The 'I Am' Challenge

New design, but same old me. How well do you know me? How well do you know yourself? Take the 'I Am...' challenge yourself. 

I Am Sam

               I am definitely a night owl as opposed to a morning person – not before my ‘cup of tea please.’

    I love crisp and sunny autumn days.

    I dislike blue flavoured anything – especially M&M’s.

    I adore cuddles with my children every morning to wake me from my slumber.

    I love creative writing and absorbing it from different mediums.

    I love making people feel comfortable and as though they belong.

    I refuse to write what I am doing in my Facebook status – that’s my business.

    I feel so contented when I am reading a good book on the day-bed (preferably on a sunny day.)

    I love cooking for friends (when I have a day to prepare.)

    I can’t handle being ignored – ultimate in rejection and disrespect.

    I like to give people tangible homemade things.

    Quotes inspire me.

    I prefer a big cosy, secure, and consuming cuddle to a lingering kiss (most days.)

    I am incredibly untidy but call it my ‘creative clutter.’

    Toasted coconut twice cooked gives me a foul taste in my mouth.

    I struggle to say ‘no.’

    Red is a colour I am attracted to.

    I love being around people and feel frightened when I am alone at night.

    Some of my toes are naturally bent.

    I love lists and need to put things in writing for everyone in my house.

    I have a strong sense of justice (I have chased a thief and would again.)

    Basil is by far my favourite herb – perhaps that’s why I love Italian food!

    I feel unhealthy and out of balance when the fruit bowl is empty.

    I am terrified of chickens, mice and rats – dead or alive (why do I have a cat?)

    Sunday night dinners with my family are a highlight of my week.

    I still believe I will publish a book some day.

Book Land

I’m still coming down from the rush of being in charge of the second hand books at our school fair.

For six weeks, I welcomed book after book, page after page of the good, the bad and the ugly. I found a cosy box and appropriate price tag for each title. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, American Psycho, Specky Magee, The 27^th Annual African Hippopotamus Race, Long Walk To Freedom, and even How to Have Great Sex circa 1989 found a fruit box to hide in (when in doubt file under Self Help.)

I didn’t have to do my usual weekly weights routine because you could guarantee someone would finally realize their encyclopedia collection was gathering dust and deposit a carton or two of them for me to carry and sort. Do you know how heavy these are?

I had my band of helpers each week that would meet me at the shipping container and lug books up to the sorting room. One of us would do the coffee run, some of us had toddlers in tow and together we’d sort and shuffle books around until we were ready to put the big coloured price code dots on. The fun non-dusty part!

On other days I had, what I affectionately named Book Land, all to myself. I worked on my own, occasionally stopping to sneeze (hazard of the job) or read a blurb. The background hum of school children playing was the ideal accompaniment to the job.

At that point I’d resigned myself to the fact that I would be a volunteer forever. No pressures to conform and appreciative recipients. Not much money in it (none in fact) but how lovely to be surrounded by one of my great loves – books!

In the final week before the Fair, I enticed extra helpers with my homemade banana cake and promise to have first dibs on any books.  The spirits were high and the girls came in shifts. We had a production line going and boxes were labeled, new books sorted and book raffle hampers were packaged. Conversation was light and bubbly for most of the day, but then someone asked:

    “What are you going to do next week when it’s all over?”

One answer led to another and we were talking about careers, or stalled ones at that. I explained how I love to write and feel that books are a part of my next career step and that for eight years I had willingly contributed to the family business, volunteering and raising the kids. In simple terms I now lacked the confidence to pursue what is rightfully my career passion.

It’s ironic that I was on my knees in a pile of books when this book marking moment happened. My friend mentioned a relative, who has had a book published, promotes building inner strength and may be looking for some casual help. Was this just a blurb I had read or could it be true?

Fast forward. I am taking this prospect one step at a time, but what happened in Book Land that day has reignited that belief in myself  and words, and here I am, with a few footy seasons in between, back on my blog writing.

If nothing comes of this and I am definitely a ‘don’t count all your chickens before they hatch’ kind of girl, it has turned the page for my next chapter of blogging. Perhaps not a blog every day for 100 days, but when I feel the urge to write.

It’s not just the season that has changed…

Reason of a Lifetime

There is one of those sayings that people always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime* and I might add some are always part of your thoughts and your being without you realizing it.

When my dear friend had a hellish couple of weeks , beyond the usual bouts of gastro, housework blues and misbehaving children. After her childrens’ lives flashed before her eyes and destiny thankfully brought them back into the safe clutches of her arms, I felt sheer relief that all she had to show for her stress was a mangled car, a flattened gate and irate neighbours who had lost their front fence and favourite old tree.

Rewind to a hectic Tuesday afternoon. My friend drove straight from work to childcare. Next stop was at the grandparents to round up the oldest of the three under-five-years old children. Car was perched at the top of the driveway. It was late and dinner, as usual, needed to be prepared. The four year old refused to get out of the car so my friend sent the twins down to collect the mail and went to close the garden gate. Senses were alarmed when a creaking sound came from the locked car. This was followed by a rapidly moving vehicle that rolled backwards so quickly that all my friend could do was watch.  Hindsight** reminded her not to try and stop her car despite her heart aching to wrench open the door and grab her son.

The huge gate was smashed off its hinges. One twin stood with his mouth gaping by the mailbox less than a metre away. The other was with my friend who watched the car hurtle backwards across a busy road with her hysterical four-year-old inside. A huge gum tree was avoided but the car crashed through the neighbour’s fence and took out a thirty-year-old tree. Without hesitation my friend raced to her son’s aid. He was shaken but unharmed. Two little ducks waddled after their mother oblivious to what could have been and what still could be. Thankfully a car wasn’t passing down the busy road…

As I listened to my clearly distressed friend, who has felt the flow of my tears on many occasions, I realised how vulnerable we are. How much we depend on our friends in times of great shock and instability and how much as a friend we ache for them.

Sure we can look back and laugh at the sequence of events and the $6000 car and fence repairs is material at the end of the day, but what brought me great clarity was how much I loved my friend and how she was in my every thought and feeling that day.

I was there for a reason (as was her husband when he came home and knew just what to do,) but my friend is a lifetime gift and on her birthday (today - 2 Sept) I wanted to wish her every happiness that she deserves and say how truly thankful I am that we have been friends for nearly thirty years…Oh and glad we could eventually laugh it off over a glass of Amarula.

*A Reason, a Season, a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are.

They are there for the reason, you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.

What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people any way; and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

**

A week prior to my friend’s mishap with her son and a handbrake, a young family in Balwyn was devastated when their 37-year-old mother tried to stop her car, with children inside, in her driveway, but was run over and killed. I also write in memory of this courageous mother who I never knew but completely understand her instinctual actions. 

A Turd Share in Property

Photo sourced from www.gumtree.com.au

You’re going to attract weird looks when you say your property is "ludicrously overpriced" and has carpet “stained like an infant’s undies”. People are expecting the spacious, inviting and warm adjectives like ‘cosy ambience,’ ‘bustling shopping strip’ and ‘sweeping views’. After all would you want to live in a “crap place?”

That’s just how Ben Rawling from North Bondi described his apartment to prospective flat mates on www.gumtree.com.au. Rawling, a spin king himself, decided to try a different advertising approach with tongue in cheek humour. It worked! He got a few date offers, global emails and at the end of the day a jolly good laugh. Social media picked up his quirky style and it went viral.

Who says words aren’t important? All it took to get Rawling’s flat of ‘trailer trash’ into the public eye was the word ‘crap’ itself.

As a bonus you got “a truly appealing paint job.. no, I meant a peeling paint job…"

Whether you read it for fun or were genuinely interested, you knew the type of person your prospective flat mate was. At the end of the day a small apartment would be unbearable if you didn’t get on with your roomie.

Well penned Ben – I hope you have lots of laughs with your new roommate!

Game Set D.N.A

I remember when I first learnt about DNA in biology class at high school. It was one of those important long-winded words that stuck in my mind. DNA name recall came in handy recently for a green ‘piece of pie’ in a Trivial Pursuit game. Deoxyribonucleic Acid it seems now has its own game and children are its pawns.

According to Wikipedia, DNA is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.

In simple terms it holds our chromosomes that contain all our genetic information. This includes what colour skin, hair type, eye colour and whether or not we have a predisposition to a genetic disorder or disease such as Huntington’s disease.

DNA can be used to help catch a criminal, stop a tomato from over ripening and to research other living organisms and their functions, among other things. Now you can test DNA to see which sport your child will excel in by using a simple ‘Sports X Factor’ DNA kit.

Excuse me? What ever happened to let’s try tennis, footy, basketball, dancing, cricket, softball, gymnastics, karate or golf etc. and see what the children enjoy and feel confident doing? It appears that science wants to take the fun of experimentation and exposure to different codes of sport out of ‘sport’ itself.

With the DNA kit parents can test children to see if they have genes prominent in certain sports and predetermine what sport they will be good at.

It’s already crazy when parents say, “he has his father’s legs, he’ll be a hurdler,” or “ with that gracefulness she’ll be a ballerina.” The DNA kit will confirm whether those dreams are futile: “Yeh, he does have great legs but his DNA is suited to sports with hand eye coordination.” and “sorry enjoy your ballerina now, she doesn’t have any sporting DNA in her body!” Or build a trophy cabinet, this child is going to be a star basketballer.”

According to Dr. Lainie Friedman Ross, a pediatrician and bioethicist at the University of Chicago, “sports and physical activity should be fun for kids. It shouldn’t be, ‘You’re going to be the world’s greatest athlete’ or ‘Give up now, kid, because you won’t have a chance’ because of your genes.”

Elitism in sport is not based entirely on genetics and I question how a commercial test like this will measure will power, passion for the chosen sport and determination to succeed. After all a lot of talented athletes have fallen by the way side because they didn’t have the mental application.

To develop into a successful athlete, being at your peak at the right time, as well as injury-free and training hard are crucial factors. These are essential components in sport that cannot be predicted through DNA analysis.

Will we stop at sport? Perhaps we’ll want to know how attractive our children will be, whether they will be good money managers or have great social skills. Surely DNA can tell us that too? Gasp.

I am thrilled that my children have their own chosen passions in life. For my son so far it’s any ball sport and for my daughter to date it’s drawing and art. I wouldn’t dream of testing them to fabricate a future in sport.

  

References

http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/08/predicting-kids-athletic-skill-theres-a-dna-test-for-that/#ixzz1U1vBNX9M

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/genetic-testing-for-sports-genes-courts-controversy/2011/05/09/AFkTuV6G_story.html

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio99/bio99109.htm

Wikipedia

Copy That

In the words of J. Richardson, ‘when it comes to the future there are those who make things happen; those that wait for things to happen; and those that wonder what happened.’

I’ll admit it’s been a while since I stepped into the corporate arena. My circa 2004 Country Road suit doesn’t quite cut the mustard and social media has become the guts of marketing in today’s world. Cumbersome laptops are so ’99 with iPads and iPhones the latest must-have portable accessories.

You have to be creative to stand out from the crowd when it comes to jobs.  C.V’s are interactive or content letters have links to personal websites or You Tube. Applications are online and everyone (even my Dad who can’t operate a D.V.D player) owns an iPhone. It’s time to show prospective employers my dynamic Cliff …ord edge.

My business wardrobe has now moved with the times and so have I. With a strong grounding in communications, I jumped on board the Facebook, Blogging and Twitter phenomenon to better myself as a communicator.

I saw this ad on Seek and to coin a marketing phrase it ‘grabbed’ me: 


Publicity Assistant - Tennis Australia

Based within the Communications business unit, this entry level position will be responsible for providing administration support to the Public Relations Manager and working closely with PR and digital team to publicise and promote all tennis events and programs.

I believe I have the drive, creative skills and energy required for this position. Seven years out has still been seven years onwards and upwards. After all Lleyton Hewitt can still match the up and coming players despite being sidelined for a while.

Perhaps these ad words were the inspiration I needed to get back on the circuit writing, promoting and doing what I love – Copy That?

Freeman of Speech

Mia Freeman is a young and hip mum with an opinion. She often writes articles that the thirty to fourty somethings can relate to: offending our parents, juggling children, awkward sexual encounters and fashion faux pas, but today on Channel nine’s Today and her own blog Mamamia, she just came across as blatantly ignorant saying that all Cadel Evans did was “get on a bike.” Yes he did, but for 3,000 grueling kilometres over three weeks Mia!!!!!

Freeman’s argument was that we elevate sportspeople, label them as heroes and overpay them when there are far more deserving people. I appreciate the old analogy that it’s ‘easy as riding a bike’ but if we break down Cadel’s climb to the Yellow Jersey, it hasn’t been an easy ride and in my opinion his achievement is deserving of the accolades.

In 2005 and 2008 Cadel came so close to clinching Tour de France victory but didn’t get there and had to settle for second. A bad ride in 2009 didn’t rattle Cadel and although he started strongly in 2010, mechanical issues forced him in to a lower placing. He battled on and trained more aggressively, despite losing his coach and friend of twenty years, with the ultimate prize still in sight.

A hero is defined in the dictionary as someone who is admired for achieving something great. Greatness and sacrifice in any discipline deserves recognition. They may be a pioneering scientist; a selfless grandparent adopting their abandoned grandchild; a bestselling author; a brilliant singer or actor; a lifesaver; or an elite sportsperson. Just because Cadel is being financially rewarded for his sporting feat doesn’t mean he is less of a hero in the eyes of Australians.

To come back year after year and ride some of the most unforgiving mountains and this year turn a 3 minute deficit into a 1.34 min lead is surely of hero status. Perhaps Mia needs to just get on her bike and see how awe inspiring this journey of Cadel’s has been?

For the record, I am not a cyclist or an avid viewer of the Tour de France but any commoner can see how much blood and sweat those men shed in the last few weeks as they pushed their bodies and minds to their limits.

It’s so nice to read such uplifting news after the horrific bombing and massacre in Norway. Mia has her right to an opinion but trampling on the achievements of Cadel because he is triumphant in sport is unnecessary.

In joyful strains then let us sing  ‘well done Cadel – you did it and we salute you!’