Sound and Memory

Posted on Categories Self-care, Self-expression, Soulful Life, Wellbeing

It was the sound of the postman’s motorbike that did it.
I caught myself smiling. Somehow I had developed the association of pleasure with the postman’s delivery.
Had he brought a letter? Was it something arriving that I had long been waiting for? A cherished card from a dear friend?

Today it wasn’t for me. I was sitting in someone else’s room looking out the window to the leafy street.
Soon I saw the postman scurrying forward and away from me.
Emails are certainly functional, quick and efficient.
A handwritten letter or a card has become something rather special.

Earlier this year I asked a long time friend to send me a card to my new address.
I wanted to experience the joy of surprise and also to see if he would.
I asked him not to tell me if or when he had sent it.
One day later that month I had consciously forgotten about my request, and hearing the postman’s motorbike brought the memory back to me.
My instinct was to check the letterbox.
Sure enough, there it was.
Handwritten and full of love and care.
Don’t you love receiving a real letter?

If like me you love receiving real letters, I recently read ‘Paris Letters’ by Janice MacLeod. A treasure of a book about how she transformed her life and somehow found her way to become the artist she dreamed of. These days she still creates painted scenes illustrating her letters set in her day to day Paris. Perhaps you’d love to explore her book ‘Paris Letters’ or her other book ‘A Paris Year’. I loved both of them and was truly inspired.

Lots of love,
Pamela

LIFESKILLS: Go Where The Energy Is

Posted on Categories Learning music, Lifestyle, Self-care, Self-expression, Soulful Life, Wellbeing

So what does “go where the energy is” mean?
My take on it is, whatever floats your boat, or energizes you, or excites you, or makes you feel deeply has a great message for you.
It is a message from your soul telling you that this is important and to take notice.
Why would someone take notice of that?
We all have an inner guidance system called feelings.
Our feelings indicate whether we are safe or not, happy or not, on the right track or not and many others.
When we acknowledge how we are feeling and learn to decipher what the message is for our wellbeing, we are on our way to living a much richer more fulfilling life.

It may feel easier or seem to be more effective to shut down our feelings and ignore them.
In some situations this may be the smart option, as in when our safety in the moment is threatened. I am not taking about this though.

What I am talking about is how we make those decisions about whether to go this way or that way in our life path choices.
Do I get a day job while I continue to work on my art?
What kind of day job do I go for?
Can I go for what I would love to do?
Do I have to continue in the job I hate?

Ultimately the answer to those questions in inside of you.
Your feelings are the stay or go barometer.
If we can continually be aware of and witness our internal guidance system (our feelings) over time we develop a much stronger relationship with ourselves.
We develop trust in ourselves when we heed our feelings and “go where the energy is”.

It is my experience that despite what society or my head might be telling me to do, my feelings and energy or not for a choice might be telling me something else. I always take the time to reconcile them.

In the beginning of exploring “go where the energy is”, I recall starting very simply with decisions that weren’t all that important. I was testing the idea. Then over time as I noticed the results I was having, more and more I applied it to bigger decisions. The result has been a more and more fulfilling life experience.

People often say to me “when you change to talking about your work, you light up like a Christmas tree!”  I am delighted to say this is the outcome of choosing to go where the energy is, over many years.

Wishing you a fulfilling life,
Pamela

LIFESKILLS: The Power of Five Minutes

Posted on Categories Learning music, Parents, Self-care, Self-expression, Wellbeing

Waiting.
Waiting for.
Waiting for some.
Waiting for someone.
Waiting for someone for.
Waiting for someone for five.
Waiting for someone for five minutes.

TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK
TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK

If you have ever had to wait in the queue at the Bank or Post Office or Supermarket – I’m guessing that covers just about everyone – you will have experienced how interminable time can feel.  We are feeling the weight of time ticking away.

I don’t know about you, but there are plenty of times when I have decided I don’t have time to do something.
The truth is most likely the opposite.
That is, if I have defined ahead of time exactly what I am going to do in the time I have, it is sometimes amazing what I have finished.

This is the key for me. Knowing exactly what I am going to do takes out any need to think about it, or consider choices or make decisions. These things take up precious time. If I can simply just do the thing, what a relief.

Then of course I have the satisfaction of having something done.
Delicious.

 

LIFESKILLS: Understanding priorities

Posted on Categories Achievement, Kids, Learning music, Lifestyle, Parents, Self-care

Learning a worthwhile skill with potentially life-long benefits (like playing a musical instrument) can take a lot of effort and be a kind of marathon.

How do we actually achieve it?
Given we all have 24 hours in every day and 365 days in every year, how do we decide what to do in that time to take us to our dream?

Some of us don’t decide and perhaps by default prefer to allow life to happen around us and float along.
Whether we do or don’t is everyone’s choice.

What if though, we do decide and purposefully channel ourselves in that direction?

What if we decide to grab life by the collar and declare what we want to experience?
What if we set the intention to fully live, and have what we dream of?

The impact on our quality of life could be quite dramatic.
And, the impact on our children?

There is a school of thought that says children learn what they live.
This makes a lot of sense to me.
If a child lives in a household with parents who are making choices for their lives, setting goals and achieving them, and allowing them to witness the process and harvest of that, what impact might it have on their future?

So now, back to those pesky only 24 hours in every day.
Many of us want to cram far too much into our lives.
I am certainly guilty of that.

The fact is we can’t do everything all at once, no matter how much we might want to.
We have to learn to prioritise.

Make choices.
Declare to myself that I want this more than that.
Allow some things to go undone, untried, untested.
Say no to others and to myself when a possibility presents itself that is not aligned with how I want to experience my life and future.
Accept this offer and reject that offer. Not always easy.
When I do this, although it can be excruciating at the time, the rewards that come from it can be beautiful and bountiful!

Self-care
Self-esteem
self-knowledge
self-understanding
self-worth
self-respect
self-management
development of my character
trust in myself

For kids to navigate the ‘marathon’ they need to learn how to prioritise and stay on track.
They will be distracted by many many things along the way, just like us.
It takes time and practise to learn, and it takes a lot of effort by parents.
And it is well worth the effort.

Motivation for the child comes through witnessing the rewards gained by their parents and friends, then having the internal experience of “I WANT THAT”. Then they will be on board with the effort. Once they experience the self-respect that comes with achieving what they want (begin with smaller easier things to achieve) they will become more and more hooked on the process. It will make their life much more exciting ultimately. At least that has been my experience.

Yes some people have levels of passion and purpose and directness of vision that they are able to do this without training it seems. Other people need to work on it.

Which kind are you? Is your child the same?
How might your child be taught to prioritise appropriate to their character and abilities?

I wonder what the best version of you and your child might be?
Fascinating….

If there is something substantial to achieve to make your life come alive, then mastering the art of priority becomes your vital daily companion.

What do your belongings mean to you?

Posted on Categories Lifestyle, Parents, Self-care

For a while now there has been a growing voice of discontent with how we live our lives.
I mean in relation to how much we consume and how that impacts on our quality of life.
It began with becoming aware of how much clutter we have. One of the first things a Feng Shui expert will tell you is, clear the clutter.
I know I have certainly felt the relief when I have finally sorted through things that have been put off. There’s nothing quite like moving house to force me into seeing how much I am needlessly carrying around.
These days I notice there are more and more books and documentaries about living with less.
It’s the idea that our underlying discontent manifests in our stuff, our belongings.
People like Marie Kondo and The Minimalists are offering us an alternative viewpoint to the massive consumption way of living.
Frankly, I think what they are saying is highly important.
One of the things Marie Kondo talks about is Spark Joy.
“Only keep the items that spark joy for you”.

It is such a simple thing, but a profound thing isn’t it.
So I am thinking about all the many people who have said to me that they would LOVE to play the piano but they don’t have the space for it. Is that really true?
Really?
On the one hand they are saying it would be a soul choice for them, a heart choice that would bring many years of pleasure to them and their loved ones.
On the other hand they are saying that they can’t have that because they must keep their accumulation of belongings (possibly meaningless?) that they are keeping for reasons they might not be aware of.

It actually makes me rather sad to witness this, knowing the deep satisfaction that playing the piano can bring.
Have you seen this amazing advertisement featuring the gift of a piano to the very young Elton John.
Some tissues nearby might be a good idea – it’s powerful! 🙂

If you go to YouTube and search for
John Lewis Christmas Advertisement 2018 Elton John.

Tell me if you enjoy the adv?
Lots of love
Pamela