Share Your World – 2015 Week 8

Your favorite blog post that you have written? (add link)
My favourite blog post is Howling At The Moon. I am reminded of it every full moon—which is this week as I reaffirm my months goals. It is also one of my most popular posts last year. Last month I used it as the basis for my Toastmaster International Speech competition speech at club level and came third. I was pleased. 

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500? Why?

I love to go on a road trip with my husband and get away for a few days. Take the camera and explore areas close to home that we haven’t visited in years or on the odd occasion we find somewhere neither of us have been before. This month I am flying to Lismore, NSW to meet him and explore the area. It is close to the Queensland border but inland, so I am sure we will have fun exploring the hinterland.

If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?

I’m not a big question asker, but if someone could honestly tell me what my future held I would be interested. I love going to fortune tellers and am often surprised by their accuracy. I would particularly like to know how successfully I will be able to market my book when I self-publish it later in the year.

Where do you eat breakfast?

I eat my breakfast every morning sitting at my computer working on my blog of the day or visiting my blogging friends blogs. It has become a happy ritual that starts my day of well.

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 being able to take part in Blogging U’s poetry course. Although I didn’t write a lot of poetry as it is new to me and I didn’t have a lot of time—it was great to learn about poetry. I also surprised myself and I am better at it than I thought.

During this week I look forward to starting to plan our holiday to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in September. We are still deciding where we will go but we are considering returning to Hawaii where we were honeymooners all those years ago.

http://ceenphotography.com/2015/02/23/share-your-world-2015-week-8/


Goodbye

You have the chance to write one last post on your blog before you stop blogging forever. Write it.

 

Greetings friends

Open your hearts

Open your minds

Direction helps with desire

Blogging is your community

You can do it—look for the positive

Even in tough times continue to follow your dreams

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/last-words/


Our Home

What do you display on the walls of your home — photos, posters, artwork, nothing? How do you choose what to display? What mood are you trying to create?

Over the years we have gradually decorated our home with a mixture of things that have meaning to us—either as individuals or as a family. There is no theme. When we were married my husband had a collection of Australian paintings that he loved and I had a miniature alcohol bottle collection. These two items have formed the basis of our lounge and dining area decoration in the 8 homes we have lived in.

A small selection

A small selection

Special photos  have a pride of place in our home. We have photos of people, places and activities that have were special to us. I enjoy occasionally studying them closely and letting them take me back in time—bringing a smile to my face as I remember the details surrounding the photo. This is more important when our loved one is no longer with us.

I love collections. For me there is something about having a group of similar things. It allows you to continue to make an area unique without spending a lot of money. My belief is that if you gave ten people the same 4 items to start their collection and told them to grow it to 20 items within a six months period—each collection would be different.

We currently have four collections are working on.

  • My little bottle collection that started with 4 bottles about 30 years ago.
  • My Mickey Mouse collection that I have collected for years, however, was only put together in one place earlier this year. It now sits pride of place above my desk and helps me write while at the same time bringing joy to the room.
  • Our cat collection
  • Our travel collection—this collection includes something special from each country we have visited. It is still only a small collection however, I plan on expanding it over the next few years.

For us decorating each of our homes was never a planned thing. It was always a work in progress that took on its own life. I like it this way and it seems to work for us. However you decorate your home, I think they reflect strongly who you are. This is true for us—a fun, happy eclectic mix ready for anything.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/wall-to-wall/


Back To Childhood

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/


My Interesting Week

Tell us how your week went by putting together a playlist of  five songs that represent it.

I was excited to see the topic of today’s Daily Prompt. This week for me has been varied and interesting which is unusual. My week began on Monday with Australia Day, which I celebrated with my blog post Celebrating Australia Day—an A-Z of interesting Australian information. The song I selected to represent this is “I am Australian” by The Seekers.

On Wednesday evening I participated in my Toastmaster club’s International Speech competition coming third. It as a fun night to end a particularly busy day at work. As there are no songs on speaking competitions so I choose a new song dedicated to Toastmasters International to represent this part of my week.

Friday evening saw me joining colleagues for farewell drinks with one of my staff leaving to work overseas for a few years. It is an exciting time and many memories were discussed.

On Saturday morning my husband and I attended a travel expo and began planning a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary later in the year. We haven’t made any decisions yet. However, I think a tropical holiday is in order and “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys represents that well. Unfortunately, Jamaica is a little for  us to travel for a week so won’t be the destination.

Today my husband finished putting up glass shelves above my desk. They are to  house my expanding Mickey Mouse collection in one place. We have planned this for about the last 5 years, so it is exciting. Now I just need to find everything and arrange them in a display.

This week also saw the completion of two other tasks we had planned since last year. On the public holiday Monday I did a Spring clean of all my kitchen pantry cupboards. I found things I didn’t know I had as well as made a lot of space by throwing out many bags of expired or no longer required food and containers.

Over the last two weeks we have had an opening and closing pergola build over our courtyard. On Friday after a week of rain the electrician was able to come and complete it. We are very happy with the result and look forward to using it now as an outdoor indoor living space.

In Australia we are now into February. I can’t believe how quickly this year is moving. January was a very unusual month. It was filled with many different things and many goals were completed—the question is will it continue from this week and month into this year. I hope so.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/playlist-of-the-week/


Create Yourself

Creating yourself

 

It is now more than half way through the first month of 2015. How are your New Years resolutions or goals going? One way to help them happen is to take control and create a plan.

The more one understands and is guided by the above George Bernard Shaw quote, the easier success will be. Let’s look at difference between the two key words—find and create.

According to dictionary.com Find means

  • to come upon by chance
  • to locate or recover
  • to discover or perceive after consideration

Create however means

  • to cause to come into being
  • to cause to happen to evolve from one’s thought or imagination as in a work of art or invention

The way I see it, using the word create infers that you are empowered, taking control and ensuring your New Year’s resolution or goal happens. The word find has a more hit and miss feel. While the result may be the same, I believe the more direction one puts into achieving goals—the greater the chance of success.

For me—I plan 2015 to be the year I complete my dream of becoming a published author. To achieve this goal I decided to follow George Bernard Shaw’s advice. I created opportunities to write. I also created opportunities:

  • to find my voice
  • to learn my craft
  • to connect with others writers
  • to receive feedback
  • to understand the process

It is both exciting and scary to see the creation of my dream come together. Are your currently finding or creating yourself? How is it working for you? If it’s not working for you, change the steps you are taking and make your dream happen.


Weekly Photo Challenge: New

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

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.

2011-07-30 17.13.54

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


Dream Viewer

Inspiring Max is a positive blog. A space to share inspiration though my thoughts, experiences and travels. I do not have an ideal viewer—male, female, transgender, young,old or middle-aged from all countries of our world—are welcome.

My hope is visiting my blog brings hope, inspiration or new information into your day. Writing about my past experiences allows me to enjoy them again and gives me a new insight into their meaning in the patchwork quilt of my life.

I have found the blogging world exciting, fascinating and full of inspiration. Since last August, I have had visitors to my site from 85 countries—some so small, I need to  consult my map. I love it when Jetpack tells me I have viewers, however a viewer from  a new country reminds me how big our world is and how blogging reduces the distance between us.

Inspiring Max allows me  to learn about other countries, cultures and their lifestyles through direct involvement with you—my viewer. Welcome to my world. I look forward to joining yours as we go on this journey together.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_assignment/101-dream-reader/


Why Am I Here?

I have previously done the Blogging 101 challenge however am repeating it to connect with more people and to find new ways to improve my blog. There are many things I didn’t connect with last time and I hope to attempt them this time and see what happens. At present, this feels daunting but the personal growth is always from outside your comfort zone. While I have done this challenge before I am hoping to extend myself even further and continue to find my online voice.

The concept of Inspiring Max was created in my head a few years ago, but like all good things it has taken its time to develop. I have chosen to write this blog under my family nick name, to allow me more creativity, and not to have my ideas biased. Through Inspiring Max, I want to connect with people and share my thoughts, experiences and travels with the world. I will also blog on things I have found useful and inspiring. The secret of success  is understanding what your audience wants, so I am very keen to receive your feedback and ideas.

My interests are learning new things, meeting new people and enjoy exchanging ideas and information. The world is a fascinating place and I think blogging can bring everyone closer. Having spend all my working life with people face to face, using the written word online is a new experience that I am excited about taking up the challenge of.

For the last 50 years, I have led a relatively sheltered life and through Inspiring Max, I want to ‘put myself out there and see where the journey takes me.’ I hope that you will stay a while and join me on my journey.

This year I plan to self-publish my book Inspiring Hope: How Eating Disorder recovery Is Possible, which is based on my experiences working with patients over the last 20 years with people recovering form an eating disorder as a professional working in the field.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  Lao-tzu