Category: inspiration

authenticity · freedom · happiness · inspiration · new beginnings

An Authentic Life

Joanne17 Comments

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For over a week now I have pondered my first post for 2014, knowing what is in my heart, but where to find the words, I contemplated?

I should never have bothered my brain, as the words arrived by magic in the form of an email this morning, from Rhonda Byrne, creator of The Secret.

“The New Year’s Resolution That Will Change Your Life

There’s one simple message that’s threaded through my books, and it’s the most important message anyone can hear if they want 2014 to be the best year of their life.

Do whatever you can to feel good, because when you feel good, life will be good. The better you feel, the better life will get! Think about, talk about, and focus on the areas of your life that make you feel good, and temporarily keep off the subjects that don’t make you feel good. When you do this one simple thing, everything in your life will get better, whether that’s better relationships, health, money, or better circumstances with your job. Nothing in your life can ever improve until you feel better, and when you feel better, everything will improve. Make feeling as good as you can your number one priority for 2014, and it will be the best year of your life!” ~ Rhonda Byrne.

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……which brings me to the point of why I needed these words.

For the last few years I have considered, rather than making New Years Resolutions, what would my theme be for the coming year? Some years, the word I am searching for simply pops into my mind unannounced, other years I have floundered around, searching for my word, without any luck. It always arrives eventually, when I have forgotten my desperation for such a word and I least expect to ever discover it.

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“As you become more aligned with the truth of who you are, the question of liking yourself goes away. It is a natural state of being.” ~ Rachel Archelaus

This time, the word arrived during December, unannounced, without even so much as a tap on the door of my subconscious mind. It arrived disguised as a feeling, a longing, a simple knowing that this is the direction my life must always take.

My word steered me, ever so gently, into the feelings of knowing that from that day forth and forever more, I must live my life as an authentic human being. So you see, my actual word for 2014 found me and began to weave its magic at some time during December, or, I began my authentic life at that time rather than awaiting January 1. Which came first, the date or the word, is of no consequence, and I don’t remember the date, for it flowed smoothly into my life and took hold of its helm.

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Rhonda Byrne’s words resonate with my soul ~ do whatever you can to feel good ~ I feel good when I am living my life as the real me, the authentic me, the person I am when I stop trying to be what I perceive others believe I am, the person I was as a child before other well meaning beings decided what I should be and began steering my life for me.

That last train of thought rattles my equilibrium, so I will banish it from my brain. Old thoughts, old habits, old perceptions, must go, if I wish to improve the content of my life as another year unfolds.

“Make a pact with yourself today to not be defined by your past. Sometimes the greatest thing to come out of all your hard work isn’t what you get for it, but what you become for it. Shake things up today! Be You…Be Free…Share.” ~ Steve Maraboli

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I already know, from both endless reading on the subject and having lived on this earth for over half a century (my god, I sound old!) that if you yourself are not happy, no one around you will be either. Happiness breeds happiness ~ isn’t that a comforting thought? It is so much easier to be happy than it is not to be and the condition is contagious!

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The following check-list that I came across recently poses the question “do you love yourself?” and asks are you…

* Following your heart’s desire.
* Taking care of your own needs.
* Taking responsibility for your life and happiness.
* Treating yourself with gentleness and kindness.
* Laughing often.
* Being yourself inwardly and outwardly.
* Spending time with people who make you feel good and limiting the time you spend with                  people who don’t.
* Forgiving yourself for what you perceive you’ve done wrong or haven’t done.
* Accepting yourself the way you are.
* Allowing love into your life.
* Spending regular time having fun and playing.

All of the above options are available to anyone, with just a simple adjustment of mindset and a touch of determination. It’s a way of life, not a grand announcement. No one need be hurt in the pursuing of one’s dreams of authenticity and any souls who cannot cope with the reality (of you becoming authentically you) will exit the stage of your life over time. I know this, therefore tolerance to change is also required.

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“How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people. What is true is invisible to the eye. It is only with the heart that one can see clearly.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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If I am to be completely honest, which is a prerequisite to being authentic, I have edged my way toward authenticity for many years already. It’s a habit, just as surely as any way we choose to live.

I’d really love to hear everyone’s thoughts on 2014. Have you a chosen word which will steer the course of your world throughout the year? This year has a positive feel about it to me, for no other reason than it’s just the way I feel!

advice · challenges · Changes · freedom · inspiration

When Freedom Begins.

Joanne7 Comments
A quiet bay, my kind of beach. Note to Self ~ I must spend more time visiting the beach.
A quiet bay, my kind of beach. Note to Self ~ I must spend more time visiting the beach.

Some of the most memorable conversations I have are brief, and with total strangers.

During the past week I had a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Marina, from a magazine I have subscribed to for the last ten years.

“What a lovely name you have”, I told Marina, to which she exclaimed, “I’ve asked my mother what was she thinking, naming me after a place where boats were kept!” And so our conversation began.

You may remember last year, (when my sewing shelves were much tidier than they are now!) I received a brand new wooden sewing box in the mail, along with other goodies that I had ordered over the phone from this same magazine company. Well, it is that time of year again, when they tempt me, the sewing and craft lover, with no end of fabulous paraphernalia, in an effort to have me part company with some cash.

I have to tell you, this is cash that I am happy to part with! They offer tremendous deals and as their offerings are purchased sight-unseen, when the boxes arrive in the mail it is like opening up a whole array of exciting Christmas presents!

But back to Marina. When I spoke to her, her manner reminded me of that of my daughter Emma, honest, friendly and easy to talk to, and whilst very good at her job, she loves a chat with the customers too.

She told me that she wondered what I would be finding to make with all of my new fabrics and threads when they arrived and I assured her that I had plenty of craft magazines on hand to give me inspiration.

I went on to tell Marina that it was only within the last year that I had returned to my love of craft and sewing for fun, that my priority of being a mother for so many years had meant my own interests had taken a back seat.

“It’s so good to know that there will come a time when I will get my “me time” back again!” Marina said, as she explained that she found being a mother was both demanding and time-consuming.

Whilst I wouldn’t have changed my last twenty-eight years of living in the Land of Motherdom, I must admit to feeling relieved that my children are now almost all independent of my motherly care and their dependence on my time is diminishing.

My brief conversation with Marina reminded me of those days, so long ago yet they seem like only yesterday, when my children were young. I recalled their sweet young faces and innocent ways, noticing my feelings erring towards accepted nostalgia rather than sadness of a time long gone.

When Marina told me that she was looking forward to her freedom I advised her to enjoy the days with her young children rather than wishing her life away; she told me she’d try.

Occasionally I have thought of my conversation with Marina a few days ago and it has helped me to realise that I am contented with the place I have reached in my life. The days when I look into the mirror and wonder who that person with the older face is are diminishing. She has earned the lines on her face, the greying hair and the skin that is beginning to age and sag. These are the signs of a life well lived.

As my conversation with Marina drew to a close she gave me her direct phone number to contact her, should I have any questions at any time, she would be there most days until six in the evening, she said. What a long day that is, no wonder Marina had no free time to herself for her own enjoyment!

This morning I came across a quote which reminded me of Marina. I get the impression that she may be a fun and quirky woman, however short of time she may be feeling. It is also a reminder to myself, a reminder of what true freedom really is ~

“Freedom begins in the moment you allow yourself to be you; the you that is fun and silly, quirky and different, unique and splendid, funky and kooky.

Hide not the parts of you, the expression of which fills you with joy and rapture, beauty and contentment, humanity and aliveness. It is by revealing those aspects that you radiate to the world the shining light you are and that we all yearn to see. “ ~ Robert Beno.

I’ve reached a place in my life where I am far more comfortable with revealing the real me, albeit with wrinkles! 🙂

autumn · happiness · inspiration · Mount Warning · music · old house · photography

Cee’s Share Your World, Weeks 19 and 20.

Joanne12 Comments

???????????????????????????????Signs of winter have crept into my part of the world this week and last night really was rather chilly indeed, with the temperature dropping down to around eleven degrees Celsius. Believe me, that’s quite cold for this area!

???????????????????????????????There are definite advantages to cool sunny days though and last night we were treated to another beautiful autumn sunset, so while I share my world by answering Cee’s questions for both weeks 19 and 20, I will also share last night’s sunset with you all. 🙂

???????????????????????????????WEEK 19 ~

On a vacation what would you require in any place that you would stay? (This was a suggested question for Cee to ask, from my blogging friend Carol.)

Usually I have an automatic response to Cee’s questions, but I had to give this one some thought. Coffee making facilities came to mind, but I could go out for coffee, I can live without a television, easily, and all places you stay in have a bed….but what I really would dislike sharing is a bathroom. So that is my answer, I would require an adjoining bathroom in any place that I would stay on vacation.

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If you were or are a writer do you prefer writing short stories, poems or novels?
I don’t believe that I would have the patience to write a novel, but short stories I can do, and I enjoy writing them. When I think about it, every blog post I write is a short story really. I do enjoy reading, and writing poetry too, but short stories are top of the list.

???????????????????????????????What’s your favorite song of the moment?

Oh that’s such an easy question to answer, it’s the song that is playing on constant repeat inside my head! The Australian version of The Voice is being shown in Australia right now, and one of my favourite contestants, Luke Kennedy, sang a duet of the song from Les Miserables, “I Dreamed a Dream”. It hasn’t left my head since that night! I’ve loved this song since I first heard it sung by Michael Crawford.

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If you were to buy a new house/apartment what is the top item on your wish list?

If I were to buy a new home, my number one criteria would be that it had to be old. I’ve always wanted to renovate an old home, a one hundred year old home would be ideal, and I would like to restore it to its former glory.

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Now onto Cee’s questions for WEEK 20 ~

Do you like winter, or not, and why?

Winter, oh how I love winter! I’m a cold climate girl. I grew up in The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where it actually snows during winter in some of the higher altitude towns. There are four definite seasons in the mountains, each with its own individual beauty, and during summer it doesn’t even get dreadfully hot. I love it!

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Are you a listener or talker?

Definitely a listener, especially when I first meet a new person and don’t know them very well. I think that everyone who knows me well would agree that I’m a very good listener, but I can talk once I get going too!

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What is your favorite juice or fruit drink?

Is there such a thing as chocolate juice? 😉 There should be, but seeing as there isn’t, I think I would have to say pineapple juice. It’s a juice that I don’t drink often, but when I do, I love it.

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What do you have to be so happy about?

My four children. Sure, there are other things that make me happy (like beautiful sunsets!) a day at a time, but ask me any day, of any year, for the last twenty-eight years (‘coz that’s how long I’ve been a mother) what makes me happy, and I would consistently say my two sons and two daughters. They are the highlights of all of my life’s happiest days, and that’s every day.

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chocolate · friends · inspiration · reading

Cee’s Share Your World ~ Week 18.

Joanne18 Comments
My indoors girl, fourteen year old Phoebe.
My indoors girl, fourteen year old Phoebe.

When my blogging friend Carol answers the questions to “Cee’s Share Your World” each week, I really enjoy reading what she has to say. Sometimes her responses are definite, usually they sound as though she is thinking out loud as she comes up with her answers, and they are absolutely always fun to read! After Carol has shared just a little bit more about her world, at her blog “Wanderings of an Elusive Mind”, I realise that through her simple replies to Cee’s random questions, I have got to know Carol just that little bit better.

For quite a while now I have been “bumping into” Cee around the blogging world and have often thought I would like to join in with Share Your World. This morning, after seeing the questions and reading Carol’s answers, I have decided that today is the day, no more procrastinating. I’m not sure when the “week” begins and ends for Cee, so I’m assuming that Week 18 began on the day that Cee added her post with the questions, which was Monday, April 29th, allowing me a couple of days still to join in. If I have the rules wrong, I do hope that Cee will set me straight.

So here goes ~

What is your favorite animal?

Oh, that is an easy question. Even though I love many different animals, my ultimate favourite is most definitely cats. During my entire life, I think I have only been without a cat (or cats) in my world for a total of three years. To me, a house is not a home without at least one cat to share it with. My children have often joked that as I grow older, I will probably become the crazy cat woman, with cats all over the house. You may be right, kids! 😉

Miss Tibbs enjoying the sun this morning.
Miss Tibbs enjoying the sun this morning.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

Chocolate! No question about it. And if the chocolate is dark (my latest delicious discovery), coffee or mint flavoured (or both!) all the better. 🙂

What subject would you like to study in depth, if given the time to do so?

Linguistics and English literature. I love reading, books, crosswords, the context and meanings of words, the written word. I even love pens, pencils and paper, being the instruments with which to write those words. And when computers and the internet became readily available, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! Words and writing fascinate me, I love written communication of any kind and I enjoy the play of the meanings and context that words can be used in. Gee, I could write a blog post for that answer!

Just one of the many bookcases in my home.
Just one of the many bookcases in my home.

What object do you always have with you when traveling and why?

It took me a minute to think about that. My initial response was a camera, although thinking back, I haven’t always owned a camera. So, when I cast my mind back and thought about what it is that I always place in my packing pile first, when preparing to travel, it’s a book, or books. I have never in my entire life travelled without a book. Why? I can’t travel with my cat! Cats and books are my two absolute essentials in life.

Well that was fun, thanks Cee! Now I’m wondering why it has taken me so long to Share my World. 🙂