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Showing posts from 2021

My Medicine Box - Finding Resilience in Challenge

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Anyone who read my very first blog post on this site back in 2014, will know that I had some trouble adapting to apartment life. Readers may have wondered whether I would be able to sustain it. Well, I did—for a while. In fact, I lasted seven years—a lot longer than I thought I would.  Seven is a mystical number that expresses the energy of learning through experience. This kind of learning isn't always comfortable, and often involves sacrifice. It took time for me to grow comfortable with the idea of relinquishing the family home, and all the stuff I'd accumulated. I grieved for my big house, even though I knew intuitively that I was moving forward. As I reduced my physical load to a density that my new apartment could hold, my spirit expanded. I felt free enough from domestic distractions to be able to focus on my creative work, and my healing from PTSD; which I felt were inextricably linked.  But when I realised how noisy my new home was, I wondered if I could focus. Relucta

A Hopeful Spring Equinox of Peace and Planning

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The world has grown noisier since Melbourne's long lockdown began. It shouldn't—the roads are generally more quiet. But major railway construction is taking place a few blocks away, diverting traffic up my street; bringing more noise into my world. Another growth opportunity—yay! Sensitivity to noise is one of my more visible anxiety symptoms. It's visible by my posts on social media, by my hands over my ears as loud cars drive by, and by the 'conversations' I've had with my neighbour over their distressed dog. Otherwise, I keep these signs to myself; mostly anyway. Social sensitivity is another. I take on people's stuff too much and allow it to affect my sense of peace. Not as much as I used to—I'm more aware now! But enough that social interactions can sometimes leave me overstimulated or exhausted. So the social isolation of being in lockdown isn't as unpleasant as it could be. And besides—people are pretty passionate at the moment! I'm replen

Melbourne Lockdown Number Six - Six Ways I Stay (Mostly) Sane

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To say that many Melbournians are feeling a little maddened by our sixth lockdown would be an understatement. Social media posts are showing us starting to come apart at the seams, bickering amongst ourselves like grounded teenagers.  To be honest, life isn't so different for me. I still went to the shops, like a normal Friday. But I'm frustrated by my efforts at trying to teach new classes in belly dance and tarot. I started with two brand new groups, after months of marketing—and now our term of classes has been stalled until who knows when. So rather than dwelling on a feeling of treading water, surrounded by sharks, I'm going to focus on the things I do at home that make it a great place to be. The emphasis is on creating a warm nest, instead of a padded cell. 1. Routine Maintaining a routine that is as close to normal as possible really helps to stay connected to time, space and security. There's something instinctively comforting about daily routines. Our pets kno

I've Hired a Digital Manager

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Is anyone else experiencing an acceleration of time? Maybe it's just middle-age catching up with me, but this year seems to have marched by quicker than most.  Back in May, my last blog post actually, I decided to take a break from memoir writing. Now, here we are in July—and I've only just started again. Has it really been five months? At least I'm working again, and I've recruited a 'manager.' I'm not talking about a human manager. Instead I've recruited the services of Apple Reminders, and Google Tasks. I should add that they're not paying me. I just like their apps. In the past, I'd resisted the urge toward evolving from my paper diary to a slightly less visual form; where appointments and tasks get tucked away inside a phone app—never to be tapped on again! But Apple upgraded their app, and I upgraded too. So my simple three lists for: shopping, books and movies, has grown somewhat. I now maintain seventeen task lists, some with subtasks. I

Memoir Midpoint Brain-Freeze - Acceptance and the Creative Process

For two years, I've been toiling away at my third book — a memoir. I have a long draft that I'm wrangling, shaving, plucking and cutting into a series of hopefully sensible, temporally correct chapters. This isn't my first 'rodeo,' so when I got to chapter thirty-three — and froze — I had a pretty good idea what was going on: I was caught in knots at the mid-point. Events swirled around me, from my own memory — yet I could no longer pin these snakes down onto the page in lines that aligned in time.  So I realised it was time to stop. There's no resisting it. You know what they say: if you have to force it, it's probably s#@t. So the remedy is: acceptance. Go with it. The creative process is a moody beast that must be fed and nourished correctly. It eats brain food, and is picky. One day it likes to eat memoir, swearing it wants to eat memoir every single day. Then suddenly, without warning, the brain wants to eat an episode of Big Bang Theory; or a copy of t

7 Ways to Action The Law of Attraction, In Consideration of All

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There's a stereotypical practitioner of the Law of Attraction: hippie types, sitting in lotus pose, visualising their dreams into being. But there's a lot of action in the power of attraction.  First, let's summarise what is meant by the Law of Attraction. You may have read the book or seen the movie The Secret . Although none of the ideas were new, the author of The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, popularised the ideas; so that The Secret became a commonly known piece of work. She taught us that what we think, specifically our beliefs around our own potentials, impact our ability to manifest those potentials. It means that if we think we can't do something, we probably won't be able to do it. It also means that if we can maintain hope and focus, we can create the best chance of bringing our potentials into being. Some of us, including those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), can find it difficult to maintain a persistent positive attitude. The world is teeming with

Majickal Meditation Workshop - Learn 7 Simple Pathways into Meditation

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Majickal Meditation Workshop Chirnside Community Centre 1pm, Monday 26th April, 2021 2-hour workshop, $45. Bookings: 1300 835 235 'Did you know that anyone can meditate? Even if you have a thirty-second attention span. Even if your eyes roll at the thought of sitting for an hour in lotus pose, chanting mysterious words. Even if meditation makes you just want to go to sleep. In fact, you're probably doing it more often than you realise.' -from book, Multidimensional Meditation, by Leanne Margaret Let me show you... Are you too busy to stop and connect to your real needs? Join me, as I guide you through a series of meditations to help bring you home to yourself. You will begin with simple awareness of your body. Then, you will gradually ascend to higher, freer levels of consciousness; step-by-step. These higher levels can assist you with your creative work, as well as helping you to transition into sleep.  Most of all, you will learn how to take some simple mindfulness practi

Majickal Tarot 2021 Workshop Information

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Workshop: Majickal Tarot Are you new to Tarot and unsure where to start? Are you still flipping through books after years of reading, struggling to memorise 78-card meanings AND their reversals? Would you like to learn how to swap between decks and read fluently, even decks you've never seen before? This isn't your usual Tarot course. Although I will provide some traditional tables and charts for you to learn at home, this workshop will teach you how to read Tarot without flapping through charts and books. All you'll need to carry is your cards. You will shift gear from a novice who learns from others' insights into a reader who can sit and fluently deliver their own perspective. Unlock 5 tricks to help you read ANY 78-card Tarot deck – No memorisation required. This is an IRL (in real life) workshop. You will learn: How to prepare yourself and your cards Psychic development techniques 4 ways into the minor arcana Attuning to the major arcana Building a story 2 styles o

If You Believe in Someone, Tell Them.

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This post is dedicated to the women who have helped me to step towards my potential. These women believed in me when I was unable to do it for myself. I try to pay it forward to my students and friends.   As I prepare my return to teaching in 2021, I'm pausing to reflect on how I came to step into the role in the first place. I always knew I would be a writer, but my role as teacher was a surprise to me. So how did it happen? Compared to many dancers I was a late bloomer, attending my first dance class at the age of twenty-five. A year or so later my teacher asked me to teach a class of beginner dancers. I was gobsmacked. Why on earth would she pick me to teach? I'd never taught anyone anything.  Although I didn't believe in myself, I did believe in my teacher. It wasn't the first time she had invited me to step out of my comfort zone. Twice each year she would run fabulously staged dance concerts. As well as dancing, I had been invited to read tarot at these concerts.