Month: May 2015

Weekly Photo Challenge:Enveloped

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What does enveloped mean to you?

To me enveloped means surrounded by, wrapped in or enclosed.On my journeys I have found several examples of differing ways things this can happen. I think envelopment helps to balance a picture what are your thoughts?

Enveloped in the Australian bush

Enveloped in the Australian bush

 

 

 

Old Silk Road traveling route China enveloped in glass for protection.

Old Silk Road traveling route China enveloped in glass for protection.

Many people would like to envelope themselves in this cosy Tiger onsie.

Many people would like to envelope themselves in this cosy Tiger onsie.

Beaver enveloped in their hutch enjoying a tree branch.

Beaver enveloped in their hutch enjoying a tree branch.

Street name enveloped in the footpath Moncton Canada.

Street name enveloped in the footpath Moncton Canada.

Snow and Ice enveloping the St Lawrence River Montreal Canada.

Snow and Ice enveloping the St Lawrence River Montreal Canada.

Otter enveloping himself. He looked so cute and comfortable.

Otter enveloping himself. He looked so cute and comfortable.

A volcanic eruption enveloped the whole area Buried Village New Zealand.

A volcanic eruption enveloped the whole area Buried Village New Zealand.

1000's of statues are enveloped in their own caves Longman Grottos China.

1000’s of statues are enveloped in their own caves Longman Grottos China.

Clouds envelope a beautiful sunset Zhenzhou China.

Clouds envelope a beautiful sunset Zhenzhou China.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/enveloped/

School Lessons

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Which subject in school did you find impossible to master? Did math give you hives? Did English make you scream? Do tell!

The subject at school I found the most difficult taught me many skills. The subject was physics which in the end I passed. But the real value was in the life lessons, which were more useful than any science equation.

  • How to ask for help
  • Boys love to solve problems
  • Smiling will get you everywhere in life
  • Break things down to their simplest form
  • Many heads work better than one
  • You are either a maths/science  or an english brain
  • Humour gets you through stress
  • Nobody can be good at everything
  • Listening to others is the best skill and will take you far
  • Get the foundations right and build from there
  • Flattery will get you everywhere
  • Relationships grow from a common bond
  • Gratitude
  • Your feelings are your own

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/land-of-confusion-2/

Thank you Cleaners

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What’s the household task you most dislike doing? Why do you think that is — is it the task itself, or something more?

Housework has never been mine or anyone else in the family’s thing. We all did it because we had to until one day we had had enough. After probably 12 months in discussion we hired a cleaner. Best decision we ever made.

Now a small family business cleans our home once a fortnight and they love it. When they first came to quote they stated there was 11 hours of housework in our house—no wonder we could never get on top of it—working and commuting full-time.

To honour ours and cleaners everywhere I have written the following acrostic poem.

Care about our chores

Love the work they do and working as a team

Enjoy the challenges of cleaning

Aroma in the air is amazing to come home to

No noise, no fuss

Environmentally friendly cleaning products

Remember the requirements of the household

Smile and sing as they work

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/those-dishes-wont-do-themselves-unfortunately/

Share Your World – 2015 Week 18

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What type of pets do you have or want?  Or do you not want pets?

My daughter has a six month old kitten who is always climbing on things. At times he is cute but I am not really a cat person. I would rather a rabbit. They are cute, cuddly and don’t climb.

What was or is your favorite cartoon?

My favourite cartoon character is Mickey Mouse. I even have  two display shelves filled with my Mickey collection. He has class, style and he never ages.

When you’re alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

Most of the time I am at home I wear my UGG slippers although in winter it gets too cold with my heels out so I wear my UGG boots. Both are purple so I am happy.

Are you a traveler or a homebody?

I love to travel and explore new countries, cultures and civilizations. Traveling is  fun. However, after a hard days work there is nothing like coming home to a silent house. It re-energizes me

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Last week I was grateful for Mothers Day for two reasons. Firstly to celebrate mothers but secondly—it was my first blog anniversary. It was fun remembering how far Inspiring Max has come since my first days of no viewers.

In the upcoming week I am looking forward to my father visiting.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/05/04/share-your-world-2015-week-18/

First Blogiversary

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On Mothers Day 2014 I bit the bullet and started a blog. I had no idea where this journey would lead me but I stepped out anyway and the following have been my rewards.

  1. I have met many new friends
  2. I am no longer scared of the internet
  3. Writing daily has helped my word order and editing skills
  4. I have a greater knowledge of countries around the world
  5. I have learnt to reach out to others by leaving a comment on their blog
  6. Understanding WordPress has helped me download my draft copy of my book as an e-book in Pressbooks
  7. I am learning to write poetry
  8. I am learning about search engine optimization
  9. I have been viewed by people in 114 countries some I didn’t know existed
  10. I am learning to fix things on my blog
  11. I am becoming more comfortable using my experiences as a basis for my writing in a public forum
  12. I have learnt to never assume anything and to make my writing clear
  13. Over the 12 months I have had 12, 567 views and have 415 followers
  14. I have learnt that visiting other blogs is as important as writing a post
  15. I have enjoyed several Blogging University courses and learnt a lot from them
  16. The A -Z April Blogging Challenge really tested me but I was excited to join it and complete all posts
  17. I now notice fun blog ideas and can gather the information ahead of time
  18. My audience continues to grow as I learn about traffic flow
  19. Blogging events help us to interact
  20. I have developed and understand my online voice and how it connects with others
  21. I have learned about many new cultures, people, places and things
  22. Finding peace in the blogging community
  23. I have developed confidence with my writing through feedback from others
  24. Learnt to use photos to enhance my posts
  25. I enjoy writing and designing quotes using Picmonkey
  26. I have learnt perseverance—it takes time to find your community blogging
  27. Never give up, keep chipping away at it
  28. Some things you can’t control and who how many people visit your blog is one of them

Thank you for joining me on my journey and I hope we continue to interact over the years to come in the blogosphere. My first ever post on Mother’s Day is here

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/journey/

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Forces of Nature

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Many opportunities can be found to study the forces of nature in the Blue Mountains, Australia.  More information on this beautiful area can be found here.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/forces-of-nature/

Joy Not Jealousy

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We all get jealous from time to time — what wakes the green-eyed monster for you?

Jealousy is not an emotion I bother with. I find it draining and it doesn’t help me to follow my dreams or bring me any joy. If I find some thing on my journey I am interested in, I look into whether it really is something that I want long-term and if the answer is yes, I figure out what I have to do to get it. This is where the fun starts. Is it a goal I really want or does it just look  good on someone else?  This process has taught me a lot about myself. I now realise if I am not prepared to put the effort in—the goal is not important to me.

Poetry is a new skill I am learning as I develop my blogging skills and the following limerick sums it up for me.

What is the point in being jealous

 It doesn’t make us nice gals or fellas

 Instead I like to set a goal

Achieve my desire and empower my soul

The secret to learning what is precious

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/green-eyed-lady/

Forgive and Forget

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Share a story where it was very difficult for you to forgive the perpetrator for wronging you, but you did it — you forgave them.

Unfortunately we cannot stop trauma, tragedy and conflict happening in our lives. We can however choose how we respond to it, which changes its impact. By staying stuck—angry, hurt and wanting revenge, we keep focusing on the negative emotions. This allows them to  continue to hurt us in other ways, over and over again.

Forgiveness is acknowledging that it happened, but letting go of the negative emotions. Doing whatever is necessary to move on. How—will be different for everyone, but there is no other way forward.

For me, forgiveness isn’t about the other person or what they have done—it’s about my mental health. By not forgiving them I allow them to take from me again and again.  Not an option for me. I deal with my emotions, learn any lessons that need to be learnt and move on. I may not choose to forget, but I do choose to not let it consume my life and forgiveness is the key.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/forgive-and-forget/

Community

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What does your ideal community look like? How is it organized, and how is community life structured? What values does the community share?

I am a part of many communities. Each one is similar but different. Although their purposes vary, their interchangeable themes and values can be described in the following acrostic poem.

Communication, caring and creativity

Openess, opinions and observations

Managing problems together

Mindful of other people’s boundaries

Understanding and respect

Nurture and nature

Individualism and independence encouraged

Team approach

Yesterday, today and tomorrow—the building blocks of our relationships

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/idyllic/

Big Picture

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Think of a topic or issue about which you’ve switched your opinion. Why the change?

I don’t tend to take stances about issues these days. I like to look at the big picture and take in all the information from both sides. I am flexible and always looking for new knowledge that may change the outlook. Most of the time any of these thoughts stay in my head and only come out if they are asked for. In my experience, some people when they ask for my opinion are surprised if I don’t happen to agree with them on the topic. This points to the fact that in fact they weren’t interested in my opinion but in gathering more evidence that they were right.

I don’t judge—people, places or things. I find it is best policy get to the bottom of where people’s thoughts come from and why they may have so much emotion attached to a topic. By asking a few more questions I can often make these connections which may have nothing to do with the original issue but open the door to understanding the person.

We are all individuals entitled to an opinion. The fact that we can express them freely is what makes it interesting.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/flip-flop/