WOW, What a week! My Week In Review!

I don't know if these posts are interesting or valuable to anyone but me.  But its my blog! LOL I like doing them!

• Bought new shoes for the boys
• Took the kids out to lunch
• More shopping
• Cleared out and began planting out a garden bed
• Caught up on the washing
• Went for a night time vegetable shopping adventure with the kids
• Started my Christmas shopping!!!
• Took the kids to a Bunnings workshop where they decorated hats
• Restocked bunny supplies of food and hay
• Planted strawberries and aloe vera.
• Soaked in a lovely hot bath

My week...

• Baked chocolate cupcakes
• Signed up for a 30 day blog challenge
• Had coffee with my brother and sister-in-law
• Began writing this blog post
• Made and froze 7 rolls of cookie dough for quick snacks later
• Wrote A Field Of Flowers Is Waiting
• Attended my first belly dancing class for this term and began learning to dance with a veil!
• Napped!  So delicious!
• Tested out one roll of cookie dough!  YUMMY chocolate chip!
• Completed Day 1 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge.  My post is here!
• Caught up on the FOLDING!
• Watched an interesting documentary on mothers in the US prison system.  (I WATCHED TV FOR A CHANGE!)
• Had a long leisurely soak in the tub!
• Wrote my Day 2 post for the 30 Day Blog Challenge 
• Completed my Grief and Loss and Relationships modules for my Lifeline training
• Took an invigorating walk in the rain to deliver hot macaroni cheese to my 2 schoolboys for lunch! <3
• Shared a dessert night with my brother and his family!
• Cooked chicken curry and spaghetti bolognese to fill tummies and the freezer!
• Made a double batch of pikelets (and a comical mess!)
• Wrote my Day 3 post  for The Suitcase Entrepreneur's 30 Day Blog Challenge
• Completed the E-Learning for my next Lifeline module - Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault
• Wrote my Day 4 post for The Suitcase Entrepreneur's 30 Day Blog Challenge
• Got brave and invited all my Facebook friends to my On Sparkling Wings Facebook Page and Blog

Dreams for this weekend!

• Hot Baths
• Attend a daylong workshop for Lifeline
• Do some editing on a project
• Do some more writing
• Spend Sunday with my babies!
• Get lots of sleep
• Find some missing paperwork 
• Do some baking for school lunches next week - namely savoury and sweet scrolls

Where Are We Going Today?

Day 4! This is going fast!!! :-)  

This next question feels more 'business' related than the others.  But I guess that's to be expected from The Suitcase Entrepreneur.  :-)  It might actually be easier if I HAD a business.  But right now, all I have is scraps of dreams and nothing yet fully formed.  So, we'll go with that! 

Today's question:

What is your definition of Location Independence?

Simply, I define location independence as not being tied down to a specific locale in order to conduct your life or your work.  

It is the freedom to be wherever you want to be in the world, while doing what you love most; travel, write, dream, watch stars, play Yahtzee with the children, go wading through the sea looking for shells or do whatever 'work' that brings smiles and money enough to keep you free to move whenever and wherever you like.  

It does not mean that you HAVE to be unencumbered by the ties that could keep you bound to one place in particular.  It does not prevent you from owning a home, settling with a partner, raising a family, having a job, belonging to a community and being "a local"... 

It just means that when you want, you can experience all aspects of your life away from 'home base'.  Whether its a year at a time, every second month or every weekend.

For me, it means that one day, maybe sooner rather than later, I can sit beside the pool and take appointments, do paperwork on rainy days curled up by an open fire and sit in the sunshine on a porch while helping someone make their life better.  I can write whilst in a comfy chair at home, in a cafe in town, in an airport whist waiting for a flight to somewhere magical!  It means I can, if I wanted to, wake up with my babies and go sledding down snowy slopes, then go to sleep in a warm hammock under palm trees less than 24 hours later!  

Wouldn't it be lovely?

Dreaming... Image from Buenos-Aires-Argentina-Map-460x250.jpg

What Do Freedom and Adventure Look Like?

Ahhh Day 3 of The Suitcase Entrepreneur 30 Blog Challenge!

The topic to write on today is a carry on from yesterday.  The question asks:

What's your definition of freedom in business and adventure in life?

This one feels more daunting than yesterday!  But here goes!

As I sit in my comfy warm office, I look over my diary for the week. The majority of the time slots remain unfilled.  These make me smile. They are my blank space to be creative, free, dream and be.  The ones that are filled, form chunks of 2 - 4 hours, spread out over a few days a week.  Each week is never exactly the same.  Sometimes the time chunks  are consecutive, others have a few free days between.  Some appear in the morning, some appear late in the evening.  I schedule appointments and work commitments around my life - NOT my life around my job.  
Not that my job is a struggle.  It actually brings me great joy.  But the type of work I do is people-centred and being flexible in my availability works not only for me, but those I work with as well.  
Some appointments are face to face in my home office, some are in other locations that suit the client.  Sometimes working on the telephone or via Skype or FaceTime is preferable.  Each client's needs differ and can change.  Everything about the work is fluid and flexible.

This week looks somewhat busy with extra time chunks set aside for work. I flip the page and the week, and the week following that, are totally blank except for a solitary hour penciled in as a "just in case" appointment.  I will be on holiday for the next 2 weeks, but "IF" something comes up, this timeslot is free for me to speak to a client or deal with some work related stuff "IF" I need to.  My work is a passion so forgetting about it entirely on my holiday is not an option. I like being available.

Not knowing what will happen in the blank space of my schedule is the adventure.  A lazy day reading in bed with hot chocolate and my love is just as miraculous and fun as packing up the car and going for a weekend away looking at landmarks, significant historical sites and enjoying local cuisine, or spending a day chasing rainbows on a mountaintop!  The beauty of not knowing what's next is the adventure.

Whew!  Done!

This really is an interesting exercise, exploring your desired life and what it would look like...

Thank you for reading!!! :-)
Happy Daze

Penny

What Could Tomorrow Bring?

Well here I am for DAY TWO of the 30 Day Blog Challenge! Yay!!!

br />

Today, the mission I am choosing to accept is to answer the following question.

If you woke up tomorrow and were free to do anything you wanted with your life, what would you do and who would you be?

This is a tougher question than it looks for 2 reasons!
a) Letting myself shed the boundaries and confines and open up to the FREEDOM of doing WHATEVER I want, is not natural, and
b) I'm spoiled for choice as to what to do!  There is so much out there to do!

But... On with the dreaming...!  Being brave, diving in!

The sun wakes me from a peaceful sleep, nestled in the arms of my love.  We snuggle, we talk, we plan, we laugh and we untangle our limbs a little reluctantly so that we can live the day. 

We eat breakfast - fresh fruit, eggs, bread. We play silly word games with the children, laugh, talk, all clamoured around the dining table in a sunny country style home. Then as each person goes off to spend their day doing what they love and what they need to do, I sit in a big comfy window seat and watch the world go by for a while.  I think, meditate, maybe write letters or poems. I draw or knit, sew or read.  It doesn't matter really, I just want to sit, observe, create and be peaceful.  I hope that whatever I am creating, it will bring joy and love into someone else's life.

When I've done my dreaming, crafting, watching, soaking in the sunshine, I get my shoes on.  I decide if I will walk in the woods, or go for a ride on the horse.  Or perhaps I will head to town and go to the gym, or a dance class. I wave and chat to people on the street while window shopping!  Something to get my blood pumping.  Maybe I'll go rock climbing?  Or take the dogs for a run by the river?  Or maybe even a bike ride through fields of spring flowers so I can stop, pick a couple and bring home to brighten my nest.  I just want to move, feel the breeze in my hair and feel invigorated!

A wonderful hot shower to freshen myself up and then set to work...

I sit down in my comfy office.  I spend a few hours talking to people about their problems, their hopes, dreams, passions, struggles.  We work together to create wonderful lives for them to live and share with others around them.  Although some days are a struggle, listening to the pains and problems that people face, it is encouraging, heartwarming and so rewarding to see them grow and bloom in front of me.  It is an honour to be able to help them do this.  It makes me float, yet keeps me grounded and humble. And most wonderfully, it keeps me growing and blooming too!  You can learn so much from others, if you really listen and find where their truths may connects to your own life. 

My family reassembles on the patio in the later afternoon, with some friends.  We sip wine, watch the children play, engage in deep conversations, light chit chat, walk down memory lane and feel our belly muscles ache with laughter.  We talk about our impending family holiday to Lapland to meet Santa, ride a dog sled and reindeer sleigh, sleep in a glass igloo under the Northern Lights!  I share my delight at having a massage booked for tomorrow.  My love rests his hand on my knee as he tells me we are going out for dinner, just the two of us, that the children will be having dinner with their cousins.  I get dressed up, so does he.  We go for a drive, drinks, dinner, a walk in the dark, passion in the moonlight.  We go home to find the babies snuggled up asleep on the floor in a blanket fort.  We thank and hug our family for taking care of them for us. We are blessed and will return the blessing soon.  

We sneak upstairs, cuddle, dream and sleep...

I would be present, unflustered, organised, creative, passionate, involved, active, continually growing, learning, moving, excited, helpful, useful, magical and fun.  I would be mother, lover, friend, smiling person on the street, open to help others, generous, free and dreamy. I would be peaceful and joyous inside and make others feel peaceful, loved and happy in my presence.

Perhaps that was easier than I thought after all?  And less extravagant than I imagined...  Not so outlandish and unachievable really.

An amazing dream image from http://aibob.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/awesome-glass-igloo-of-kakslauttanen/

I'm Up For A Challenge!

When I began this blog in January of this year, my intent was to write for me and me alone.  However, I chose to make it a public blog, to take the chance that 'someone' might read it.  Someone I might know.  Someone who knows me.  Or perhaps someone who just stumbles upon this page.  I did this because I wanted to grow into myself better.

My whole life I've been uncomfortable with showing people what I've written or created.  I don't know why.  I just never felt 'good enough' or that anything I could produce would be worthy of someone else's time.  Whilst I know that on an intellectual level, this is quite crazy, on a heart level, it was my truth.  

So... On Sparkling Wings - the blog - was born as a direct challenge to that heart/mind conflict.  It was a way for me to crack open my protective cocoon and not necessarily crawl out (Although I perhaps have done so since starting the page...  I don't know.  That is for another blog post!) but potentially invite someone else in to see me and what I can, or can't. do.  My achievements and my failures are both valuable, and potentially not just to me!  There is a chance that someone else might find them both interesting or enlightening. 

Today I am beginning a challenge...  A 30 Day blogging challenge!  You can read about it here.

Why would I take on such a challenge?  Well... my lovely friend Coralie of Rainbow Farm Photography discovered it and asked me to join in.  What better reason does one need than to play with their friends?    :-)

I also decided to take up the challenge because although I only ever intended to write for myself, I don't feel I write enough.  Another opportunity to grow into myself is being presented to me on a silver platter.  This time, it is the opportunity to find some discipline.  To partake in something daily, to build routine, to keep me going forward even when motivation is lacking.  I think this challenge may be just what I need to help kickstart my "sticktoitness" that I always feel I lack.

It is worth a shot!

So today's challenge to write on was to answer WHY I started the blog (To challenge myself), WHO was my intended audience (Myself and whoever else happened across my page), WHAT my blog was to be about (My achievements, failures and anything else in between), WHY I took on the 30 Day challenge (Moral support of Coralie and to challenge myself more) and WHAT I hope to get out of it (Discipline to write and courage to take that discipline to other areas of my life!)

There is it in a nutshell!

:-)

Bring on tomorrow!!! I'm ready for whatever is coming my way!

A Field Of Flowers Is Waiting

Can you imagine this field of flowers with 2 young boys and a little girl frolicking in it?

I can! And I'm going to make it happen, with the help of Coralie Plozza from Rainbow Farm Photography.

This field is part of Rainbow Farm and in September, when spring comes to Western Australia, the little yellow cake weed flowers come to life.  They create a gorgeous yellow carpet set against an enormous blue sky.

I am planning to take my kidlets, and possibly my wonky dog, to Rainbow Farm when the flowers bloom.  We will all run and roll in the them while Coralie captures gorgeous sunny photos of us having fun and being free!

I'm on the look out for cute little outfits for the children now which is half the fun of it!  ;-)

If you're near Busselton, Western Australia, this year, next or anytime in the future, I'm sure Coralie would love to have you come visit her field of flowers and snap pictures of you enjoying yourself!  I can't wait until I get to share our adventure once we are done! It has been too long since we last captured beautiful photos of our family.  Children grow so fast...

A Heavier Topic - Suicide Intervention Training

A month ago, I began training as a Telephone Crisis Supporter.  To date, it has been an incredible experience.  So many wonderful, amazing people out there, from all walks of life, coming together to give something back to their community.  It truly is heartwarming and inspiring, and they are a fun bunch to boot!

But there has also been some uncomfortable moments as we tackle the trickier crisis topics that we will be dealing with each shift on the phones.  I am certain that there are many more of these moments to come in the next couple of months.  It is the only way of learning how we can help others.

One of those topics is suicide.

This past weekend, as part of the training, I undertook a LivingWorks ASIST course.  ASIST stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training.  There are several other courses offered by LivingWorks for different groups in the community.

Talking about suicide is difficult.  Most of us don't ever want to even think about it, let alone enter into a conversation about it.  But at the same time, it is a very serious topic that affects our entire society.  If it has not touched your own life in some way, you almost certainly will know of someone who has been affected in some way.

According to Mindframe, in Australia, in 2011, 2273 people took their own lives.  As a comparison 1291 individuals lost their lives on Australian roads that same year. (Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics)

What makes this so much more frightening is that this figure is simply recorded suicides.  It does not take into account the attempts by individuals to take their own life that resulted in needing medical attention, or those that did not.  It does not reflect the number of suicides that occurred but for whatever reason were recorded as another cause of death.  And, for myself at least, it sadly does not consider the number of people within our communities, possibly people we love, work with, talk to every single day, who have thoughts of suicide.

When you look at the situation in that light, it takes on a whole new dimension.  It is an enormous issue... But sadly, one that carries so much taboo and stigma that you can go weeks on end and not hear the word mentioned once.  And if you do, it often is referred to in humorous or crude terminology that makes light of the issue.  But it is in fact very very real.

I went into the training quite scared about my ability to deal with this particular form of crisis.  If someone I was talking to was suicidal, would I be brave enough to help?  Will I say the wrong thing and make things worse?  Can I keep my own emotions in check?  I think thoughts like that are quite normal.  It is a big, deep topic we are not familiar with.  We are not encouraged to become familiar with it.  It is daunting to face something so ominous head on.

But I am so grateful I did the training!

By no means am I wanting to test out my lessons in the real world.  I wish that I could go through life and never use them.  I wish that I could consider them like first aid, peace of mind to have - the end.  And it is a form of first aid - you intervene the suicide and make way for the safe progression into longer term forms of care and life management.

But if I continue through the Telephone Crisis Support training to the end (there are assessments and a probationary period to complete before it is official.) I sadly will use these skills.  Possibly multiple times in one shift.

But if I can help one person, that course will have been worth it, and so too my discomfort at having to face the subject head on.

Even if I don't make it through the training, simply being able to open a discussion, like writing this now, helps in some way.  I hope it takes us a fraction closer to a day where suicide is less taboo and the pain that life can bring us is more openly shared.  Maybe then this issue can be reduced in size a little, then a lot.

We can but hope.

If anyone reading this is in crisis, or feels the need to talk to someone, consider Lifeline 13 11 14.