Trust Yourself - Post It Question

Another #Trust30 initiative prompted post....
( From Jenny Blake ) Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

It wasnt hard for me to identify my challenge. When i thought about it, one thing kept coming to my mind: I cant stay on top of things. Domestic things like folding the washing and putting it away, or keeping the carpet vacuumed; emotional things like NOT feeling like a bad housewife, or NOT yearning for my best-friendship back; even work things, which i claim to not really care about, keep dragging me down. And so, my post it note question becomes:

And, though the challenge says to put the post it note on the bathroom mirror ( where steam will make it fall down ) or on the back of the front door ( where either a toddler will pull it down, or a fiance will no doubt laugh at it ) i've decided the best place for it is here on my blog, and on my desktop.... where, no doubt, i will see it more often than i would any other place! Call back in 48 hrs to see the results....

Trust Yourself - One Strong Belief

I'm up to the third prompt ( or day 3 ) of the Domino Project's #Trust30 initiative. Todays prompt is:

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

Rather than write about some abstract theory of belief, or a moral value that i hold dear, i'm going to nominate two words: blood donation. Blood donation is my thing, the cause that i choose to champion. I've done so here before and i'll do it again - donating blood has got to be the easiest way of volunteering, of giving back to your community, of helping your fellow man. And, frankly, i cant understand why more people dont do it.

We've all heard the ads about how one in 3 Australians will need donated blood during their life time - but only one in 30 will give it. ONE IN 30. That, my friends, disgusts me. I understand that their are those of us who cant give blood due to medical reasons and thats ok. I dont expect people to put others, or themselves at risk. I understand that donating blood is not recommended for the elderly, nor for the very young. Thats fine too. I'm even ok with people who cant give because of tattoos or piercings ( you are made to wait 12 months after being tattooed or piereced, to make sure you havent picked up any infections ) because i have tattoos, and i've sat out those waiting periods. But, other than that, i've given blood every 10-12 weeks, when i've been allowed, since i was 16 years old. Its hard - its maybe an hour of your time, in a comfy chair, watching tv, and then getting a sausage roll and a milkshake ( or cheese, bikkies and a juice in my case... ) when you're done.

Thats why i'm so disgusted with people who dont donate when their is no reason for them not to. Those people that say " Aww, i dont donate 'cause i'm scared of needles " or they cant be bothered or they just dont want to. Those are not reasons - those are excuses, and they're pretty fuckin' weak excuses at that. Everytime i donate blood, i'm helping save 3 lives - by the same logic, everytime people say " no " to blood donation they are putting those 3 lives at risk. And thats just not good enough. I once said that i'd love, if i were Prime Minister, to instigate a " No Giving, No Receiving " policy with blood - so that if you are fit to donate, and you dont.... well, you just cant have any blood when you need it. Thats pretty hardline, i know - but maybe thats the way it needs to be. Maybe if people knew their lives would be at risk aswell the reserves of blood would sky rocket. Their would be enough to go round. There wouldnt be people with blood disorders, or cancers, or immune diseases, being told " Sorry - no treatments today, we dont have enough blood ". No people needing transfusions after accidents or surgery, or women after having given birth, being told that there just isnt enough to help them out.

So there you go - thats my big belief, my big cause. Blood donation. It boils down to 4 hrs of your time per year, and you save at least 12 lives. Imagine how many people you could help save over the course of your donating life - literally hundreds. So stop with the bullshit excuses, and get down to your local blood bank and donate if you are able. If you arent able, help actively promote it amongst your family and friends ( like i do ). And if you are donating - well bloody done to you. You are literally a life-saver.

How about you? Do you donate blood? And what is your big belief or cause that you stand up for?

30 Days of Music - Days 27 + 28

Well, well.... we're getting towards the end of the ( extraordinarily stretched out ) 30 Days of Music challenge. Only four days or, in my case, two posts to go!
Day 27 - What song would you like played at your wedding/union?
So unless you are really new around these parts, you would be aware that i am getting married very soon ( 5 months tomorrow in fact! ) so i'm currently in the process of choosing the songs for the wedding: one to walk down the aisle to, one to play when the ceremony is over, and one for the first dance. In lieu of giving away the songs that i may or not have settled on and may or may not want to keep secret, here's a song that i'm considering but i dont think will end up making the cut:

The song is called " Just Because " by Nikka Costa - she's an Australian born jazz/neo soul/funk kind of singer and this is one of my all-time favourite romantic songs ( try to listen to the lyrics and ignore the Gary Oldman tribute. Apparently the song doesnt have a dedicated film clip... ). I'd love to walk down the aisle to it, or have it for a our first dance, but i think its important that those songs resonate with both myself AND Mick, and not just me. Seeing as he doesnt really know this song, and has only ever heard the one time i made him listen to it, i dont think " Just Because " is the right fit for both of us so its gonna have to miss out. Otherwise it would be a beautiful wedding song!

Day 28 - What song would you like played at your funeral?
There are two songs which i'd like played at my funeral ( and yes, even at a tender 27 years of age i've thought about it ) but of those two i think this one is more " me ":

" It Wont Rain All The Time " by Jane Siberry, from the soundtrack to " The Crow " ( which may just be my favourite movie of all time ). If there is anything such as a "perfect " funeral song, this is it for me. Poignant, yet uplifting. Hopefully, though, it wont need to be used in tha capacity for many, many years to come...

Trust Yourself - Today

Still trying to play catch-ups in the Domino Projects #Trust30 initiative. Here's the prompt for what should be day 2:

( By Liz Danico ) If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence?

Image from here

Today is.... being comfortable in lifes predictability, yet excitedly planning for the future.

Trusting Yourself - 15 Minutes To Live

So, with only four days ( or prompts left ) in the 30 Days of Music challenge ( another post to come this afternoon ), i was thinking i was going to be back to posting the same old stuff again, and hoping that i wouldnt bore all you readers to death. So, happily, whilst cruising around the forums on Digital Parents i found a link to a new (and somewhat more meaningful ) writing "challenge ". In celebration of Ralph Waldo Emerson's 208th birthday, the good people who run a website in homage to him are running the #Trust30 initiative:
 #Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.


Now, like the 30 Days of Music challenge, i think i might spread these prompts out over the course of two months - and seeing as the content will probably be a lot " heavier " in nature, i'll probably need the extra time to think them over.Plus, i'm already a day behind so it wont be so bad if i skip a day or two. So, day one?
( By Gwen Bell ) You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live....

Image from here

Without a doubt, after giving myself 30 seconds or so to panic and ponder my own mortality, i would have to contact my most treasured of loved ones. Only those closest to me, those who have supported me, loved me, truely known and seen and lived me.

To my fiance - Thank you for finding me, and for being ready to accept the love i had to give. You were the light at the end of a dark tunnel, the dawn at the end of the longest night. I love you, and always will.

To my son - If your father was my dawn after night, you are the sunshine who keeps the clouds at bay. You're my honeybee, my baby cakes, and even though your feet smell i love your guts forever.

To my mother - we had our struggles ( as sulky teenagers are want to cause... ) but we've come good in the end. Realise the potential that you have, and go with it - stop your worrying and let yourself "be". And love yourself, the way you always, even in your funny way, loved me.

To my sister - i love you, and despite having called you a bitch when we were kids, i dont really think that. I think you are headstrong and sometimes a bit dramatic, but that you are stronger than you imagine and will make it in the end. Forget your naysayers, and remember you.

To my father - my rock, my sounding board and the first man i ever loved. I am proud of the way you live your life, proud of the way you love your family, and proud to be your daughter. See you on the otherside, wherever they may be.

To the rest of the people who inhabit my life i'd have to leave a farewell note - short, sweet and to the point:
I loved you all. Goodbye, and good luck...









 

Polly Dolly - Bachelorette Babe

Polly Dolly time again - brought to you by the vivacious Dani over at Danimezza - and though, when seeing this weeks challenge, i was really eager to do it.... i found it really hard! Why? Well, being due to get married in 5 months mean i have one other celebration due a few weeks before that. What is it you ask? Well Polly is invited, and Dani wants to know what she would wear to a....

Polly Dolly - Bachelorette Babe by Amy1984 featuring sequin dresses

Oh man - i found this challenge so tricky! I think it was mainly because i have my own hens night coming up and i know what i want to wear to mine ( a red and silver dress that i had made especially for me in Hoi An, Vietnam .... if i can still fit into it! ) but i wanted Polly to wear something completely different. So, after much searching, i finally settled on this gorgeous Michael Kors dress - yes its a simple shape but its sequins all the way baby! Relatively simple shoes and jewellery in a complementary gold tone let the party dress take centrestage. Smoky eyes and two tone nails make Polly feel extra sexy on her last night as a single lady. Of course her friends make her wear a ridiculous flashing badge, eat "interesting" lollipops to keep her dancing energy up, and copious amount of Midori ( make mine a Midori Sour.. ) give Polly the bravado to play silly party games. Keep the girl-power tunes pumping and it looks like Polly is in for a wild night!
What would your Polly wear to her hens night?

Adventures in Baby Babble

My boy might have been a bit slow in getting up and walking but he's no slouch when it comes to talking - its jibber-jabber all day long at our house. What is pleasing to me ( and an endless source of pride ) is that a lot of this jibber-jabber is actual words, not just baby blah-blah. He's got names of immediate family members down pat ( including two Poppies, a "Grandma ", a "Nanny " and an Aunty " Pippy " ) aswell as basic toddler requirements such as " toast ", " milk ", " apple " and " bed ".

I belive the words to accompany this picture should be " cok-o-lit " and " yummmm! "

Of course, not all of these words are recognisable to outsiders - some of them only myself and Mick can decipher. For example:

•  " Googles! " is Flynn-speak for " Wiggles! "
•  " Cuck " translates to " truck " ( and no chance of getting that confused with the F-word... he can say that one quite clearly )
•  " Farf " is, depending on the circumstance, either " bath " or " giraffe " and
•  " Ont " is very important in combination with a noun, such as " Ont milk " or " Mum, ont lunch ".... yes, " Ont " is Flynns version of the all important ( and seemingly never-ending ) " I WANT ".

So it seems like just lately Mick and I are playing a constant guessing game - Flynn is at the age where his speech is developing rapidly but sometimes what he says at what we hear are two very different things, so he gets mega-frusturated. He'll point his chubby finger, and stomp his little finger and instistenly repeat a word over and over, as if to say " Mum, you know exactly what i'm talking about! ".... meanwhile i'm left trying to figure out exactly what " Mem!Mem!Mem! " means ( for the record, that one worked out as " pen " ). Despite these somewhat trying interactions ( for all of us ) its also very exciting - the time when i can sit and have crazy toddler chats with my Flynny is almost here!

What about you? What words did your toddler use that only you and they could understand?