Author: Amanda Viviers

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Christmas Devotional: Prince of Heaven

Social media shocks me most days. The amount of time we give to platform building and no one is exempt. There is a weak thread in our hearts where we seek belonging and worthiness.

I struggle, we all struggle to find our voice and the place we hold in the world. One of the greatest shifts in our society currently is the evolution of where we gain our authority and surety from.

In the past, we would respect the laws of our nation and leadership was a simple question of the position of authority and mostly we would respect the title. However, we now exist in a questioning culture. Leadership is often questioned before it is trusted and we are more isolated than ever before.

The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other. JR

The idea of royalty and leadership is fraught with distrust and broken promises. Then enters the archaic notion of respect, lineage and simply obeying.

We have become a disconnected society that mistrusts people above all else. No wonder we are hurting and our hearts are longing for direction.

Enter this song.

An ode to the princely nature and the coming of a lowly leader. I can see why leadership has become so unpopular, because how can we serve a group of people who are labouring in silent hope.

We long for the promise to be fulfilled. We want order and comfort. We are desperate for an anthem of hope, which is a rallying cry to the beauty of healing and justice.

Isaiah 41: 10 says to us clearly…

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The power of this season lies not in the presents, the food or the twinkling lights, it is bathed in the beauty of the promise. The promise that we greet a young leader who is destined to bring light and life to all who listen to his teachings.

King of Glory

We gladly greet

Born in wonder and majesty

There is a layer of the nativity dialogue that is often overlooked. You see Kings, Leaders of the land, travelled miles upon miles, to lay very expensive gifts at the feet of a baby, who was wrapped in rags and laid in an eating trough of farm animals. The irony of this picture is often too much for my heart to take in.

Our world creates platforms and places value on Instagram influencers and rock musicians who waltz stages of glory. However, one of the greatest men to ever walk the earth, his teachings that have changed the entire course of history laid in dirty clothes in the most humble of places.

This year I pray for those humble places. For those who feel isolated, overlooked and ignored. I pray for the sleep deprived and those with chronic illness and also those who are self-consumed with their own agendas and fame. May leadership and values come back into the core of our community so that together we can build a community for our children to thrive in, where they understand the scaffold of what it means to live a life beyond ourselves. God bring peace more than ever this Christmas, we are groaning in our own self-perpetuating cycles.

In the Name of Jesus

Amen.

Day 5: Prince of Heaven.

New Days, a vision workbook has just been released for download here. A tool to help you reflect, journal and envision at this time of year.

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We need to learn to date ourselves before we expect others to date us.

Learning to love myself just as I love and respect others has been one of the greatest lessons that this year has given. I had no idea that Motherhood was relentless.

Everyone promised me that when the kids went to school that things would get easier. They promised me when they slept through the night, exhaustion would fade and the sun would peak through the dark clouds on the horizon. We talked for five years about what we would do when he went skipping off down the school path.

But they lied.

They all offered me an expectation that was unachievable and I grieved the nomad lifestyle I had when my babies were small. I had no idea that school hours would become so restrictive and the goal posts grew smaller with fundraisers, discos, jog-a-thons, crazy hair days, collections for the Vincent de Paul, homework folders, swimming lessons and the list grew daily.

This year I had to learn to block out time for myself, to find the depth of resource that was hidden in my soul, to once again grow.

Growth is painful. It is like a stretching of our courage to believe that we can once again do more. Growth increases our capacity, to juggle and bend. It makes us more flexible and this is an undervalued quality in a person, that no one tells us is required.

Above all of this, however, I am learning that if I do not find ways to look after myself, to refill my tank and to take the time to date myself, no one else will want to hang around with me.

Do you fill your days with tasks for others?

Do you then feel ripped off when no one reciprocates for you?

It is easy to forget that we need to prioritise our own needs above that of those who are around us. That is why when travelling on an aeroplane, we are told over and over to put on our own mask, before trying to fit someone else’s. If we are unable to breathe how can we help someone else?

Every Christmas season I find myself depleted at the end of a season of growth. Adulting is stretching and to just stay sane, takes a lot of deep breaths and patience. That is why for the last fourteen years I have planned little dates with myself to recalibrate and recover.

This year I have created a workbook, pro forma to help you retreat away from the crazy and find your voice again.

It is called New Days.

If we keep doing the same thing over and over we cannot surrender to the new.

It is a journalling pro forma.

An opportunity for you to get it messy, to draw, to explore, to refine and to recover.

Set a date for yourself today.

Download your copy here.

Or order your printed version here.

Enjoy dating yourself this Christmas and let’s together continue to grow in the way we are kind to yourself.

Also, my friend Rebecca Ray has released an amazing tool to help you be kinder to yourself, you can sign up for it here.

Amanda

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12 days of Christmas

We are super excited to announce our annual social media campaign…

12 Days of Christmas. Secrets In the Bay.

 

A 12-day profile of local businesses in the Rockingham, Safety Bay, Shoalwater, Baldivis, Kwinana Regions. Last year we had an engagement of over 100,000 views on the products we promoted in the lead up to Christmas. We are passionate about the local region and this promotion is all about celebrating buying local this Christmas.

Here is how it works:

*download the terms and conditions here

*All Products must be delivered by the 4th of December to Kent Street Deli Attention Secrets in the Bay.

*Applications to info@amandaviviers.com or emma.hazeldean@gmail.com including full social media URL links.

*12 businesses only.

*Product must be $50 RRP or more.

What the business gets…

*3 original product photos

*Exposure to secrets in the bay media channels.

*Engagement with the local community.

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how to find perspective and rest

I think there is something attractive about humility and something deeply repelling about pride.

Allen Ginsberg says it quite perfectly…

“To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard.”

Perspective is often gained in the most unlikely places and I am learning it is seasons of hiddenness that can bring the greatest rewards. We live in a society that is obsessed with fame.

This time of the year brings out the worst in us all. The hurry, the family conflicts and the stress.

One way that I have found perspective and rest in the midst of the craziness at this time of the year, is to personally retreat. I take one afternoon, I grab a glass of wine, my favourite pen and I write. I have done it now for fourteen years and it has been the greatest tool for finding my voice and dreaming again.

This year I have released the questions I have asked myself in this personal retreat in a downloadable book. I take the time to retreat from the world. Retreat from the stress. The busyness and find ways to dream again for the coming year.

The beginning of this book starts with this sentiment;

“A simple sentence has been repeating over and over in my heart lately. If we keep doing the same things we have always done and we are expecting a different result, that is insanity.” Amanda Viviers, New Days.

Are you looking for perspective this year?

Are you wanting rest, from the constant hustle that is promoted by our society?

Then take the time to retreat, create a plan for 2018 that includes time for rest. Maybe its time to have one day a week away from social media? Maybe you are wanting to write, sew, draw or start a new hobby? Then make time, schedule it in and most of all begin to dream again for new days.

“Courage is not shaped by a Wonder Woman cape, it is an everyday girl facing that which terrifies her and saying yes anyway.”
Amanda Viviers

 

Download and print off today and take the time to reflect to find clarity.

Amanda

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Come Closer; chapter four braving the wilderness

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because the sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”

James A Baldwin

This time last Monday I was sobbing in my car at school. The pressure of my pending new book release, a broken car being towed to the mechanic but the real story was bathed in jealousy.

There is always fifty-five sides to a story and in the wake of my meltdown over the last week, I have zoomed in on the foundation of the story that held me captive in that moment.

It was a metaphorical pimple that screamed out for attention and I had to unpack the depth of the pain. This is the beauty and the sheer terror of community. It is easy to hold judgements and let pain slide when we watch humanity from a wide angle lens. But what about when it’s on micro zoom? What about old wounds that surface, from your family of origin and how come it is so painful to face them with authenticity?

Each Monday, we have been walking through Brene Brown’s latest book “Braving the Wilderness” with our online book club Mondays with us. And I find myself here today in chapter four.

People Are Hard to Hate Close Up. Move In.

Recently I sat in a workshop “How to Deal With Anger” by Anne Galambosi. She unpacked many different ways that we can make friends with our anger. One of the greatest lessons that I took away from her workshop, was to come close to my anger, rather than push it away. She brought a participant up on the stage and held their arms. She said, “Struggle, wrestle, come on try and make me let go of you”. And the more distant she was from the person, the harder it was to break away. However, she showed us, as we come close to the anger. The person was easily able to break free.

Brene says it this way…

“Anger is a catalyst. Holding on to it will make us exhausted and sick. Internalizing anger will take away our joy and spirit; externalising anger will make us less effective in our attempts to create change and forge connection.”

The closer we become to anyone, humanity, our family, our friends, our work colleagues,  and in of our relationships, especially when they are accessed from an authentic place, the more likely it is that we will face conflict.

I love the question that Brene explores in this chapter around conflict, emotions and having a different view.

Sometimes when I get overwhelmed, my default is “agree to disagree” and shut it down. What do you think about that approach?

My answer is this.

I am terrible at agreeing to disagree. I am not the flight person in this scenario. I have learnt to fight.

The problem is, my fight tendency has ruined some relationships because they have felt attacked in the midst of my struggle to find a middle ground.

What about you?

Then she goes on to ask this question.

So if we decide to be brave and stay in the conversation, how do we push through the vulnerability and stay civil?

The greatest discovery I have been walking through has been where I find my identity and how I answer this question in the midst of differing points of view.

Conflict transformation could possibly be my greatest lesson that I am learning as a leader. The easy answer is to learn to walk away. This could be a solution, because then maybe space and time, would help me to respond with more grace and kindness.

How do I stay in the place of difficult emotions like jealousy, rage, envy and strife without maiming my fellow human being?

I am learning to breathe in the midst of these interactions. I am learning to comfort my inner child and reassure her that she is okay. I am learning to talk openly with safe people about my weaknesses and the places where I fail. And most of all, I am being kinder to myself in the aftermath of interactions gone wild.

My book club question, for the comments below and in our group is this…

What are you learning in the midst of conflict from this book?

Deep breathing over here.

Smile

Have a great Monday gang.

Amanda

Latest Release New Days available to download here for $9.95 today. A downloadable vision workbook with reflection questions to help you process the year that has passed and into the new year or season with intention.