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online book

capture 2

I have decided to bring the free download of Capture 2 to an end soon and to launch the last couple of weeks with a online publication as well.

To download it for free for the last two weeks click here: capture 30 days of inspiration

I discovered something really fancy today whilst slouching around the internet. You can publish your books online and people can read them like a real book!

So if you don’t want to download it, but want to read it online you can do so by clicking here:

Capture 30 days of inspiration 2; desperate for change

I’d love your feedback in regards to this book. I have started getting quotes to print it as a soft cover publication and my hope is to use it as a manual with young adults especially, helping them explore their purpose and passions.

‘There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story, you can never quite tell where they will take you…
Mine took me here…’

Miss Potter

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yestember

One of my friends is having a hard time of late. Especially in the area of being single. I set them this challenge and it is called yestember.

They have to complete all 30 by the end of September. It’s not actually about finding a man, it’s about mixing up their everyday and pushing comfort zones and generally just doing things that they don’t normally do.

Sometimes all it takes is a change of perspective.

I found this quote and I loved it…

“make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.” Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

So if you are feeling a little glum. It’s spring and join in Yestember with us.

Download the list here: yestember

* say yes to this project.

* Buy a coffee for a stranger.

* Go to the wine bar and talk to anyone whose there, The goal is to get someone to buy you a drink.

* Arrange a BBQ/ party at your house and invite people…

* Arrange a dinner in the city with a group of people.

* Plan a holiday at home (provide evidence i.e itinerary).

* Invite someone out for coffee (guy or girl).

* Talk to 5 guys at church…

* Go on a young adult camp/ retreat/ or organize a weekend away before the end of the year with young adults.

* Go to 3 different churches (and go to church every Sunday of september).

* Write a letter to myself and post it back to myself and open 1 October.

* Start a conversation with a guy in a shopping centre.

* Book a counseling session and talk about disappointments.

* Organize a chicks night at movies with pedicure, wine and chocolate.

* Dance naked around the house with music blasting.

* Start a journal to give to your husband on your wedding day.

* Go and burn any letter from x boyfriends and delete all text messages.

* Book two tickets to an event or movie and put on facebook a week before that you’ve got a spare ticket and see who wants to join you (Guy or Girl).

* At the Gym, ask someone a question about health such as “Protein shakes”, “How to use gym equipment”.

* Try a different sport i.e. Bikram Yoga or Crossfit.

* Cook a recipe that you’ve wanted to try.

* Go to a sports bar to watch a footy finals or the grand final with someone.

* Do a Random Act of Kindness.

* Join a volunteer group or event ie. Man the phones for telethon, Do the soup run, Visit an old peoples home etc.

* Read a new book.

* Be Confident and Open to what the month brings. Say yes to offers and chat to everyone even if they’re not your type.

* Go into a bottle shop and ask the attendant to suggest a wine that will go with your meal.

* Go dancing after your dinner in the city.

* Try a relaxation or meditation CD before you go to bed.

* Write your own positive message for the month and repeat it every day. Put it on your mirror & say it ie. “I will reach out of my comfort zone this month. I am strong. I am confident and I am willing to meet new people and let God lead me where I need to go”.

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A cup of tea with Em






I have only met Em from Tea Cups Too three times, maybe four in fact and each time I have encountered her, there is something about her heart and presence that makes me smile.

We have some mutual friends and we live a stone’s throw away from each other, but I stumbled across her blog whilst looking for pictures from an event we both went to on the weekend and I stayed at her place online for a while.

So, today I have put my little man to bed, my big man is scraping the peeling paint off our wooden window sills that have been corroded by the sea air and I wanted to have tea with Em online.

The isolation of motherhood has the capacity to take us to beautiful places and dark ones also. As I read your recent post on motherhood, it reminded me of a quote I have been repeating to myself lately.

‘Embrace the chaos’

For those who don’t know me, I am a stay at home mum with one son Maximus, one husband (who works in Juvi with young offenders and is a body builder, I know not sure what happened there…) and I write often here and also here.

Aside from my writing, I do heaps of other stuff, which you can find more about here. To say life is chaotic is an understatement. Max just turned eighteen months; 6 days ago, and the last year and a half of my life has tippled into toddler oblivion,my priorities and preconceived judgements on mothering have been dramatically turned upside down.

This is the quote recently that made me smile and I have decided to make it my summer mantra.

chaos

Chaos (especially in my house and my diary) often makes me feel overwhelmed, but there are moments when I stop my mind from trying to control the moment and I embrace the cry of my heart to live a life that contributes significantly and my little heart secretly starts to roar.

It’s like I have a little dinosaur inside me, that when I think thoughts of beauty and creativity, when I produce moments of inspiration and life, whose eyes grow large and a mighty roar begins to emerge. A roar that no-one can hear but I can feel it rise in my heart.

Finding a sense of purpose and contribution in my days, helps me to embrace the chaos and to allow the dishes to harden, the washing to stiffen, knowing that my time is being given to that which makes an eternal impact.

Your post Em, reminded that the times I spend with my son, screwing the lids on and off, the times that I walk slowly so that he can rip lovely flowers apart, are just as valid and important as the times that I am recording moments for radio, writing books and helping women in far off places.

Embracing the chaos and not trying to contain its place, allows us to live in those moments that full vibrant colour filled memories are made and allows us to build a life of beauty rather than contained order.

Does it mean I think allowing our lives to be messy and out of control everyday is helpful?

No, in fact spring cleaning, keeping my housework at bay and structure allow my creativity to thrive.

However, its just changing the priority scales of its importance and allowing the opinions of others to fade and the ideas that brew late in the evening hour, to become reality.

Embrace the ROAR Em.

Each time I have met you, I have sensed a great potential for beauty, awaken-edness and life.

You are delightful and your life produces beautiful things.

Let’s have a real cuppa soon, or watch the sun on the ocean go down with a glass of wine and forget that toilet training creates a lot of mess, on top of the dust piling on my lovely wooden floors.

Smile often,

Mumma V.

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A cup of tea with Em






I have only met Em from Tea Cups Too three times, maybe four in fact and each time I have encountered her, there is something about her heart and presence that makes me smile.

We have some mutual friends and we live a stone’s throw away from each other, but I stumbled across her blog whilst looking for pictures from an event we both went to on the weekend and I stayed at her place online for a while.

So, today I have put my little man to bed, my big man is scraping the peeling paint off our wooden window sills that have been corroded by the sea air and I wanted to have tea with Em online.

The isolation of motherhood has the capacity to take us to beautiful places and dark ones also. As I read your recent post on motherhood, it reminded me of a quote I have been repeating to myself lately.

‘Embrace the chaos’

For those who don’t know me, I am a stay at home mum with one son Maximus, one husband (who works in Juvi with young offenders and is a body builder, I know not sure what happened there…) and I write often here and also here.

Aside from my writing, I do heaps of other stuff, which you can find more about here. To say life is chaotic is an understatement. Max just turned eighteen months; 6 days ago, and the last year and a half of my life has tippled into toddler oblivion,my priorities and preconceived judgements on mothering have been dramatically turned upside down.

This is the quote recently that made me smile and I have decided to make it my summer mantra.

chaos

Chaos (especially in my house and my diary) often makes me feel overwhelmed, but there are moments when I stop my mind from trying to control the moment and I embrace the cry of my heart to live a life that contributes significantly and my little heart secretly starts to roar.

It’s like I have a little dinosaur inside me, that when I think thoughts of beauty and creativity, when I produce moments of inspiration and life, whose eyes grow large and a mighty roar begins to emerge. A roar that no-one can hear but I can feel it rise in my heart.

Finding a sense of purpose and contribution in my days, helps me to embrace the chaos and to allow the dishes to harden, the washing to stiffen, knowing that my time is being given to that which makes an eternal impact.

Your post Em, reminded that the times I spend with my son, screwing the lids on and off, the times that I walk slowly so that he can rip lovely flowers apart, are just as valid and important as the times that I am recording moments for radio, writing books and helping women in far off places.

Embracing the chaos and not trying to contain its place, allows us to live in those moments that full vibrant colour filled memories are made and allows us to build a life of beauty rather than contained order.

Does it mean I think allowing our lives to be messy and out of control everyday is helpful?

No, in fact spring cleaning, keeping my housework at bay and structure allow my creativity to thrive.

However, its just changing the priority scales of its importance and allowing the opinions of others to fade and the ideas that brew late in the evening hour, to become reality.

Embrace the ROAR Em.

Each time I have met you, I have sensed a great potential for beauty, awaken-edness and life.

You are delightful and your life produces beautiful things.

Let’s have a real cuppa soon, or watch the sun on the ocean go down with a glass of wine and forget that toilet training creates a lot of mess, on top of the dust piling on my lovely wooden floors.

Smile often,

Mumma V.

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Finding my place

photoIt wasn’t until I had a toddler that I realised how important ‘placement’ was in my creative internal vortex.

I place things on my desk with finesse, I drop things on my bookshelf with purpose, to a shallow glance it looks a little messy, it looks a little crazy, but to my internal Dewey Decibel system it is just right.

My son has the most beautiful nature, but he is a fiddler. Everything he touches is fiddled with. I am sure he is bursting with innovation because he finds anything he can to feel, to explore and to replace in his own way.

Two weeks ago I turned on the washing machine to hear a regular knock, that isn’t a part of its usual rhythm and after digging the water logged inhabitants, I found my brand new smart televisions water logged remote control.

It wasn’t until max started to press my placement control buttons that I realised how important place was in my creative routine.

I rearrange my desk.

I play with my notes on my side table.

I light candles.

I make coffee.

I muse with placement until my idea is ready to be birthed.

How about you?

Do you feel out of place?

Is finding a place and creating a place, an important part of your creative expression.

booksThis new season for me has taken so long to settle, because of this one marker. Place.

I didn’t realise how much team, how much the people I collaborated with, the location of my workspace, the routines, the deeply enriched rituals, how much they enabled my creativity and innovation through place.

Slowly I am finding my new place.

And I kinda like it.

How about you?

Do you need to find your place?

Do you need to find your fit?

Explore this today.

Amanda