Tag: Blog

E – Easter Show

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First held in 1823 at Parramatta, Sydney’s Royal Easter Show has grown to be the largest event held in Australia and the 6th largest in the world. Due to its growing size it has moved localities twice and is now held at Sydney Olympic Park in a purpose built facility. In 1891 Queen,Victoria bestowed the right for the show to be officially called Royal. Attending the show is fun for all ages and my experience is that you run out of time to see everything not that you are bored with nothing to do. Each year the shows theme is “city meets country” and it can be found in the following  activities:

  • Agricultural Show
  • Animal Shows
  • Art & Crafts Displays
  • Community Displays
  • Entertainment
  • Fireworks
  • Grand Parade
  • Main Arena
  • New Product Displays
  • Petting Zoos
  • Side Show Alley
  • Stages
  • Wood Chopping

The following photos are from the show a few years ago as unfortunately I was unable to attend this year do to other commitments.

 

#A-Z Challenge

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge:Blur

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A throwaway shot, or purposefully unfocused? This week, find beauty in a blur.

One easy way to blur photos is when they are taken at a live musical. My selection for this challenge was taken at Hong Kong Disneyland’s—The Lion King. It was an amazing constantly moving show on a small stage so blurred photos were common. Through their blur I can still see the passion 3 years later.

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

Inspiration, Knowledge and Travels

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Often, our blogs have taglines. But what if humans did, too? What would your tagline be?

I believe humans do have taglines. Everything we say and do is our tagline—what people know us by. We can edit our blog posts to ensure they match our theme. However in our life blog posts the editing process requires more effort and pain is often attached to the changes. Life with our blogs trialing new things and sometimes making big changes brings greater rewards. This can be the same in life. Like in the old adage—no pain, no gain.

For me the similarities between myself and my blog continue. I would choose a similar tagline. My blogs tagline is inspiration through my thoughts, experiences and travels. My life’s tagline would be inspiration, knowledge and travels. 

I am a positive person working in mental health. Everything I do is about encouraging myself and others to look on the bright side—developing a spark of hope into a fire that warms you and lights your path and become the best possible version of oneself. 

My main areas to focus on include:

  • Inspiration—stories, quotes, songs, words, books, movies
  • Knowledge—eating disorder recovery, mental health, parenting, public speaking, life skills
  • Travels—Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand

 

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

10,000 Views

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Tell us about a time things came this close to working out… but didn’t. What happened next? Would you like the chance to try again, or are you happy with how things eventually worked out?

Inspiring Max was born on Mother’s day—12th May 2014. I knew nothing about blogging but thought I would give it a go anyway. As a self-hosted blog, I soon realised I had a lot to learn about how I was different to other WordPress.com sites. It was a very slow process. I was frustrated. In July, after  completing Blogging 101 I had—34 views, 13 visitors and only 1 follower. So I stopped blogging and prioritised other things.

In late August I was off work sick for a week. I had nothing to do so I popped back to my site. To my surprise I had a few followers, several more views and an Inspiring Blogger Award. I was humbled and excited. Suddenly I got it. Blogging is a long-term journey—a commitment not only to yourself, but also every one who reads you blog. We all grow together and allow each other to reach our own individual goals. By the end of December 2014, my goal was 100 followers. I ended the year with 110 followers and now I have 335. It may have been a slow start but Inspiring Max is on the move.

Somewhere around September I learnt not to focus on the followers but the views. If people were regularly viewing more than one page of my work I was happy. This usually meant they would come back again. The more I connect with my blogging community—the more they connect with me. I view 3 new blogs a day that I interact with. As a result, I am excited to have been viewed by people in 105 countries—many of whom I didn’t know existed. I love the coloured in world map of where Inspiring Max has been.

My advice to bloggers is make sure you have great content and keep going. When you are discouraged visit new blogs. Connect with your community at every opportunity and overtime—your community will connect with you. Blogging is a rewarding experience that has allowed me to grow in ways I would have never imagined possible before. Thank you for sharing my journey. I look forward to our future together. To celebrate I offer you a virtual glass champagne instead of a cigar.

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https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/but-no-cigar/

Love

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We each have many types of love relationships — parents, children, spouses, friends. And they’re not always with people; you may love an animal, or a place. Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of “love”?

Love is the feeling that connects us to others. It gives us reasons to do things. It supports us in difficult times and makes memories complete. Adding love and caring to any situation makes it shared. My other ideas on love can be found in this acrostic poem.

Love is letting other people or things into your life and caring about them—at times putting their needs above your own.   

Obvious in your face—it makes you smile and warms you from the inside.

Valuable—without love and letting others get close—you are alone.

Every feeling the other person feels you share—if they are happy or sad—you feel their joy or sadness.

Love is...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/i-want-to-know-what-love-is/

Celebrating—Versatile Blogger and Premio Dardos Awards

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Today I celebrate my 300th follower. Back in January, during Blogging 101 I set goals for this blog, which included having 300 followers by my 12 month anniversary in May. As I reached this mile stone today, I am 2 months early—Yeah! Time to celebrate.  Last month I was given more reason to celebrate as I received two blogging awards to accept from Silver Lining Mama http://silverliningmama.com/ The awards were the Versatile Blogger Award and the Premio Dardos Award. I am humbled, grateful and would like to thank her.  If you get time stop by her blog as it’s worth a visit.

versatile-blogger-award-trophy

The rules are:

  • Show the award on your blog.
  • Thank the person who nominated you.
  • Share seven facts about yourself.
  • Nominate 15 blogs.
  • Link your nominees’ blogs, and let them know.

Seven facts about me:

  1. I love purple.
  2. I was born at midnight.
  3. Dates and walnuts are my least favourite foods.
  4. I have a Mickey Mouse collection.
  5. I am enjoying my new found ability to write poetry.
  6. I will self-publish my book this year.
  7. I work with people recovering from eating disorders—my book is based on my knowledge in this area.

My nominations are:

  1. Lynne’s Art and Soul https://lynnesartandsoul.wordpress.com/
  2. Laissez Faire http://laissezfairelife.com/
  3. Pheonix Grey https://phoenixgrey85.wordpress.com/
  4. Its PH https://itsphblog.wordpress.com/
  5. The Main Focus https://annermurray.wordpress.com/
  6. Mutafariq Khayalat https://mutafariqkhayalat.wordpress.com/
  7. Fresh Paula http://freshpaula.com/
  8. The Kyleinator https://thekyleinator.wordpress.com/
  9. Blisters, Bunions and Blarney http://safarfiertze.com/
  10. Michael Meiser https://michaelmeiser.wordpress.com

premiodardosblogaward

Here is the description and rules for this award:

dardos

My nominations are:

  1. The Lace In My Head Mirrors The Cosmic Mind https://patternsofsouldevelopment.wordpress.com/
  2. The Beauty Along The Road https://beautyalongtheroad.wordpress.com/
  3. Its All In Finding The Right Words https://rogershipp.wordpress.com/
  4. Nuggets of Gold https://joyroses13.wordpress.com/
  5. I’m Not A Sick Boy http://iamnotsickboy.com/
  6. Flowers and Breezers https://flowersandbreezes.wordpress.com
  7. The Gad About Town http://thegadabouttown.com/

All of my nominees are worthy of their awards and I enjoy their blogs regularly. Thank you for adding dimension to my blogging journey.

Back To Childhood

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Tell us about a sensation — a taste, a smell, a piece of music — that transports you back to childhood.

In today’s world there are many new smells. At times, they converge together  and in some ways diffuse into each other. When I was growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s things were different. In many ways, life was simpler but with a lot less opportunity. Smells were stronger and often less environmentally friendly. So which smells do I remember from my childhood. There are many—some memories are good, the others not so much, but they are still mine.

  •  Fresh salty sea air made complete by the smell of seaweed—growing up we lived in coastal Australia. We were never far from the beach and many holidays were spent there. They were fun times. Today as I no longer live by the ocean I receive a pleasant surprise when I return. One of my earliest blog posts,  Calm Action is on my latest trip to the beach as an adult.
  • Cherry medicine smell—made to taste like cherry to make it easier for kids to swallow medicine. I am still unable to drink Dr Pepper as it instantly takes me back to my childhood and the not so pleasant taste of this medicine—my husband is the same and our kids think we a making it up.
  • Mud—our house was on slope and not landscaped, so every time it rained we had a lot of mud, clay-like solid mud. It had a particular smell and was slippery when wet.
  • Fairy floss—as a child this had a much stronger smell than the pre-packed fairy floss you can buy today. I found that similar smell in the freshly spun fairy floss we found being sold on the street in China.
  • Aniseed lollies—I was the only child in my family who liked these licorice flavoured lollies, so I could guarantee they were not stolen. On the odd occasion as an adult I have bought these lollies I have been disappointed as the smell and flavour is not as strong as it used to be.
  • Eucalyptus smell of the Australian bush—growing up I spent many hours going for bush walks with my family exploring. It has a unique smell and these days unfortunately it is only on weekends away that I get to re-experience my memories.  Although I do live in  an area filled with individual gum trees—the Australian bush is different.
  • Mothballs—back in the day clothes were packed up at the end of the season and stored to make room in the wardrobe for the next seasons clothes. To stop moths and silverfish eating holes in the clothes, two or three balls made of naphthalene were added to the storage container. These had a strong smell and when it came time to change the clothes back again for the next season, it took a long time for the clothes to lose the smell.
  • Epoxy resin—as a child my father made many things as he is creative and talented. I loved it when he worked with epoxy resin—I loved the smell and how quickly it worked. I am sure it wasn’t good for me but as it wasn’t an everyday occurrence it wasn’t a problem.

I have enjoyed remembering my childhood smells. I will keep this post as a work in progress continue to add smells as they come back to me. If you are from a similar era—what smell do you remember? I would love to hear about them.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-transporter/

F.I.R.S.T.

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Tell us about your first day at something — your first day of school, first day of work, first day living on your own, first day blogging, first day as a parent, whatever.

There is always a first time to do something. The problem is, often none of these are as simple as they seem. Starting a new job, having a baby or beginning blogging,  they all need a strategy.

To help us with this mission, I have made an acronym of FIRST.

F:  Fear

I: Inspiration

R: Resolve

S: Stategy

T: Test

All new things have a fear attached to them. Use this fear to develop inspiration as to why you want to overcome this fear. Then resolve to make a strategy to ensure your success and finally test it out.

Don’t let fear get the better of you. Make a plan to overcome it and make lots of firsts. They keep your life exciting.

Never

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

Weekly Photo Challenge: New

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Possibility. Opportunity. Potential. As another year gets underway, let’s celebrate the new.

Today we had our serious day of winter weather. The first day of real snow in our 5 weeks in Canada. Whilst on the odd occasion it has snowed before never was it like this. When we left our motel this morning the streets were clear. By the time we returned home there was 15 cm of snow. It was awesome. Fine powdery snow that was fun to walk in, although I am sure I found muscles I didn’t know I had. I have never not seen the streets not cleared before, so it was difficult at times to tell where the footpath ended and the road started.

Winter Fun in Ottawa

I am hoping it continues to snow tomorrow as the prospect of freezing rain, another new experience actually doesn’t excitement me. But que sera sera, whatever will be will be. It’s all part of understanding what it is like to live in Canada, which is why we traveled from Australia in the first place.

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

Inspiring Hope

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What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

I believe the way you look at the world changes your outcomes, and I  always focus on the positives in any situation. Developing a spark of hope into a fire that warms you and lights your path is my goal. Life is too short not to make the most of what we have.

The above quote is from my About page and shows the purpose of my blog. Working in mental health I encourage others to see that there can be an alternative way to look at situations. We may not be able to change our past but we can choose to change the impact it has on our future.

Where possible I like to find a unique angle for my blog posts that inspires people to think outside the square or gain a new experience. I use my double rainbow as my brand to help keep me focused on hope.

The double rainbow is a rare and beautiful thing that inspires even more hope. It reminds us that after the storm there can be a beautiful ending. At the time I took this photo from Melbourne Aquatic Centre in 2011, life wasn’t necessarily easy but by focusing on the positive, gold was eventually found at the end of the rainbow, in the most surprising places.

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https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/be-the-change/