews 12:1-3

This is the last edition of my monthly reflections on the word Discipline. My friends and I started on our respective journeys twelve months ago after reading Caroline’s post having no idea where the road would take us. It has been wonderful trip.

I chose the word discipline to inspire, motivate and direct me through the year. It was a good thing to aspire to but one that I will probably never fully achieve. When I finally came to that realization, I finally felt more relaxed. The point was to reach for that goal with PERSEVERANCE. I fixed my eyes on Jesus who helped me to remain steadfast because knowing I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

So as I endured difficult times, those words carried me through. My goal was not to be the perfect parent or the perfect teacher, but be more planned and organized in both of these areas.

I haven’t exactly decided what my focus is for next year, but I am certain it will involve creativity of some sort. So don’t "lose heart," I will be back with another series of posts.

Wendy's - word is ABUNDANCE

January 1, 2009 I made a commitment with my blog friends ….post each month about one WORD for the year. I chose ABUNDANCE.

In the beginning, I had been blogging regularly, receiving inspiration from other blogs, and sharing my blogging with close friends. I had already quoted scriptures that speak of Abundance. I understood that God wants abundance for us and wants us to recognize the abundance we already have no matter our situation. In January, for the first post I said this; “How will a WORD impact the way I am living? How will this one WORD teach me, challenge me, make me want to be a better person?”

Well, my commitment to this WORD saved me from myself. When I was depleted of spirit, I was reminded. When I was depleted of funds, I was reminded. When I was depleted of love of others, of love of self, of discipline, of faith, of balance and of excellence, I was reminded. I was reminded of my abundance every month by the words of this blog group. I was encouraged by their words and I was inspired to give more.

I learned that if you hold fast…keep moving…keep living…and keep giving, you will have enough. You will have abundance in your life. God promised it and even without faith we will have it. Faith just makes it better.

Mitch Album says “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” I could say the way you get Abundance is the same….

I cannot say it any more clearly than the acrostic that I posted in January: Abundance is a verb. It is an act of life that requires one to move…to do, in order to become.

Atone for your hurtfulness.
Bid farewell to judgment.
Utilize your mind.
Notice your surroundings.
Draw on support from friends.
Acknowledge the gifts of others.
Nullify negativity.
Create moments of meaning.
Embrace the little things

I am looking forward to 2010. My word for 2010 is Gratefulness. Again I say, “How will the WORD impact the way I am living? How will this one WORD teach me, challenge me, make me want to be a better person?” Come along with me those who will and commit to another WORD for your year.

Roban's- words are JOY and FAITH

365 days... 52 weeks... 12 months...

That's how long it's been since Peggy, Annemarie, Wendy, Julie, and I first posted about the words we chose to focus on during 2009. During these months, we forged friendships together as we shared our individual journeys with one another.

Although I chose to focus on FAITH and JOY this year, I must say that I learned as much from my friends' words as I did my own. Balance, discipline, abundance, and excellence made their way into my own life as I read their monthly posts or looked at the photographs and other images that helped them tell their stories. I often found myself contemplating their words alongside my own.

When I chose faith and joy, I could already see a connection between the two... that by having more faith in God and in His plan for my life, I will be able to experience more joy in the daily moments that make up my life. I shared my words with my students and made it a point to think about the words as the days and weeks rolled past.

How did I do? I think in the beginning, I was more attuned to the words and what I wanted them to mean in my life. As the months passed, however, I found myself slipping into old habits of worry. Yet, in the middle of the day or during the evening at home, I would stop and really look at the world around me. And I would smile. Joy, I realized, is all around me if I open my eyes wide enough to see.

God wants each of us to be happy... to experience joy in our life each and every day. Why else would He send beautiful rays of pink and orange to greet us each morning? Why would the sounds of nature, from birds' songs to the crashing of ocean waves, soothe our souls? Why would He bless the earth with children whose carefree laughter is a clear invitation for us to experience joy?

He gives us these bursts of color and song as a gift so that we will know joy.

Julie's- word is EXCELLENCE

What an interesting discipline, this practice of choosing and focusing on a guiding word for the year. It has been a blessing and touchstone throughout '09 to meditate on the facets of excellence as my blog buddies and I have traveled this rotation.

In choosing excellence as my word for 2009, I was expressing a heart's cry to 'come up' in various areas of my life. Because I'm in the business of raising many children, I am also in the business of managing people's expectations. Some folks have very minimal expectations of me, assuming that I am too busy, too distracted to contribute in other areas. Some expect that I must be some kind of 'super mom' and figure I'm the one to call on for any kid-related project.

And the reality is different.

It is focusing on excellence that helps me see what I need to be doing in my day to day life and what needs to be taken to the curb. I can't do it all excellently and there are areas where it is acceptable to me to do simple 'maintenance'. But in those areas I feel the Lord is calling me to serve, a plumb line for me to determine if I am walking where He is leading is to discern the caliber of contribution I am making. And when something comes along that is a good thing but is something that shouldn't be on my plate, holding it up to the light and seeing if it is something that could be accomplished with excellence makes it easier to put down when I see it is something that cannot be done to that level in my present season. Excellence can be defining.

I am so thankful to be on my journey with like-minded people, believers who have let go of legalism and are embracing the miracle of grace. And somehow in the doing, they are also continuing to walk with excellence, not out of a sense of fear or obligation, but out of a grateful heart, wanting to bring their best for the King. Where I set my standards for myself, the level of character I expect from myself, are all outpourings of my desire to please Him, an expression of His in-dwelling.

Has this beacon of excellence been a tool this year? Absolutely. Have I 'achieved' excellence in all the areas I would have liked to? Absolutely not. And that is the purpose of these defining words, to create a philosophy, a guide for our varying paths. Clarity has come this year through this term of excellence, clarity in areas that need more work, clarity in what needs to laid down, clarity in what areas have been refined and may have something to offer.

Excellence.

And the journey continues.

**********************************************************************

Well that's it folks, thanks for coming along for the ride.
I will always be grateful that I took this journey with these wonderful blogging buddies. 2009 will forever be the Year of the Word for me!!

Finally, I wish everyone a fantastic New Year filled with loads of enlightenment! And it goes without saying I will always be sending you tons of love and light!

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed". ~~~ Albert Einstein

PS I love the lines from this Enya song "My! My! Time flies!"

"A new day is on its way, so let's let yesterday go
Could be we step out again
Could be tomorrow but then,
Could be 2010!!! "

PSS Oh I almost forgot this journey would not have been taken if we hadn't "met" our blooming good friend Caroline over at Constantly Evolving. Bless you Caroline!

The photo was taken in Nov 2008 at Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi, Sydney. The artist Steinunn Thorarinsdottir from Iceland named it "Presence - Look and See"

A Few Memories

2009-12-20T11:45:00.001+11:00

Here are a few reflections of my life through photos. I have been sharing these photos on Facebook so some of you may already have seen them.

St Mark's Square, Venice, Italy 2004.....being loved by pigeons!

Havana, Cuba, Feb 2003 - It was fun being driven around in these yellow Coco taxis.

Somewhere in Cuba, Feb 2003 - Plowing a field...only pretending!

Trying out the Cuban Cigars at home in Sydney, April 2003

One of my favourite photos of the time I spent in Rwanda with these kids, Nov 2006.

"Memory... is the diary that we all carry about with us".
~~ Oscar Wilde, "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Fleeting Moments

2009-12-12T10:10:00.000+11:00

It is only now we have entered the final month that it has dawned on me that we are at the end of a "9" year and therefore a decade (whatever certain purists may say). Ten years gone in the blink of an eye. A billion fleeting moments merging together.

The ninnily named "noughties" are over and on January 1 we will be heading into what is already being called the even more ghastly "tennies"...a most unfortunate tag!

I'm amazed this event has snuck up on me, as the last decade was a momentous occasion in my life, which I seemed to spend most of the previous year anticipating and analysing.

Obviously, 10 years ago was the BIG one - the great Y2K crisis. Oh, how hilarious was that??

I am so glad I have kept a book entitled "Surviving the Y2K Crisis in Australia". It's such a brilliant reminder of the temporary insanity that gripped us. One passage that particularly sticks in my mind was the advice to keep sacks of lentils in your attic. I wonder if anyone is still eating them. For those people, this would have been the Dhal Decade.

But putting that detail aside, it was undeniably a big and thrilling thing to live through the turning of a millennium. It'll be 1000 years before anyone gets to do it again. Heck, I even learned to spell it - and of course it was all the more thrilling to celebrate it in Sydney, knowing that in a matter of months there would be more fireworks for the opening of the Olympics.

As to what the "tennies" will bring, I can't sniff much on the wind. A lot more technology presumably. The next social networking phenomenon. Or maybe a reaction against all that.

I just hope that someone comes up with a better name for it.

What I do know is I will be travelling far and wide, connecting, hugging, laughing, dancing with many of my blogging buddies!!

"The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.”

Circular Quay, Sydney, September 2008, where many of us celebrated the turning of the millennium back in 2000.

Forever

2009-12-05T12:28:00.005+11:00

Forever is overrated. Sesame Street, turning 40 this month, has been hailed as being forever young. "Water Forever" is the new pipeline plan for Perth. Good old Collingwood, goes the song are forever. Whatever.

Last time I checked the dictionary, eternity is not a month of Sundays but the absence of Sundays, of clocks in general. If Chris Brown is going to dance forever (ever ever), then he's going to need titanium knees.

How many days do you give a romance built on quick-fire txts saying I LV U 4EVA? I'm guessing 2WKS MAX ;).

Ignore James Bond. For the marathon smoothie to imply diamonds are forever is to neglect we burr the same stones into dust and clusters. Better to plump for Cockroaches Are Forever!

Permanent is forever-lite. Ask any salon - a good perm lasts two months.

While I have no beef with eternity the concept, I am intrigued by humans always abusing such sacred terms. Even for those of a Christian bent, wafting the word "forever" like incense smoke...I'd be inclined to add a rider to the Lord's Prayer: Forever and ever, we hope.

No matter the synonym, our tongue corrupts it. In a world of email, the postie's lucky to ring once, let alone always twice.

Just for an experiment, I walked to the corner store, shelling out $1.50 on a box of Nestle's Everlasting Gobstoppers. A single chewy ball lasted 6 1/2 minutes, and that was sucking it like the last morsel left on earth.

Can't say which is worse, pretending, like Frank Sinatra that his lover's cherry smile will always be there or camouflaging a calendar year as the going duration of permanence.

The question is set to gnaw me. Interminably.

"Love is not written on paper, for paper can be erased. Nor is it etched on stone, for stone can be broken. But it is inscribed on a heart and there it shall remain forever."

I am eternally grateful that Charlie & Joseph are apart of my life. - Cromer January 2009

Postscript:

Nina P.....a brilliant blogger whom I love dearly, wrote this comment....it just blew me away!!!!

"What a thought provoking post......
Forever is a town in _____.
It's a song, a book, a word, endless, always, never ending...
Forever is a thought, a moment, a breath, a feeling...
Forever is waiting for a loved one to return,
The time it takes for an off key Karaoke singer to finish,
The time it takes for that favorite desert to finish baking,
Forever is not long enough for an optimist, too long for a nightmare, and just long enough for a day dream.
Forever is etc., etc., etc....
Forever is always, never and now.
Forever is the thoughts that were generated by your "Forever" post.
Forever is under rated, over rated, rated just right.
Forever is the Love (your Love) I see in your photo's of Charlie & Joseph.
They must bring forever smiles to that great big heart and soul of yours.
May you and yours be Blessed, forever.
Love and Light, Nina P"

Reflecting On Our Words - November

2009-11-30T11:11:00.001+11:00

2009 is rapidly coming to a close....And what a year it has been! This year has been an extra special year for me, one I won't forget for a long, long time.

As many of you know four delightful ladies and myself decided to focus on a word for the year instead of making a New Year resolution. Our words have been our touchstones. They have reminded and encouraged us to live our lives more fully. It has been a purposeful journey written out loud!

For November we decided to reflect how animals/creatures give meaning to our words.

Coach's - word is ABUNDANCE and she chose an ELEPHANT

I have chosen the ELEPHANT as an animal depicting ABUNDANCE. Of course, it does have abundant size but it also lives abundantly. Here is what I found out:

Elephants cry. They express grief at the loss of another elephant. They exhibit behaviors that depict sadness, bowing their heads, lowering their ears, and pausing at the place where another elephant has died.

Elephants play. They express joy at seeing other elephants. They dance around, spin and twirl, and trumpet joyful sounds.

Elephants are helpful. They take care of each other and especially the babies in the group.

Elephants give back. Without intention of doing so, their feet make large depressions in the ground where water can collect and be a provision for other animals.

Elephants are social. They live in large family groups and communicate over long distances with each other.

In my quest for an Abundant life, I think these characteristics are certainly a start. Have empathy for others, find joy in play, care for others, give back to the greater community, and create a positive family environment.

Roban's- words are JOY and FAITH and she chose a DOG

I'm sure my choice of dogs to express the meaning of joy doesn't surprise those who know me. Both Scout and Maggie have a way of warming my soul, making me laugh, and filling me with heartfelt joy.

They are ALWAYS happy to see me. They do the silliest things that make me laugh out loud, yet they are attuned to the personalities and emotions that flavor our home....

Studies have shown that owning a pet can add years to your life. In fact, just petting a dog has been shown to lower blood pressure. And residents of nursing homes have shown a boost in mood and social interaction when a dog has been brought in for a visit.

My two dogs definitely bring joy to my home, to my life, to my family.

Julie's- word is EXCELLENCE and she chose a SWAN

My word for '09 has been excellence and after a bit of zoological searching, I finally settled on the swan as the emblem for my word. Swans typically mate for life and have strong family bonds. The male and female swans nurture and raise their cygnets together, developing their own 'tribe', if you will. The image of a swan has graced many a coat of arms, conjuring connotations of nobility and are seen as symbols of love and fidelity because of their tendency to form life-long bonds. Many fairy tales and myths surround the species, the moral of the tales often being the adherence to beauty and grace, even in the midst of difficulty and ridicule.

Plus, swans are just pretty to look at. They just are.

Which is perhaps not the most excellent reason to choose a swan as my symbol of excellence. But I also got to take a great picture of one down of the lake during the summer.

And that sealed the deal for me...

Annemarie's - word is DISCIPLINE and she chose an ANT

The ant has received a bad rap throughout history as a pest, a nuisance, an annoyance. While in Puerto Rico, I would often be surprised to find ants in my sugar, but no one else would be surprised. In Texas we are known for a more ferocious type, the fire ant - certainly not a little creature to be reckoned with.

While thinking about this critter, I began to realize the one thing no one has ever called an ant is lazy. When you see ants, what are they doing? Moving, carrying, building, preparing for whatever may come. If you destroy their home, the very next day they have set up shop just on the other side of the sidewalk. Which brings me to my story...

In a field one summer's day, Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing gleefully. Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

Grasshopper tried to dissuade Ant from his work by inviting him along in his day of reverie, but Ant could not be swayed. He was preparing for the long winter. Ant tried to convince Grasshopper of the foolishness of his ways telling him he too should lay up stores.

Grasshopper was not worried about winter as he had plenty of food for now and continued to while away the hours and days leading up to the first snow at which time he found himself dying of hunger. Meanwhile, Ant and his family could be seen surviving from what was stored away during the good weather.

At that point Grasshopper knew IT IS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DAYS OF NECESSITY.

There are times when I would rather play than have the DISCIPLINE to stay at home and clean house or go to the grocery store and shop for the family. Sometimes I give in and later have to pay the consequences. Other times I pull myself together to get done what needs to be.

Over the course of this year, my focus on DISCIPLINE has led me to see the error of many of my ways - most of which I have tried hard to change. Of course being human and having the luxury of being able to go out if need be, I have not perfected this way of life. It is still something I strive to improve.

My word is BALANCE and I chose a DOLPHIN

One day a long time ago, I was watching a documentary about dolphins and something inside me clicked. I was well into my late 20’s and was watching the television as if I was glued to it. It felt as if I was in a mind-meld with the dolphins and it was too a point that I started to cry because on some spiritual level, I understood what these dolphins were saying. I just knew that the dolphin was my Spiritual Animal Totem, I just knew it!

The beautiful, graceful, sleek dolphin carries many messages for the two legged! A key to understanding because the dolphin meaning is connected with themes of duality. It has to do with the dolphin being both fish and mammal. It is both of the water, and an air breather. Ergo, dolphin symbolism talks to us about "being in two worlds at once." Indeed, the dolphin is a great conveyor of the concept of yin and yang.

It is playful, and is a reminder that time to play is a crucial element in walking in BALANCE. It moves through the water quickly and with great grace, ever moving with the flow. Dolphins tell us to move with the ebb and flow of life, and not to search for brick walls to smash into. To spend our energy fighting the current gets us nowhere. Being constantly at war with others, with our surroundings and with circumstances we cannot change, destroys the spirit, eats away at hope, and consumes the joy of life.

The power of the Dolphin is community in BALANCE.

"The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth".
~ Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928

I'd love to hear what animal/creature YOU my friends in cyberspace would associate with your word.

New Portal To Understanding

2009-11-16T23:33:00.001+11:00

Millions of words have been written and broadcast about the rise of religion around the world, but rarely included in the discourse is the most powerful new spiritual force of them all.

For hundreds of millions of people there is a new portal of understanding, a gateway to the world, a tree of knowledge, a believers' bible. The legion of believers grows with every hour.

They believe in Google!

The word suggests infinite power. It is derived from a mathematical term, googol, which means 1 to the power of 100. The two visionaries who founded the company called Google chose the name to signify their dream of harnessing the immensity of information flowing through cyberspace. They have succeeded. This year Google will process more than 180 billion requests of information. It has become the world's most powerful information company. It has a market capitalisation of $173 billion. And it sprang to life just 11 years ago in September 1998.

Google inspires awe. It has been able to harness the wisdom of crowds, the collective effort of many people acting independently of each other, on a scale never seen before.

Because of Google, our species' capacity and need for co-operation is evolving into a new and higher phrase of social organisation. We appear to be becoming more like a giant ant colony, a multitude of individuals with a collective brain, and a single wellspring, a super-entity which evokes power, action and belief.

"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night."
~ Charles M. Schulz American cartoonist, 1922-2000

I wonder how far technology will advance by the time Joseph reaches manhood - Dee Why Beach Oct 2009

11th hour, 11th day, 11th month

2009-11-11T11:11:00.004+11:00

It's no wonder Australian soldiers were dancing in the streets of London.
The 11th November 1918 marked the end of the bloodiest war the world had seen, 'the war to end all wars'. Of the Australian population of 5 million, 300,000 young men went to the Great War. More than two thirds of soldiers were casualties of the war: 60,000 Australian soldiers died and 156,000 were wounded or taken prisoner.

What have we learnt from this 'war to end all wars'?

Not enough to bring peace among nations.

Wars and conflicts continue to create new graves with the same echoes of unrealized hope.

There is a Chris de Burgh song called "The Getaway" and these words which are part of the lyrics are so pertinent to my beliefs.

"We're sick and tired of hearing,
That the world is gonna blow,
So there's something we'll
do to the leaders
Before we go;

Let's stick'em in a room
together - Yeah!! -
And make them fight it out,
Until they see nothing from nothing
Will leave nothing at all"

I feel we will not end conflict until we have learned to cultivate peace in our own minds.

"I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?"
~ Eve Merriam

This is a photo from NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 11th November 2009

"Today, in celebration of Galileo's telescopic achievements and as part of the International Year of Astronomy, NASA has used its entire fleet of Great Observatories, and the Internet, to bring the center of our Galaxy to you. Pictured above, in greater detail and in more colors than ever seen before, are the combined images of the Hubble Space Telescope in optical light, the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared light, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory in X-ray light. A menagerie of vast stars fields are visible, along with dense star clusters, long filaments of gas and dust, expanding supernova remnants, and the energetic surroundings of what likely is our Galaxy's central black hole".

What an absolutely AWESOME picture!!!

Corey Vidal - Friends

2009-11-07T00:12:00.002+11:00

My lovely Texan friend Annemarie posted this youtube on my Facebook page today.....thank you muchly friend.

I LOVE IT!!!

The guys name is Corey Vidal and what a talented guy this Toronto man is!

So now I dedicate this video to all my gorgeous blogging friends.
Have a very happy, safe weekend.....and keep smiling...keep shining!

Pom pom-pom, pom pom-pom (ping) (repeat)
(A Capella)

Friends sing together
La La La La
Friends do things together
La La La La
Friends laugh together
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Friends make graphs together
La La La La

Friends help you when you're in danger
Friends are people who are not strangers
Friends help you shift into a new place
Tell you if you've got food on you're face

Friends are the ones, on who you can depend
He's my friend, He's not my friend
Friends are the ones who are there at the end
He's my friend, They're not my friends

If you trip over I'll catch you're fall
If you break my dick, I won't break you're balls
If you get drunk and vomit on me
I'll make sure you get home safely

If you cross the road and a drunk struck you
And scrape you up and reconstruct you
I'll cheer you up if you're depressed
If you get murdered I'll avenge you're death

Friends walk together
La La La La
Pop and lock together
(Zzi zzu Zzi Zzu)

Me and him together
La La La La
Me and Jim forever

Friends go jogging at the track
Friends borrow money never pay It back
Friends do not let friends do crack
Friends go out and grab a snack
Friends drink beer in the sun
Unlike girlfriends they don't mind if you have more than one
Friends tell you when you're flys undone

My Uncle John had a special friend
They dressed a like, his name was Ben
I've never seen two friends like them
They we're very very friendly men

La La La La
Friends, Friends, Friends
La La La La
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends
La La La La
Friends, Friends, Friends, Friends
La La La La
Friends
La La La La

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin to Pooh”
~ A. A. Milne English Humorist, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, 1882-1956)

Signs

2009-11-04T00:18:00.002+11:00

Des over at Des in Real Life posted this short film about communication by Australian director Patrick Hughes

I love the concept and with it's great execution and excellent music, I think it is outstanding and well worth watching for 12 minutes.

Grab a cup/glass of your favourite drink and enjoy the ride.

“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.”
Joseph Priestley English Chemist and Clergyman, 1733-1804)

Reflecting On Our Words - October

2009-10-31T16:55:00.005+11:00

Here we go again reflecting on our words for the year that we chose in January. Ten months later Julie, Roban, Coach, Annemarie and I are still enjoying walking along this path together. Each month we "Stop and Smell the Roses"......what a lovely expression!

This month we are associating a flower with our word.

Annemarie's - word is DISCIPLINE and her flower is an Orchid

The orchid is considered to be one of four noble plants. Because it grew deep in the mountains, it was compared to scholars who had transcended the greed and fame-seeking of the secular world.

Orchid growth is affected by everything from elevation and light to humidity, air movement and nutrition. When I looked up how to care for this "delicate" flower, I realized that this is a flower I would probably kill in just a few days.

In my search for a more disciplined life, I came to an understanding about myself. I like my laid back life. I love that I am not always worried about menus and shopping lists. My children are healthy and happy. Yes, my house is less than tidy, and my flower pots outside are less than tended, but I am happy.

So as this year of searching for discipline is nearing an end, I will begin thinking about what it is that I would like to work on next year....I have two more months to think about it.

Julie's- word is EXCELLENCE and she chose Chrysanthemums

I at first thought of flowers that have great beauty or hardy qualities or are rare. But what kept coming back to me is the flower that we see a lot of during this season, the blossom that someone decided is the 'birth flower' for November. And that would be the chrysanthemum. (The chrysanthemum illustration above is from the New International Encyclopedia from 1902, with the image url being hosted at Wikipedia.)

The chrysanthemum is actually native to Asia and wasn't introduced into Europe until the 17th century. It is often seen as a symbol in Chinese and Japanese artwork. In the U.S., it is a floral symbol of the season, a happy spot of color for the autumn.

Chrysanthemums are also used in a number of beneficial ways. The petals can be used to make a sweet tea. The blossoms make a natural insecticide that is not harmful or toxic to animals and humans. The plant is also used as an antibiotic and an antiviral agent. A potted indoor chrysanthemum has also been shown to be effective in reducing indoor pollutants in the air.

And now for the tie-in to my 2009 word, excellence.

True excellence brings with it the benefits similar to the chrysanthemum. When I operate in excellence, I can make life sweeter, more palatable for those around me. When I operate in excellence, I can help reduce the pests of procrastination and apathy. When I operate in excellence, I can help fight off the infecting agents of mediocrity. And when excellence is present in the room, the environment is all the cleaner for it.

Coach's - word is ABUNDANCE and she chose Poppies

I have spent the past ten months with an action plan to have the most abundant life possible. I have cultivated new friendships and renewed old ones. I have committed time to family and used social media to create more connections with people. I made efforts to use my leadership skills in my work and have encouraged countless families in their journey toward spoken language. I have meditated and prayed. I have listened to music that stirs my soul. I have set new goals for fitness and nutrition. Abundance has been all around me each step of the way. My chosen flower can only be the flower that is a personal favorite. I have chosen the poppy. I smile when I see an abundance of poppies scattered across a field as in a Van Gogh painting. The dichotomy is that poppies have a bad rap. They are associated with a shady industry that is the demise of many people, unhealthy, commemorate the death of soldiers in some countries and symbolize remembrance.

They were used in the Wizard of Oz to hinder Dorothy's journey down the yellow brick road. Even so, looking over a field of these beautiful flowers gives me a feeling of abundance and of gratitude. Abundance spread in the open for all to see and enjoy.

Roban's- words are JOY and FAITH and she chose an Icelandic Iris

This year as I've journeyed through life contemplating faith and joy, I've been more aware of the beauty around me each day. Yet even though my focus has been on these two words, I've still had days when I saw the world through a darker lens. A busy schedule and seemingly constant demands have clouded my world at times. When my friends and I decided to choose a flower that reflected our words, my first thought was on finding a photo that captured the essence of joy. I thought of sunny buttercups and my mother's favorite flower, tulips. I also thought of flowers that connected to my word, faith.

When it comes to photography, there's no one better than Caroline Manrique of Nowords Photography to capture the beauty of everyday life, so I asked if she would be willing to share one of her photographs with me. And she sent this....

The beauty of the flower against the muted tones of the background seemed to perfectly capture my feelings this month. Even when peering through the world in an imperfect fashion, there we find it. Beauty. It stands out against the backdrop of life leaving us with a more peaceful and joyful feeling.

My word is BALANCE and I chose a Hippeastrum Cinderella

The amazing flower I chose to represent my word is called "Hippeastrum Cinderella".
I took this photo in my hairdresser's garden last week. The complete beauty and balance of this flower called to me as I was leaving his house.

Flowers have always been a source of pleasure and happiness symbolizing love and friendship and since the dawn of time we have instinctively known that flowers can lift our spirits and make us feel well again. They play an important role in restoring or evoking a sense of harmony in mind, body and spirit of healing in its quintessential form.

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair..." ~Susan Polis Shutz

"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom".
Anais Nin

As always I wish to thank Caroline over at Whimsical Whispers for her part in inspiring us to take this journey. Also do yourself a favour and visit her blog, you will be blown away by her photography!

Namaste
Peggy

PS - I plan on visiting San Francisco in July/August 2010 and wear some flowers in my hair....anyone care to join me??

Card Drops

2009-10-19T22:36:00.002+11:00

I have been inspired by reading a blog called Kind Over Matter to make some cards in Scrapblog using my photos and adding interesting phrases and quotes.

My plan is to print several copies of each card (and future cards) and scatter them about in places I feel appropriate while I am out walking.

Along with the cards I will leave a book. Being on the Lifeline Bookfair committee we had many, many books left over from the Bookfair we held in July.

I feel these cards could create a ripple effect as this quote states:
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” ~ Scott Adams

My first "port of call" will be the park opposite my house. I hope to be able to snap some photos of people picking them up, reading them and taking them home.

Random dog in car - Central Coast, NSW, Australia - August 2009

I took this photo in June 2007 in Broome, Western Australia

Sculpture by the Sea - Bondi, Sydney, November 2007

This photo was taken in Rwanda in November 2006

Sculpture by the Sea - Bondi, Sydney, November 2007

Please join me in this fun project......if you have the time and inclination.

Risks and Adventure

2009-10-04T10:21:00.003+11:00

Several years ago someone said to me on New Year's Eve, "What out-of-the-ordinary things have you done during the year"? I really needed to scratch around to find something unusual for me, something I had never done before or had felt the stretch to achieve.

Since that year, I have made it my goal to do many extraordinary (for me) things in my life so that, by year's end, I can answer that question easily.

The question has begun to fashion my life. Now, when I hesitate before a problem, I urge myself to take the risk, do the difficult, put in the extra time and to attempt the unusual, because that's what gives me satisfaction and a sense of having at least attempted something different.

I do not want a mediocre life!! NEVER!! I choose dreams and goals which are not middle of the road. Big dreams are the stuff of the extraordinary. Risking and daring are the way of the adventurer. Only risk takers are really free!

Personally, I don't take exceptional physical, emotional or business risks. That is not my style. The quote focuses on "out of the ordinary" for me tasks. It means, perhaps, learning a new computer system, staying with my decision to walk for an hour most days, taking up a new hobby, giving creative thought to my blog posts, meditating and learning to trust my intuition.

So on the morning of New Year's Eve, after cleaning the house really well to complete the year on a pure note and welcome in my new twelve months positively, I can sit quietly and contemplate the extraordinary things I have done in the past twelve months.

This can take quite some time, because twelve busy months take a lot of remembering.

I will congratulate myself on the leaps of faith I have made, the extra examples of love in my life, and even on the times I seemed merely to survive, rather than conquer a situation.

The positive extraordinaries come through loud and clear and give me a different perspective on my life and certainly keep the magic alive.

"Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is."
Jimmy Carter (American 39th US President (1977-81).

Jessen & Aimee, Nov 2006, Rwanda - At the exhibition where the children proudly displayed their photography.

Eugene and I, Nov 2006, Rwanda - saying our goodbyes!

Postscript:

My New Zealand/English buddy Stoneweaver associated the song below with this post....spot on mate!

Alanis Morissette
"You Learn"

I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
I recommend walking around naked in your living room
Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
Wait until the dust settles

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

I recommend biting off more then you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn

Reflecting On Our Words - September

2009-09-30T15:01:00.007+10:00

Words can empower and uplift our spirits and transform our lives.
Words like Abundance, Balance, Discipline, Excellence, Faith, Joy......

With my beautiful blogging buddies Annemarie, Coach, Julie, and Roban we embarked on a journey back in January where we committed to simultaneously post at the end of each month a reflection on a WORD each of us had chosen for 2009.

What a blessing these women and their words have made to my life. I love the consistency and depth of our experience we share with each other. These posts helps us stay focused and highlights our journey these words are taking us on.

To reflect on our WORDS this month we decided to make a video or choose a youtube that relates to our word.

My word is BALANCE and I chose "The Moody Blues - Balance"

Annemarie's - word is DISCIPLINE and she made this poignant video.

Julie's- word is EXCELLENCE

"This is Kari Jobe, a really sweet girl who is dear friends with some of my dear friends. She has a gorgeous song out called I'm Singing and she had viewers add their experiences and included them in the video--and the result is just 'excellent'--really amazing people continuing to walk with joy, even in the midst of some tough times--"

Roban's- words are JOY and FAITH

"When I thought of a video to express some of my thoughts on faith and joy, I immediately thought of the artist Akiane Kramarik. Her art comes from her faith, and her paintings fill me with joy and awe".

Coach's - word is ABUNDANCE

Akeelah and the Bee - Deepest Fear

Special thanks to Caroline at The Zen in You for inspiring us to take this journey.

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”
Maya Angelou American Poet, b.1928)

Namaste
Peggy

Music, Poetry, Nature = Beauty

2009-09-26T14:41:00.002+10:00

I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that ours is a dizzyingly visual society, or that many of our readily available criteria for beauty are less than skin deep.

Yet, for all that, the need to be in the presence of beauty and to soak it up emotionally is strong in most people. So is the need to be active in the creation of beauty, even if this is achieved in small ways.

To sit in an ugly or neglected room, to look out onto a parched, bleached landscape or to look at ourselves or other people through eyes that are so critical that all intrinsic beauty is lost is to risk feeling significantly emotionally bereft.

Conversely, to take the time needed to do something "beautifully", or to absorb and appreciate someone else's efforts, is invariably uplifting. In fact, when someone is clinically depressed, often one of the first things they lose is the pleasure and sense of participation that comes with appreciating or creating beauty.

But acknowledging how crucial beauty is to our souls and emotions doesn't in itself solve the question of what beauty is or the extent to which our "eyes" and, therefore, judgements are socially conditioned.

Music, poetry and nature in all its many moods are unfailing sources of beauty in my life. I love domestic gestures of beauty also: the trouble a friend takes to arrange spring vegetables on a platter; home-picked flowers; a favourite painting in a new spot. I feel we need such moments on a daily basis.

Beauty of "character" is also priceless.

"I pull you from your tower, take away your pain. Show you all the beauty you possess, if you only let yourself believe.”
Sarah McLachlan Canadian Singer and Songwriter

I visited the Muogamarra Nature Reserve last Sunday and filled my camera with these wonderful images.....nature in all its glory. This is one of the trees I hugged!!!

View from the Reserve overlooking the Hawkesbury River, Cowan, Sydney

Perception and Reality

2009-09-19T01:36:00.002+10:00

Most of us go through life with the belief system that our happiness or unhappiness is largely determined by the events in our environment and reactions of other people to us.

Frequently we feel that our happiness is dependent on good or bad luck for which we bear little responsibility.

We forget to instruct our minds to change our perceptions of the world and everything in it. We forget that peace of mind is an internal matter.

The temptation to react with anger, depression or excitement exists because of interpretations we make of the external stimuli in our environment. Such interpretations are necessarily based on incomplete perception.

When we dwell on past events or anticipate future happenings, we are living in the realm of fantasy. Whatever is real in our lives can only be experienced NOW.

We block the possibility of fresh and novel experience in our lives when we attempt to relive in the present our memories of episodes from the past, whether painful or pleasurable.

We are, therefore, in a continual state of conflict about the actual happenings of the present and are unable to directly experience the opportunities for happiness which are all about us.

From time to time I see a fragmented world where nothing seems to make much sense.

The bits and pieces of my daily life reflect the chaos I see within.

In my mind are thoughts that can hurt me or help me. I am constantly choosing the contents of my mind, since no one else can make this choice for me.

TODAY, I welcome a new perception of myself and the world.

When I am with Joseph each week, I have the privilege of viewing the world through his 3 year old eyes.....

Postscript:

Nina, a very wise and thought provoking blogger who spreads so much sunshine and happiness around the blogosphere wrote this very insightful comment I want to share.

"To look at life through the eyes of a 3 year old follows your post well. Everything is new and exciting. Colors, shapes, sounds, the world is a playground filled with the Joyful Happiness of new and exciting "things".

To choose to look at life through the proverbial rose colored glasses is not necessarily a bad thing. As a matter of fact, focusing on what's good and pleasing around us brings internal joy and happiness. We fully Love life with its rollercoaster ride if we view it as a wonderful ride of learning.

The sun rises. The reality is the earth chases around the sun playing hide and seek every day. The perception is a new beginning, a new start, a new opportunity each and every day... Kind of brings meaning to "sunshine and happiness"... (say isn't that in a song?) I hadn't read your post until today but kindred spirits we are my friend. Love and Light, Nina P".

What Is Real?

2009-09-14T22:04:00.000+10:00

Most of us are confused about what is real. Even though we sense there is something more, we attempt to settle for a reality based exclusively on feedback from our physical senses.

To reinforce this "reality", we look to what our culture defines as normal, healthy and therefore REAL.

Yet where does Love fit into this scheme of thing? Wouldn't our lives be more meaningful if we looked to what has no beginning and no ending as our reality?

Only Love fits this definition of the eternal. Everything else is transitory and therefore meaningless.

Fear always distorts our perception and confuses us as to what is going on. Love is the total absence of fear. Love asks no questions. Its natural state is one of extension and expansion, not comparison and measurement.

Love, then, is really everything that is of value, and fear can offer us nothing because it is NOTHING.

Although Love is always what we really want, we are often afraid of Love without consciously knowing it, and so we may act both blind and deaf to Love's presence.

Yet, as we help ourselves and each other let go of fear, we begin to experience a personal transformation.

We start to see beyond our old reality as defined by the physical senses, and we enter a state of clarity in which we discover that all minds are joined, that we share a common Self, and that inner peace and Love are in fact all that are REAL.

With Love as our only reality, health and wholeness can be viewed as inner peace, and healing can be seen as letting go of fear.

Love, then, is letting go of fear.

Beautiful sculpture at "Sculpture by the Sea" in Bondi, Sydney, November 2007

The Guilt Industry

2009-09-13T01:22:00.001+10:00

Christians say we're born with original sin but in my experience sin is quite difficult to achieve. Sin take some organising. Sin requires a separate credit card and a post office box. Sin requires the ability to lie under pressure.

It's more likely we're born with original guilt. Guilt is easy.

Your average person spends most of the day bathed in non-specific guilt. That's why we all flinch when we see a police officer. We can't precisely recall being part of a major bank robbery, sometime in the previous 20 minutes, but in the back of our minds there's a suspicion we probably were.

The world conspires to make us feel guilty. For every person who is peddling sin, there are 10 who are peddling guilt.

Just the other day, researchers in London accused fat people of causing global warming. Those of us with a few extra kilos are now to blame for the death of the planet. Up to now, we'd merely been blamed for adding an unattractive element to the streetscape. Suddenly we're to blame for the disappearance of the street itself!
It was like being called up before a magistrate and finding your crime had been suddenly upgraded.

"But I thought I was charged with littering..."

"No, sorry lady, it's now the destruction of all humanity. Now, how would you like to plead?"

The Guilt Industry also offers bucket-loads of official advice, all of it designed to make us all feel like failures. One example is the new recommendation on wine: drink more than one glass of wine in a 24 hour period and you'll die young. It's an unlikely piece of advice which, if followed, would bankrupt the Federal Government, so I'm guessing they don't expect people will actually do as they are told.

It's not only the wine. The Guilt Industry believes you need to spend at least an hour each day exercising, 8 1/2 hours sleeping, 8 hours working, 1 hour meditating, 10 minutes teeth cleaning, 3 minutes teeth flossing, 1 hour reading to your children, 1 hour eating dinner together in the European mode, 3 hours enduring public transport, all finished off with 20 minutes of vigorous daily sex.

By my calculation, you need 48 hours in every day just to lead what the various experts consider an acceptable life.

Just one question: if I manage to get through all 48 hours of tasks, could I at least have a second drink?

Jesus, they say, died for our sins. Shame he couldn't have also snuffed out some of the unproductive guilt!

We were not feeling at all guilty when we were barging in France in July 2008!

Doubt verses Enlightenment

2009-09-11T00:03:00.001+10:00

Great doubt - great enlightenment
Small doubt - small enlightenment
No doubt - no enlightenment

Zen belief

It's the simplest thoughts that carry the biggest punch.

The quote came to me in a newsletter article with the heading "And when we seem to fail?". It brought home that sometimes it is all right to feel no progress in any and every aspect of our lives. It isn't failure. It's looking deeper.

Here is real power in enjoying the fullness of nothing!

Feeling pleased with yourself about a breakthrough? Think about this quote.

Feeling at the end of your tether about a relationship? Look once more at this quote.

There are days when I am too smug and too comfortable about the search for meaning. "This trusting and having faith and being confident and positive is easy", a smart voice inside says. Then a whirlwind of new experience and testing shatters the comfort zone and I find myself blown from my safe mooring into a sea of doubt.

That's when I particularly appreciate the first line" "Great doubt - great enlightenment". Whatsmore, it is true! On those days when I feel annoyed with myself I feel I have moved one step forward and two steps back. Keeping this line in mind allows me to look deeper. It actually provides a light at the end of a tunnel. I ask myself "So what are the lessons from this?"

This explanation by the Zen masters is a comfort and at the same time, it is provocative. It is an attack on ego.

Only by being tested do we examine our focus on life, its meaning, our purpose and our happiness. Only by reassessing, do we grow.

When we fall into ego driven patterns, we need to bring reality into our lives by again contemplating this Zen wisdom.

I was over at Joseph's place on Wednesday and this Cockatoo came for a chat and posed for many photos. I managed to get a few photos of Joseph as well, although he is getting more reluctant these days to have his photo taken.

Two Wolves

2009-09-05T20:28:00.007+10:00

An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life:

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,

"Which wolf will win?"

The old chief simply replied, "THE ONE YOU FEED."

I know many of you have read this before but it has a powerful message. It was read out in our philosophy class on Thursday as an example of how different choices effect our life.

So the question we face is not whether or not we will be making choices in our life, today, tomorrow, next month or next year - but which choices are we going to make.