Posted on Leave a comment

Everyday Ordinary

everyday ordinary

What’s your everyday ordinary?

Hanging the washing out…

The dishes left over from last nights dinner…

Walking to the post office for your day job…

Folding the jocks and socks…

Making breakfast…

Every day.

Ordinary.

Those moments when no one else sees you.

When you are by yourself.

When your thoughts overtake the moment.

Those moments of unconscious streams of words, accusations, ideas, worries, anxieties…

Moments of seemingly nothingness, that you won’t remember tomorrow.

Who are you in those moments?

What bombards you?

What overwhelms you?

What defines you?

These are the moments that are your catalogue of thoughts that design the big moments.

We don’t pay much attention to these moments, but it is your everyday ordinary that make up the substance of your life.

It is not the big days, the day you were married, the day you were divorced, the day you gave birth, the day you lost your job.

Those moments do not define your future.

They may change your direction, but they do not colour in between the lines.

It is your EVERYDAY, ORDINARY

that builds your life.

Every single day

Every ordinary one

Can be made extraordinary if we consciously change the tone of our thoughts, actions and words.

Everyday.

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

(I am speaking about this topic tonight at Riverview with all their creative teams, I can’t wait.)

Posted on 2 Comments

Culture of Scarcity

Scarcity one

scarcity 2

Recently I read a quote in Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly and it stopped me in my tracks.

“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didnt get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don’t have enough of… Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds are racing with a litany of what we didn’t get, or didn’t get done, that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to that reverie of lack… This internal condition of scarcity, this mind-set of scarcity, lives at the very heart of our jealousies, our greed, our prejudice, and our arguments with life”

Lynne Twist

I realise as a Mum of a toddler, as a creative inspiration addict, I live in a constant state of needing and wanting more.

How can we constantly create more, when we believe that we don’t have enough?

Being 28 weeks pregnant I could wear this T-shirt with my PJ pants and Ugg boots all day long and be a happy little camper.

 

20140505-104858.jpg

The question I have been contemplating though, is when will enough be enough?

When will I have enough sleep?

When will I have enough time?

When will I have a big enough house?

As I contemplate those who are thriving around me, they are the ones who are content with their enough today and are enjoying the moments presented to them.

How do we dream with courage, but be satisfied with the beauty in our today?

As Lynne explains in the quote above we need to question our motives and our complaints. It is easy to say I am so tired, when we have actually had a decent amount of sleep.

It is easy to say ‘I don’t have anything to wear.’, when we have a whole cupboard full of clothes.

It is easy to say ‘I am bored!’, when we are one radical thought away from changing the world.

It is easy to say ‘I am alone, I have no friends.’, when you could take that courageous act and just ring someone for a chat.

We live in a culture of scarcity, that is constantly scrambling to keep up with the neighbours, keep up with our thoughts, keep up with our expectations.

Today I am going to revel in my now and be satisfied with the health of my family and the amazing provisions that I have been given.

I am truly blessed.

I have a healthy family, a loving environment, a safe house, food in my fridge and encouragement on my heart.

Today I have more than enough.

How about you?

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

 

 

Posted on 2 Comments

mindful in may

the quieter you become

If you are a regular around here, you would know I am not often short of something to say.

Today is the first of May and my goal is to meditate for at least 5 mins a day for the whole month ‘Mindful in May’.

I tried meditating with my husband a couple of nights ago and he fell asleep in the first 5 mins, snoring and all.

(Secretly I had a massive smile and it made my night.)

One of my main pursuits in this goal, is to become a more calm parent and therefore leader, friend, wife, daughter…the list goes on.

I want to be slower in my responses, I want to take time to truly hear, I want to be ready to have two children running around me in the next few months…

A friend sent me a prayer and a blessing months ago and this morning as I was emptying out my inbox (at the start of my May mind detox), I found it and I stopped and meditated upon the words.

Prayer

‘Providing God, I easily doubt that you’ll provide whatever I need for body and soul, and I can’t imagine how the adversity you send my way could be turned to good. Help me let go of my need to control and instead entrust my life and future to your care. Keep me fully aware that you have the power to provide because you are almighty God, and the heart to do so because you are my faithful Father.’

Blessing

show me your ways

My intention this May is to slow my mind, fill it with good and gracious thoughts and to bring life into any conversation that I am a part of.

Creatively, I know when I am emptied of myself, there is so much more room for the new to arise.

When I am thinking less about myself and more about others, I am enabled to see new and wondrous things.

When I am calm and I respond rather than react to situations, my family and friends are empowered to feel safe and trust me.

Day one.

Mindful in May.

Join me.

Speak tomorrow

Amanda

 

Posted on Leave a comment

zebra’s behind

20140430-151801.jpg

Somedays you look out, you have all the plans in the world, but all you see is a Zebra’s behind.

Somedays are just difficult, you miscommunicate, you say the wrong thing, you cry.

Somedays are just 3 hour glucose tests with a sore back and angry little Nanna’s waiting in the doctors lounge who don’t make for very good company.

Those are the days I snuggle up in my house, turn on some inspiring music, put my ugg boots on and try my best not to remember the Zebra and look forward to tomorrow.

I think every girl needs to love herself, regardless of anything. Like if you’re having a bad day, if you don’t like your hair, if you don’t have the best family situation, whatever, you have to love yourself and you can’t do anything until you love yourself first.

Julianne Hough

Third trimester blues today.

Somedays are just like that and it is okay.

Amanda

Posted on 1 Comment

the art of meditation

hooked one

The chapter from The gifts of imperfection that I am studying at the moment is ‘Cultivating Calm and Stillness, letting go of anxiety as a lifestyle’. A couple of days ago I explored the whole idea of living brave, but yesterday I spent a lot of my day thinking about the art of meditation.

A powerful and well trained mind, impacts our creative output exponentially.

When I think about meditation, I am not emptying my mind as eastern religion would tell me too, scripture shows me to fill my mind with that which is good;

‘fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable.’ Philippians 4: 8

What is the content of your thoughts?

If you could document the tone and tenure of your daily thoughts, are they mostly negative or positive?

Life building or life depreciating?

Stressful, anxious, or calming and peaceful?

As a creative mum of a toddler, it is so important that I regularly refresh my thought patterns and practise calm parenting.

The ability to breathe deeply before responding in haste.

Finding ways to practise the art of meditation so it is a lifestyle, a habit.

Last night before I went to sleep I listened to a meditation from The Liturgists, that a friend forwarded onto me recently. To take time listening, meditating and refreshing my mind before falling asleep on these interesting and lovely thoughts, rather than mindlessly scrolling through facebook.

I spoke on radio this morning about this very thing and in the midst of my research for my interview I found a global campaign called Mindful in May.

I am going to join this movement and take time each day, even if it is just 5 minutes to consciously meditate. Ideally I would like to start and finish my day this way.

Here are some great tools I have found to listen to;

http://youtu.be/27NUXE9_DE4

Albums;

(I listen to all of these through Spotify)

The Liturgists

Bethel released a great album last year called without words

Riverview’s album Whisper last year has whole sections of meditation tracks

Parachute Band’s last album matins and vespers

A life that is meditating on helpful and life giving things, can only reproduce of its own kind.

Here’s to a month of mindfulness from this desk.

How about you?

What helps you meditate?

Speak tomorrow

Amanda