Tag: happiness

daughter · Mum

Being Authentically “You”

Joanne4 Comments

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”. ~  Sir Walter Scott (1808)

When my eldest daughter told me that she had realised she was copying me, when making choices for her own life and had stopped doing so as she wanted be authentically herself, I couldn’t have been happier.

I asked her whatever had possessed her to want to copy me in the first place, and she told me simply, “Because I love you, I guess”.

There is an old saying that ‘imitation is the highest form of flattery’, but how much imitation is too much?

Think about it carefully. Do you really want the responsibility of knowing that there is someone out there, who is not truly being themselves, because they are imitating you?

Or would you be content to spend your own life living as another person would have you live it?

An innocent act of admiration for someone in your life can lead to a web of deception, a web that you may not even realise that you have got yourself caught up in, until one day you wake up to the fact that the person who is living your life, isn’t really you.

I know this to be true, as I’ve lived the “lie”, albeit an innocent lie, but none the less destructive.

Throughout the month of March, the theme at the Calm Space was “change” and I submitted my article to Karen rather timidly, with the content being so personal.

There were two deciding factors on why I finally decided to allow Karen to publish what I had written. One – Karen told me she loved the article (and it always helps to know the Editor is happy!)

My second deciding factor was that I realised that someone who reads my story may actually learn something, and benefit from the mistakes I have made.

My message is an important one. I do hope you will read my article at the Calm Space, “Living the Richest of Lives”.

“Your experiences are not limited to what you have created in the past”. ~ Gary Zukav

challenges

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Refuge

Joanne8 Comments
We hear him, but rarely see him.

This week’s WordPress photo challenge was announced just this morning and I have what I think is the perfect photo for this week’s theme ~ Refuge.

There are times when I’m sitting quietly at home, listening to the beautiful sounds of silence in my sleepy little village, when the silence will be shattered by a sound I simply love ~ the croaking of a green frog, coming from just outside my office window.

Over the years we have traced our resident frog families sounds to behind a block retaining wall out the front of our house. We hear them there, but we never see them there!

My only sightings of our froggy friends has been a few years ago, when for reasons only known to the frogs themselves, they took it upon themselves to hitch a ride in the boot of my car! You can imagine my surprise at opening the boot of my car at the supermarket, only to find a frog inside!

Not wishing for the frog to lose its way in an unfamiliar place, I would gently close the car boot, drive home and return him to his retaining wall.

I think the frogs became adventurous about three times, always by somehow managing to get into the boot of my car.

One night a couple of weeks ago, my daughter Emma walked out the front of the house and shrieked, thinking she had discovered an unwelcome cane toad, but no, it was one of our little green friends, no doubt thinking it was safe at night to venture out from behind his retaining wall.

So here he is; one of my little garden friends who constantly brings delight to my day with his low-key vocal chords!

Shortly after this photo was taken he was gone again, no doubt having taken refuge yet again within the safety of his home, behind the retaining wall.

chocolate · music · son

With Gentle Music in my Mind…

JoanneLeave a comment

Words escape me today.

No, allow me correct myself; the words are present, lyrically bouncing along in my mind to the tunes of the songs I listened to yesterday afternoon and last night.

It’s the written word which escapes me, so I will rhythmically share with you the music playing in my head!

How could I ignore listening to the final few songs of the “Top 100 Love Songs”, featured on television late yesterday afternoon when I arrived home?

My super cool, thirteen year old son joined me, singing along to the songs, as I listened, amazed yet again, at his knowledge of songs recorded decades before his birth.

Adam and I shared chocolates whilst singing along to romantic melodies….”I Honestly Love You” from Olivia Newton John, “How Deep Is Your Love”, the Bee Gees, “I Will Always Love You” sung by Whitney Houston (from the movie “The Bodyguard”, Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and the number one song of the countdown, from the movie “Titanic”, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.

Romantic songs over chocolates with your son ~ it doesn’t get much better than that!

My musical interlude continued later in the night with the discovery of the 2011 “Grammy Awards”. Not a big fan of rap music, although rap is big right now and does appear to have many fans, I persevered through the rap, to be later rewarded by hearing “Lady Antebellum’s” smooth, lyrical voices.

Towards the end of the Grammy’s, which didn’t finish screening here in Australia until nearly midnight, came the artist with thee song…Barbra Streisand singing one of the most beautiful songs of all time, “Evergreen”.

In case you missed it, here is the song I’ve had playing over and over and over in my head, all day long!

Barbra Streisand, “Evergreen”…

I managed to find an old Barbra Streisand CD in my cabinet this morning, which went out in the car with me this morning. Evergreen (track 9) was on constant replay!

The realities and practicalities of life continued as they always do today, all day long, but oh, how much easier realities are to contend with, with a beautiful song spinning around your mind! 🙂

(Photo Credit)

advice · gratitude · happiness

Live the Life of Your Own Creation

JoanneLeave a comment

“All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good and out of this situation only good will come. I am safe.” ~ Affirmation, Louise L. Hay.

Back in June of last year, whilst a guest writer at the Calm Space, I wrote an article entitled “The Wondrous Power of Our Thoughts”.

During January and February, the lovely Káren, editor of the Calm Space, is re-running some of her favourite articles from the past three years and she has given me the honour of again sharing one of my articles.

Thank you so much, Káren! 🙂

The topic of the power of our mind is one that I am rather passionate about. I truly believe that we all actually have control over our lives, through our own thoughts.

If my health fails, I ask myself what is bothering me.

If circumstances in my life are not as I wish them to be, I re-run my thought process of the preceding days.

More and more, I rely on the Universe and my own instincts to guide me through every day.

Why not try it for yourself? Follow your instincts and listen to your heart. Go with the flow and follow whatever journey you find your life leading you towards.

Believe in the strength of the power of intention and suggestion. Allow affirmations to guide you and show gratitude for the miracles you encounter along the way.

Have faith in yourself, believe that your own intuition will guide you towards the right path in life, the one that is just right for you and pay attention to the wonders that will unfold before your eyes.

When learning to mould your life through your own choice and intentions, some changes will become evident immediately, whilst other changes may take a little more time.

Be patient, while “The Wondrous Power of Our Thoughts” weaves its magic into your life.

daughter

A Reminder of a Priceless Treasure

Joanne2 Comments

Further to last night and my post “A Time for Silence”…..

After completing my post, I wandered off to have a browse at what was on the television. I felt rather “brainless” and needed something to amuse me, without having to concentrate, before I turned in for the night.

At first flick through the TV channels I found nothing entertaining at all. Surely there must be something worth watching on the fifty-million channels available?

Fox Classics was the big winner. How did I mange to miss this, during the first flick through?

I had missed the beginning of “The Sound of Music”, but that’s okay. Hadn’t I seen this movie enough times during my life to know where I was up to in the story line?

With my body constantly breaking out in goose-bumps, I sailed along on my cloud of reminiscing, recalling most of my favourite songs from the movie; “Edelweiss”, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, “The Lonely Goatherd”, “My Favourite Things”, “So Long, Farewell” and of course, the movies signature song, “The Sound of Music”.

As the wedding scene began, I instantly recalled that Maria walks down the aisle of the abbey, to marry her beloved Gaylord, (played by the dashing Christopher Plumber), to the song, “Maria”. I remembered the post I wrote here last year, in July, noting that my own daughter, Emma, reminded me so much of Maria in “The Sound of Music” (played by Julie Andrews).

At the time, I gave the post the title of “Miss Seventeen”. Emma is now eighteen, is definitely still my “Maria” and still makes my heart dance and sing, every day!

If you would like to read the post, you can do so here….

As I re-read the words I had written about my daughter less than twelve months ago, it became evident to me that she has matured. Oh, for sure, she is still my “Wild Child”, but my girl is learning new lessons of life, every day.

It seems like only yesterday, when she was just fifteen years old and I worried myself to a frazzle over her. Wanting to protect her, I tried to hold her down, just a teeny-weeny bit.

She announced to me one day, with the most solemn look on her face, that she knew I was only trying to protect her, but she wanted to make her own mistakes.

How could I argue with her? They were the very same words I had spoken to my own mother, as a teenager!

Emma reminded me that it is impossible to live someone else’s life for them. You can only ever live your own life.

So here we are, three years down the track from that most memorable of conversations. There are still times when I worry myself to a frazzle over my beautiful girl, but what else can I do? I’m her mother!!!

Emma is living her own life and learning from her own mistakes. She has grown in maturity since July last year and she is happy; oh, she is very happy!

Some things remain the same, though. Her bedroom is consistently messy, there are times when she is far too outspoken for words and as I write this post, late at night, she is not at home.

My Moonbeam is still sparkling, still shining her light of individualism and still making choices full of wisdom far beyond her years.

And as for me, I just keep on loving my Moonbeam, just as I have every day of her life, and since her conception.

How appropriate that my need for silence and watching an old movie has reminded me of how much I treasure one of my life’s greatest gifts ~ My daughter, Emma. 🙂