All posts tagged: life

Riding the wave

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Sometimes parenting can feel like trying to ride a wild bull….just hanging on for dear life! Recently, in particular, I’ve been feeling that life has been throwing me a few curve balls and at times I’ve felt like my head has only just been above the water. When I stop to think about it, the reason why I’ve felt like I’ve been drowning is because I’ve been fighting it rather than just allowing myself to ride the wave. What I mean by *riding the wave* is allowing myself to go along with the direction of the flow, because eventually it will take me back to shore. It reminds me of something one of my favourite uni lecturers said (paraphrasing somewhat): When we look at the ocean, we all accept that at times it will be turbulent with large waves and at other times calm and still, but always deep and mysterious and yet, we often put pressure on ourselves (as complex as we human beings are) to be calm and still all the time and lament when we fall …

Why I Don’t Watch the News

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Until about a year ago, I used to digest every bit of soul-destroying, negative news reporting as if it was my *duty* to be informed, no matter how horrific, but I don’t watch the mainstream news any more (except for scanning the headlines briefly on news websites). Instead, I made a conscious decision to focus on positive news from around the world and turn my energy and my attention to other shifts that are currently occurring which the mainstream media largely ignore. It can be so very easy to get bogged down with all the things that aren’t right with the world and in doing so one can totally miss all the amazing things that ARE happening, one of which is the fact that so many of us are “awakening” and realising *who/what we really are* and *why we are here*.

The Calm in the Storm

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Sometimes, life in the 21st Century can be mightily chaotic, sweeping one up in a whirlwind of things that need to be done, places to go, people to see (I call this the *to do tornado*) and it’s not terribly feasible (for many) to avoid this raging storm because, unfortunately, it’s just everyday life in our current society. From time to time I’m sure many weigh up the prospect of *escape* as a tempting idea, but personally, I don’t think it’s the answer as one doesn’t want to live life on the run….so what can one do? My personal belief is that in every chaotic moment there is a place of calm “the eye of the storm”, so to speak, where all is quiet and peaceful despite the perceived storm raging around. One’s logic mind says *there’s no way you’re going to find calm in all this mess* and seemingly provides ample evidence of one’s emotions being so firmly triggered by the storm that the impossibility of it seems concrete, but in reality it’s really quite simple….breathing!

Productivity as Self Worth

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LJ linked me to a quote the other day which I felt summed up the crux of what so many of us battle with in modern times: “If we want to live a Wholehearted life, we have to become intentional about cultivating rest and play, and we must work to let go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self worth.” – Brené Brown – The Gifts of Imperfection In a society largely built on productivity and usefulness as societal units, it’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our value lies in how much we produce, our output, how much we *do* in a day. Does *A* have more value as a being because s/he runs a multi-million dollar business, wrangles the kids, cleans the house from top to bottom and bakes 10 cakes all in the course of 24 hours compared to *B* who might do some or none of those things in the same 24 hours? The answer should of course be a resounding *no of course not* but more often than not it doesn’t *feel* …

Happy 2014

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Happy New Year everyone! I’ve got a feeling that 2014 is going to be ALL about the *happy* for me (not that 2013 didn’t have its moments) but this new year feels good. A certain monsieur Pharrell Williams hits the nail on the head for moi (^_-) I think 2013 was a bit of an *admin year* for the big dutch and I…you know a year of getting stuff that needed to be done *DONE* and 2014 is the calendar equivalent of that feeling after you’ve done those things you’ve HAD to do….yeah, 2014 is where the fun really starts and I finally get to delve into all the nurturing inner work I want and NEED to do!