%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
For the avoidance of doubt... Yes... I definitely have an opinion... |
 Welcome to my Blog!! Having an opinion is better than not having a thought of your own. I have many.... Pull up a pew and grab a hot, steaming mug of your choice.  |
| Prompt: What is a happy home to you? **** Do I have a happy home? - Yes! Am I always happy in it? - No! Are there times I would pack my WHOLE family up and send them far, far away? - Yes! Do I equally bug the ever-loving crap out of my husband and kids? No - I'm Mary freaking Poppins (practically perfect in every way)! Am I lying to myself about the last point - more than likely, most definitely. A happy home is something, I think, most of us strive for. It's a place where we feel safe, loved, listened to, and respected. It has very little to do with the materials it's made from or the collection on stuff that it contains. It's the feeling you get with your family or the people you share your space with. I think it ebbs and flows - like relationships. There are times when it isn't happy. There will be arguments between siblings, parent, spouses, and flat/house mates. There will be times when everything seems empty/lonely. There will be times when it's full of laughter. But none of these things, on their own, make it a happy home. Just like one argument or a good day doesn't make a healthy, happy relationship. It's also more than picture perfect phots on Instagram or Facebook. Or smiles at the community/work BBQ. It's not superficial and it's not a contest. It takes time and effort and it's the sum of all its parts. |
| Prompt:"Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?" Mary Oliver **** Fully disclosure, I haven't heard of Mary Oliver, but she seems kind of twisted, so she may be worth further investigation. Do I love this world? It's the only one we've got. As much as I'd loved one filled with magic, dragons, and where I play a central, pivotal role in a world defining adventure - it's not likely to happen... It's why I read and write science-fiction and fantasy. The world is a big place, and we are insignificant (individually at least) in the grand scheme of things. It is beautiful, cruel, nurturing, and harsh all at once - what's not to love. Do I cherish my humble and silky life? I love that I have a life. There are varying aspects of it that I swing in and out of love with depending on what is going on in it - but on the whole I am happy in and with it. I certainly wouldn't remove any of the bare bones of it - even the bits that annoy the crap out of me. I'd rather work through it and change my perceptive, learn from it, or adapt/change it. In truth, I have a pretty decent life. Things could always be worse. I have a husband who loves me and puts up with my many, many quirks and isms... (to clarify I love him too), I have two children who I also love dearly and who I would set the world of fire for. I have a home, a job I like, we are never starving or in any overt danger. We have friends and family who support us. Is it humble - it could be simpler/humbler. Is it perfect? - depends on the day. Would I change it? - in a word, no. Do I adore the green grass, with its terror beneath? I don't think you can truly "adore" the grass without acknowledging the terror underneath. Whether it's all the hard work and grafting it takes to get there, or that not everything is as white as it first appears on the surface. Most things that appear amazing on the surface have a dark side. Most things that are "worth" it are hard work to get and keep. |
| Prompt: My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog or cat thinks I am. Anonymous. **** I have a dog. A Japanese Akita called Indy, who is thirteen years old. We have had her since she was an eight-week-old puppy. We house trained her, taught her to walk on a lead, took her to puppy classes, and vet appointments. We have panicked when she was unwell and spent far too long discussing her toilet habits/movements. We brought her across to Australia when we emigrated. Now that she is old and has arthritis, I even walk downstairs with her because it makes her nervous and has her hackles standing to attention. We have tried stair-gates - but you try telling a 50+ kg fur-baby she can't sleep in the same room as her mum.... because she is my/our fur-baby through and through. My children often ask which of them is my favourite and my answer is always "Indy". Does she think that I am a good person? Maybe... Does she love me unconditionally and put up with my weird humanisms regardless...? Most definitely. For an animal with two, thick coats her face is extremely expressive. The undercoat on her head and muzzle is dark, while the topcoat is fawn/white - this makes it blatantly obvious when she is frowning at me because she looks like a Klingon, and I swear if she had eyebrows, she'd be imitating the Rock and the "people's eyebrow". Combined with the not-so-subtle huffs, I know exactly when the grumpy old girl is over my antics. For reference, antics can be as simple as stepping over her to get to the bathroom when she decides to block the whole hallway to go to sleep... The audacity!! However, she gets her own back frequently when SHE decides it's time to pay her attention. She'll sit in front of me and yowl (think Husky but without the sirens). She'll have a whole conversation. Telling me in no uncertain terms how she is neglected and demands pats. Sometimes she will use her "I need water", or the "where is my food", or even the "let out I need a wee" voice - it's a trick! As soon as I'm up, she lies down and does the puppy eyes. The truth is that there isn't much I wouldn't do for her. I AM that person that would go to war for her dog. Heck, I'd probably start one for her. I wouldn't say that my goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog thinks I am; because I think Indy knows exactly who and what I am, and she is fine with my brand of crazy. My goal is to make sure she knows how loved she is and that the time we have left with her is well spent. So, despite being woken up at 2am to let her out for a wee or because she just fancies sniff the air, and despite the fact that she has (literally) just gone into the bin to extract the roast pork wrapper and devour its content (guess I'll be checking for butcher's twine later on in the garden...). I am so grateful she is in our lives and part of the family. And I will spend the rest of hers reminding her of that fact! |
| Prompt: “But, if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself.” C.G. Jung. What does this quote mean to you and do you agree with Jung that we create ourselves? **** C.G. Jung was one of my favourite psychologists when I was studying in college, along with Freud - fun fact they were friends at one point. It wasn't necessarily because I agreed wholehearted with what either of them were saying (some of Freud's theories are bat-**** crazy - although they do stick in your memory like a brain worm), rather it was that they were so "colourful" and fun to learn about. They were anything but dry. I still like the idea of dream analysis - though again it's more for kicks (a bit like me reading tea leaves). I actually think I have a book on it somewhere, though I don't keep a dream diary anymore - college me did, but I digress. Jung's focus was on the Self and the Soul, so it's no surprise that his quotes (and there are a LOT of them) focus on this. "But if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself." is about the ability to change oneself. Talk therapy and psychoanalysis has a strong foundation in tabula rasa - a blank state - where we all have the ability to grow and develop based on our experiences. If someone feels unfulfilled or unhappy (or not creative) they have the power to change the direction of their lives - sometimes this requires them to change themselves. If someone wants to progress in work but they are lacking a key soft skill (active listening/assertiveness) there are courses to take. If someone is ready/wants to deal with trauma there are different therapies to try. If someone wants to be taken more seriously by friends/family/colleagues - there are steps/actions that they can adapt. It doesn't mean that any of it is easy or quick. Or that just one thing will work. In fact, most change is achieved with lots of incremental changes. But it means that we have ability to change, adapt, and improve ourselves. If we wish to. This can be more keenly seen with personas - I am different with my work colleague than I am with my kids and husband, and I'm different with different groups of friends. I'm the same person but I adapt to the situation and different element of my personality will come to the surface as and when needed. And I am constantly changing and adapting as a person - I'm not the same as I was in college, or before I had kids... I won't be the same person in 10 years, because I'm continuously learning, developing, and discovering who I want to me. I am a work in progress! FYI, my favourite quote my Jung is “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.". |
| Prompt - “No response is a response. And a powerful one. Remember that.” - Unknown Do you think not answering a question is a proper way to behave? Have you ever left the questions of some people without a response? **** Well, this is a loaded statement and depends on the circumstances and the question being asked. No one can demand a response - though it is incredible hard not to in some form or another. It is our own choice whether to express our opinions, thoughts, and feelings. Refusing to do so is a powerful stance and speaks volumes without a word being said. There are many reasons why we may choose not to do so, from not wanting to cause an argument, to self-preservation, to believing it will serve no purpose, or the question being disrespectful. All of which are valid. Not everyone deserves to know us. Not everyone deserves our time. People very often overlook the non-verbal communications in a conversation and yet it accounts for 80% of all messaging. While we may not be "saying" what we are thinking, it is very often expressed through our body language and actions, or in my case written across my face with every raised eyebrow and eyeroll - seriously I don't need to tell you that you are being a muppet - one look and you'll know my thoughts on the matter. That is a form of response - a powerful one. Equally, there is also a very famous quote or sentiment that counteracts this idea, "Evil prevails when good men do nothing." Yes, saying nothing is a valid response, but it can also be "permission" for someone else to continue with a destructive or harmful rhetoric, without being challenged or held accountable. And when this is allowed to happen, rather than nipping it in the bud, that rhetoric is allowed to fester and grow. History is littered with examples. Sarcasm is my default language. It slips out far too often for other people's liking - mostly because they can't work out if I'm being serious, joking, or offensive - for the record, sometimes it's all three. It is also how I respond to questions I don't like. Though in fairness I am very free, but respectful, with my opinions, so the chances of me not answering a question are very limited. The only exception is when I decide I don't want to crush someone else's spirit - mostly because tears make me uncomfortable. |
| Prompt: T. S. Eliot said, April is the cruelest month in his1921 poem The Waste Land. Are you familiar with the poem The Waste Land? Do you agree or disagree with his analogy.? I'm familiar with T.S. Eliot. He was a constant in my English literature class, and we spent weeks reading and dissecting "The Waste Land". I remember listening to a reading by Alex Guiness, which was quite an experience as it wasn't something I related with Obi-Wan Kenobi. My lasting impression of it is... it's long (it felt never-ending), depressing, very conversational (Obi-Wan did a lot of accents) and mentioned a lot of flowers. It may be considered a masterpiece and Eliot's greatest piece of work, but it gives me PTSD just thinking about it. Do I agree with April being the cruellest month? No! I think he was knees deep in post WW1 trauma and was waxing lyrically about it. April is the middle of spring. When life is breathing back into the landscape. Flowers are breaking through hard ground, lambs of frolicking in fields, and the days are getting longer with each dawn - literally there is daylight savings. It's the epitome of hope and optimism.  |
| Prompt: On this day in 1719, Daniel Defoe’s fictional work The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is published. The book, about a shipwrecked sailor who spends 28 years on a deserted island, is based on the experiences of shipwreck victims and of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who spent four years on a small island off the coast of South America in the early 1700s. Write about being stranded on a deserted island. What would you do to keep yourself sane? **** I loved Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson when I was growing up. They were probably the reason I loved the TV series "Lost" later in life. There is defiantly something appealing about being "trapped" on a deserted island with no people or technology; hands on heart I am more of a dog person. I'm not saying I'd survive or thrive there. I am incredibly accident prone and would most likely be overcome with exposure or eaten by something, but I would have a blast while I was alive. For the record, I am making lots of assumptions about this island. Namely that: 1) it's a tropical island - I will give building an igloo a go, but chances of success are not good. 2) there is easy to access fresh, clean running water. 3) there are plenty of coconut and banana trees (we will also assume that I make friends with helpful, friendly monkeys, who help me harvest them) and maybe even some wild strawberries. 4) it is NOT infested with snakes - I'm looking at you Snake Island. 5) there are no cannibals - because I do not want to end up in a stew. I'm also assuming that I was stranded there by a shipwreck or a plane crash and didn't just suddenly materialise. It's also possible I was tossed overboard by a group of pirates for annoying the crap out of them by drinking all the rum. Meaning I have limited supplies (the pirates didn't hate me) - and hopefully some rum. Finding water, shelter, and food will no doubt occupy my immediate thoughts and keep me fairly sane on day one. I doubt panic will set in this earlier as this seems like the perfect opportunity for some live action homesteading, doomsday prepping, and zombie apocalypse practice - which I have been secretly training for since Shaun of the Dead... I may even a build an SOS signal if I feel like re-entering the human population - note this is not as high in priority as the other survival actions on my list. Once I have built my luxury treehouse and mud, spa annex - because all of those Hollywood movies, DIY YouTube videos on how to build mud huts, and survival documentaries (thank you Bear Grylls) will definitely come into their own now - I will move on to adding my weighted drawbridge/access door (because there is always a damn tiger), the water-cooled fridge/pantry for the bananas, and the gravity-based water system/shower - because I have needs!! With these essentials out of the way, concentrating on those homely touches becomes much easier, like woven baskets, coconut drinking cups and bowls, and most importantly a leaf parasol to escape the sun and sun burn. I may even start trading with the monkeys - coconuts and bananas in exchange for cute grass skirts that flatter every figure. I am sure the monkeys will get fed-up of my nattering at some point (it's the language barrier) or get upset over the tariff war - so I will most likely invest in a "Wilson" to slow the inevitable decent into insanity, and resort to stick figure cave art to "brighten" my abode. |
| Prompt: Prompt: Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves." **** This is a concept/idea that will resonate with many people; especially those of us who are married or in long-term relationships, with a busy schedule, and kids. I don't think this is unique to women. I am sure there are many men who experience this as well. As adults we wear many different hats. We are different people depending on the situation or circle of people we find ourselves in, and the situation very often dictates which version people are going to get - forewarning if I haven't had a lot of sleep because the dog decided she needed to go to the toilet three times at 2 am, it's likely to be the heavily sarcastic version, with limited or no patience; it's not pretty or fun, it's just a fact of life. I, like a lot of women, have A LOT on my plate: I'm mum to two young children. I'm "mum" to an aging fur-baby and baby lizard. I'm a wife. I work full time in a corporate role. I'm a chauffeur, chef, house cleaner, personal assistant, and therapist... all rolled into one for my family. The majority of the time, all of this takes priority over me. Over what I want, which FYI is mostly to sit in a corner and drink tea in peace - an unrealistic dream I know, I'd have more luck asking Santa for a pet dragon. But nether-the-less there are a lot of plates spinning or balls being juggled. And as a society, I don't think we full appreciate the stages in adult life that we move through. Twenty year old me, who only had herself to take care off and who could stay out half the night and still function at 09:00, quickly morphed into grown up fiancée and wife me, who became mum of one, then mum of two (there are not enough books or advice to prepare you for motherhood), to mum of preteens who have way better things to do than to consider my feelings or want to spend ANY time with me. It happens fast. Without pauses. Without you realising it's happening. And all of a sudden you feel a million miles away from the person you remember being when you only had you to consider. It not surprising, therefore, that very often it feels like there isn't a lot of time or space for us to be just us. I felt this so acutely when I first had my daughter - baby blues are real and oh my goodness did they throw me through a loop. So, when someone says they need solitude in order to find themselves - it makes sense. We need that space to realise who we were, who we are, and who we want to be - without the noise of everything else getting in the way and competing for attention. |
| Prompt: "Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it." **** Winter is one of my favourite times of the year. Largely because of the dark and stormy weather, cozy nights in, and the juxtaposition of a cruel, harsh environment with the delicately beautiful wildlife that thrive in it. The robin being a star in this regard. And why wouldn't it be? Beautiful and lyrical. It brings life to a bleak landscape - or my mother's garden wall. Where many fly south for the winter, in search of warmer weather, the robin thrives. The world can be a cruel, harsh place - especially in today's political and seemingly unstable climate. Opinions divide communities rather than bring about debate, and nuances are lost in favour of black and white pigeonholes. Alternatively, the robin is at home, being itself. Making the best of the often baren landscape in which it finds itself. Being damn proud of what it achieves - however small. If only more of us were as resilient. When I was a girl, I used to watch them for hours as they hopped along the walled boundary. I couldn't help but smile at how happy they seemed. A simplistic innocence that at the time I could relate to. As I grew, the world became far more complicated and the ability to notice that child-like joy faded - replaced with responsibility, consequences, and anxiety. It wasn't until I had my children that I saw that pure, unadulterated wonder again in human form. The joy and excitement radiating from my daughter the first time she did a perfect cartwheel. How proud she is to show off her backward walkover at every opportunity. And how every task, no matter how mundane, deserves to be done with or in a box split, accompanied with a dazzlingly bright smile. She is a robin through and through. Unapologetic. Authentic. Real. A bright pop of colour in my world, with the superpower of reminding me of the girl I used to be and how important it is to live in the moment and celebrate each win - no matter how insignificant they might first appear. The world would be a happier place with more robins in it and I'm glad my daughter in one of them. |
| Prompt: Prompt: Fears and Courage “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” Robert Louis Stevenson Is it always wise to keep fears to ourselves or should we boast about our courage? What would pros and cons be in both these cases?? ***** There is no courage without fear. Each act of courage comes from overcoming something that we found/find difficult. Everyone is intimidated or frightened by something - it's normal human behaviour. It's also what has kept us alive for thousands of years. It is nothing to be ashamed of. I have developed a fear of heights - it's a learnt fear from my inability to climb a ladder without wobbling all of the place. It's also completely understandable!! Keeping our fears to ourselves does not help us overcome them. In fact, I believe it does the opposite. As a species we learn through sharing our experiences. Sharing our fears with others shows us that we are not on our own - giving us some much need support. It also allows us to learn how best to overcome those fears - as many of them are learnt behaviour and with support we can re-program our brains to eliminate or reduce the effect that fear has on us. Something that is difficult to do in isolation. Sharing our fears also gives hope to those around us and gives them the confidence to do something about it, rather than just accept it. In this vein sharing our fear, showing and placing ourselves in a vulnerable position, is in itself courageous. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
