random thoughts...: What a weekend!

random thoughts...: What a weekend!: "You know the weekends I love? The ones where the jobs get done! I promised my sister four raised gardens for her birthday, and finally we g..."

What a weekend!

You know the weekends I love? The ones where the jobs get done!

I promised my sister four raised gardens for her birthday, and finally we got a weekend of good weather.
I spent nearly all day Saturday sawing wood and drilling...and by days end my back was so sore, and tennis elbow was flaring in both elbows. BUT, it was a job I had been wanting to get done, so was feeling pretty satisfied.

I am doing what I can to encourage my sister to grow some vegetables and herbs! We have both long held an interest in good health and diet, so I am just doing what I can to help!

I may get some extra seedlings going come spring and take some out for her. I think the gardens are a good height, and easy to get at from all sides, so should make vegetable gardening a pleasure! Can you think of anything better than going out into the garden and eating a fresh strawberry, guava, or tomato, straight from the plant? The energy of the food is at its very best!

The other jobs that I had wanted to get done was to move the Feijoas and Chilean Guavas from sitting on top of the soil, to planted IN the soild!

I had -- after the first picture was taken -- bought another Chilean Guava! This garden is the garden for growing fruit! Must admit, those are voilets planted along the front, but my argument is: they will attract the bees!

We do actually have a Feijoa already...but when you like Feijoas (as out whole family does) then one tree is simply never enough! Feijoas have always been a treat...now they will be a feast!

Getting out in the fresh air and doing some gardening, is just as much about exercise and fresh air as it is about growing healthy organic food. We spend so long indoors in winter, that come spring and summer I want to be outdoors in  my gardens. I never used to be much of a gardener, but it's a bit addictive!

I also finally put the Compact Stella Cherry in the pot, and that job was another that had been waiting for me.

Why a cherry? Why in a pot? A friend of mine, a gorgeous girl called Debbie, told me about her cherry tree in a pot and the six kilos of fruit she got off it last season. I admit that I will need to learn how to keep it pruned properly, but I have a gardener friend who can help me with that.

It has been a busy, tiring weekend ... and I am now rewarding myself with a large mug of tea and a sit down while I watch the rugby match between the Wallabies and the Springboks!

We Expect Too Much of Each Other

You don't see this man complain that he doesn't have a car.

In my heart, I know that there is more beyond what I see than I could possibly imagine.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the mundane day-to-day struggle of life, and of trying to be what I think other people expect me to be, that I do not allow myself to BE who I am.

I am under no obligation to grieve for the economy, to grieve for the loss of another’s opportunities (that may never have been for their highest good anyway), to grieve for the hurtful comments made by another adult, to grieve for their lack of enjoyment of life.

I am under no obligation to grieve for you.

So, please, stop expecting me to. Stop getting angry with me because I do not grieve for what you feel you do not have in your life.

You have so much.

And yet you focus only on that which you do not have.

• I would rather celebrate having one dollar in my pocket than grieve for the fact that I do not have two dollars in my pocket.

• I would rather celebrate my simple small apartment, than grieve for the big seven bedroom house that I do not have.

• I would rather celebrate every second of the lives of my children, than ever ever grieve for how much it costs to raise them.

• I would rather eat soup and scones for dinner at home with my family, than grieve for the dinner I am not having in a fancy restaurant.

• I would rather celebrate the days I get to spend with my father and sister, than grieve at the months during which we live thousands of miles apart.

• I would rather marvel at the sunrise, than grieve over the pile of ironing that I could be tending to.

• I would rather celebrate that last piece of chocolate cake, than mourn that it is almost all gone.

• I would rather relish ever second that my friends can spend with me, than mourn that we don’t get to see each other enough.

• I would rather celebrate the heat of the day, than complain that it is too hot to go out.

• I would rather enjoy that cup of tea at the food-court up the road, than complain that the sweat is running down my back.

• I would rather walk on aching feet to the coffee shop to share cheesecake with my child, than say no and loose that special time together.

My life is what I make of it. My life is joyous, because I choose to see things through joyous eyes.

My life is abundant, because I choose to see the abundance in life.

We see what we look for. We find what we expect.

Change the self you show the world

Sometimes we need to pause and consider if what we are showing the world is truly representative of who we are now, in this moment?

Or is it representative of a past ‘us’?

As we grow and evolve—and I am talking about the spiritual path—we change. That which was once representative of who we were—our style of dressing, footwear, business cards, website design—is no longer accurate. It is time to take a look at who we are now, in this moment.

Who are you? What’s your style? Do the clothes you wear represent who you are? Does your website represent your personality and joy of life?

Is everything a bit too restrained? Too confined? Too non-descript?

Staying within a past description of you is like tying a weight around your ankles and then walking on. It holds you to that past. If you can let go of what represented you in the past and embrace what is representative of you now, then you can forge ahead unburdened.

We cannot pretend that we have not changed. We cannot continue to act in a way that is no longer who we are.

We have to live, fully and joyously, in this moment and every moment beyond.

Don’t bind yourself to something you have outgrown. Allow yourself to expand and grow and rejoice at the BEingness that you are.

Writers don't just WATCH movies

Last night I was watching the first part of the Phantom mini series, and I thought ‘sheesh, should I turn this off and do some re-editing?’ I sat there and thought about this and I realised that writers don’t watch movies, we study them!

As a writer I assessed the ongoing story, the character development, the interactions, the setting, the sensibility. I looked at what did and did not work, at what was done purely to freak out the viewers, at what could have been done differently, at what would have made the story line stronger.

Oh yes, I enjoyed the episode, but it was definitely not mindless entertainment. It was a time to sit and assess the workings of the story.

I’m not interested in movies that rely on special effects and have very little evident storyline, they are a waste of time. There is no excuse for any movie lacking a story line.

Good story. Whole characters. Relationships. Interactions. I want to see how the writer handled them, how real they were to him/her. You can always sense when the writer was not close to the characters, as there is a shallowness to the development.

So, next time I watch a movie or a miniseries will I feel guilty? No, I will call it what it is: study time!

All Blacks v Wallabies

Whilst lacking in the excitement and drama of the previous three All Blacks matches, I have to say that Saturday’s game was a good solid performance from the All Blacks.

They kept focused, and did not let up on the Wallabies for a second.

To their credit, the Wallabies gave a great effort, they never stopped trying to score, they had posession of the ball for much of the match...they just couldn't seem to convert that possession into goals.

In four matches of the Tri-Nations:

All Blacks v Springboks = All Blacks WIN

All Blacks v Springboks = All Blacks WIN

All Blacks v Wallabies = All Blacks WIN

All Blacks v Wallabies = All Blacks WIN

One of the greatest dangers in any rugby match is coming out slow. You have to come our hard and fast, full on, no letting up, attack attack attack…and that is exactly what the All Blacks have done in each match. It’s inspiring stuff to watch.

I’m a rugby fan. I love the total commitment of the game, the total body commitment.

And yet, it is a crazy game! Grab the ball and try to run through a line of burly players? Madness! But I tell you what, when someone makes it through, you are suddenly on the edge of your seat! And when a set piece goes perfectly to plan and a player dives over the line, the cheer is almost as involuntary as breathing!

Live with PASSION!

It is time to live with PASSION and PERSONALITY!!! To do anything less is to live life less fully!

Family, friends and society all demand things from us, behaviors, procedures, manners, interactions, tact, etc etc etc. But in trying to answer everyone else’s requirements/demands, we never really discover who we are.

And so, starting today, starting the moment I began to realize this: I will live with all the passion, personality and love that I am.

We are each unique, and were never meant to be replicas of a divine being, but rather us living as a divine being. Me, and all that I am, my sense of humor, my personality, my passions, all living as a divine being. It is all about how we live.

I have met many people who…to be honest…they live such a pale life, when there is such magnificent, colorful passion and joy just waiting to burst through. They are living in pastel, when the full pallet of color is available to them.

Look back at your life, and see (particularly for women) how you changed your behavior because you wanted to fit in, to be accepted, to be liked, to be respected, to be envied, to make people proud, to impress, to fit in with a partner’s friends and associates. You will see, time and time again, how you ‘played a role’. This is why so many of us don’t really know who we are.

The funny thing for me is…when I am writing I know exactly who my characters are, and when I am writing I know that that is who and what I am: a writer.

I have had a tendency to behave conservatively with other people, and that stops now. I went to dinner a few weeks ago, dressed up in my jeans, high heeled red boots, and black leather jacket, and I was just me in all my glory for the night. And you know what? It felt great. I talked to the people sitting around me and we all had a great time. I think it was a better night because I was being my passionate self and not the conservative ‘Mr X’s wife’.

So, here’s my suggestion. Let’s all start living with a whole lot more passion and personality. Stop hiding, stop being conservative.

My Dad and I often have the discussion of ‘characters’ and he (being born in 1929) worked with men who had survived WWII. Some of these men were real characters! They had been through something so brutal, but they knew what was important. Today’s corporate world and bosses are all about money and profit, and making themselves feel important. It’s power games, and they have never ever had to truly test themselves in battle. And don’t you dare talk to me of board room battles, because they are not battles. Compared to a war, to life and death struggles, they are petty arguments amongst power hungry people. That’s all.

People who have faced their mortality return home changed by that experience. Whilst we who have not faced our mortality are still buying into this plastic false, surface living life.

No more!!!

I’m tired of talking to people who are afraid to fully live. Let’s live, with passion and personality!! Don’t be afraid to be you.

Forget the pastel colors, forget the beige life. Let us live the full pallet of colors!!!