Hey there cyberworld! How's life treating you? I hope you're out there, living and loving life.
This will be my second attempt of the day in trying to write a blog post. My first one was full of confusing tangents and unclear lines of thought - blah! So goodbye (well, 'save') crappy post, hello fresh new post.
Today is a public holiday (Happy Australia Day!) so happily I am sat on the couch with my laptop propped up on (well, where else) my lap. I've just been doing a swag of blog reading and was thus inspired to post one of my own. Look at me being all not totally lax in updating my blog!
I've been thinking about the past few days while considering a topic for my post. I've had a really great four-day weekend which has been totally lovely for the most part, but also given me some moments of genuine sadness. I spent Sunday with my dear friend Nicci, who has leukaemia and has just been diagnosed as having a few weeks left to live. It was wonderful to spend the time with her, and when we got the chance to be alone, we could talk and laugh and share in a way I cherish now and will be very grateful for when she is gone.
Having lost my friend Penny in August last year, it has been a strange experience to be saying goodbye to another dear friend. In some ways, losing Penny has prepared me for saying goodbye to Nicci, but as with both of these women (who never knew each) each relationship I have with them and their illnesses has been completely individual.
Penny never spoke about her diagnosis, and was so ill that it didn't seem certain that she was even aware of what was happening. Instead, we all just spent as much time having fun with Penny as possible in the last couple of weeks and could ultimately draw comfort from sharing those experiences together.
Nicci and I have always had a special ability to get right down to the heart of the matter, and to show each other how special we are to each other. I'm very grateful that our time together on Saturday was no different.
The other days this long weekend have actually been great and I feel like I've made some amazing connections with my loved-est of loved ones. For example, my mum and I have shared some fantastic conversations in which she has allowed me to bounce around ideas about decisions and some huge inroads I've been making in terms of my life. I feel re-energised by these interactions and even in the face of some real sadness, excited about the future. Which is brilliant.
This post has been difficult to write, not so much due to my personal feelings but rather in wondering whether to even write it at all. It is a strange prospect to send these thoughts out into the world. I can be a tad private at times so the prospect of 'hitting' publish is a bit daunting. But I know I will, and I thank anyone who takes the time to read this.
Stay cool.
Cheers
Tracy
26 January 2010
04 January 2010
Fresh beginnings
Hey there, and happy new year to all!
I hope everyone is well after Christmas and are looking forward to a bright and shiny new year.
Enough chit chat - I'm going to launch right in! I have given a lot of thought to this blog, and am often thinking of posts I’d like to write, and yet I do not update very often at all. Add to this the idea of creating a post after my previous post (so sad). But I think ultimately I’ve been held back by not knowing what the blog is about. Then, in a flash of insight, I realised that it’s about whatever I want it to be about! It doesn’t have to have a theme, and way of delivering messages (a photo a day, inspirational quotes etc.) - it just has to be about whatever I want to put in there. I’m into heaps of different stuff, so what better outlet to get all of this stuff out of my head and into a creative outlet than a blog. Brilliant!
I was inspired to create a blog by the awesome folks over a The Best Life Ever (http://www.thebestlifeever.blogspot.com/) as their blog, and whole life for that matter, is open and sincere and I wanted me some of that. But by comparing myself (or more specifically my life) to others only led to frustration and a feeling that I’m not living up to my idea of happiness. So enough. I’ve decided that I will have a blog like mine, not like anybody elses. And that’s just dandy.
Plus, I've realised it's not just enough to write a blog and send it out into the vacuum of space without also putting myself out there into the big, wide world. I commented on a blog recently and the author kindly replied (using my name - wow!), and I must confess that I was so incredibly jazzed at this connection. Now I'm determined and resolved to join in and play well with others.
I love a bit of planning. I love lists. I love reflecting and nutting out problems. I love thinking about ways to live a better, happier, more creative, more intuitive etc. (all those good things) life. I read veraciously about these topics and feel excitement coursing through my being when I hit on brilliant concepts and ideas that just resonate. But then I find I’m still not making the changes necessary to move forward. I am, you might stay, stuck.
With the end of the year approaching my mania for planning (or intentioning as the excellent Danielle LaPorte would say) added to my equal mania for gettin’ my happy on, has led me to a point where I am not only going to make a list but actually follow through on it. Crazy concept, but just crazy enough to work.
I’m just so gosh darn excited about the possibilities!
That said, I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store in Blogland: 2010.
Happy New Year everyone.
Cheers
Tracy
I hope everyone is well after Christmas and are looking forward to a bright and shiny new year.
Enough chit chat - I'm going to launch right in! I have given a lot of thought to this blog, and am often thinking of posts I’d like to write, and yet I do not update very often at all. Add to this the idea of creating a post after my previous post (so sad). But I think ultimately I’ve been held back by not knowing what the blog is about. Then, in a flash of insight, I realised that it’s about whatever I want it to be about! It doesn’t have to have a theme, and way of delivering messages (a photo a day, inspirational quotes etc.) - it just has to be about whatever I want to put in there. I’m into heaps of different stuff, so what better outlet to get all of this stuff out of my head and into a creative outlet than a blog. Brilliant!
I was inspired to create a blog by the awesome folks over a The Best Life Ever (http://www.thebestlifeever.blogspot.com/) as their blog, and whole life for that matter, is open and sincere and I wanted me some of that. But by comparing myself (or more specifically my life) to others only led to frustration and a feeling that I’m not living up to my idea of happiness. So enough. I’ve decided that I will have a blog like mine, not like anybody elses. And that’s just dandy.
Plus, I've realised it's not just enough to write a blog and send it out into the vacuum of space without also putting myself out there into the big, wide world. I commented on a blog recently and the author kindly replied (using my name - wow!), and I must confess that I was so incredibly jazzed at this connection. Now I'm determined and resolved to join in and play well with others.
I love a bit of planning. I love lists. I love reflecting and nutting out problems. I love thinking about ways to live a better, happier, more creative, more intuitive etc. (all those good things) life. I read veraciously about these topics and feel excitement coursing through my being when I hit on brilliant concepts and ideas that just resonate. But then I find I’m still not making the changes necessary to move forward. I am, you might stay, stuck.
With the end of the year approaching my mania for planning (or intentioning as the excellent Danielle LaPorte would say) added to my equal mania for gettin’ my happy on, has led me to a point where I am not only going to make a list but actually follow through on it. Crazy concept, but just crazy enough to work.
I’m just so gosh darn excited about the possibilities!
That said, I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store in Blogland: 2010.
Happy New Year everyone.
Cheers
Tracy
29 August 2009
It was the best of times, it was the shittiest of times...
Hey there
Despite my obvious lack of frequency when updating this blog, I certainly do think a lot about what I would like to post. Since my last post I wanted to write and post photos of an amazing concert experience I had when I went to see Simon and Garfunkel while they were here in Melbourne at the end of June. I was also incredibly lucky to see them at a secret gig of sorts near where my folks live in the Yarra Valley. I have been a fan since I dug out one of their albums from my parents' old record collection. All in all, I have credited this as being among my happiest memories.
But all of this seems pretty distant in my memory as recently my friend Penny was diagnosed as terminally ill with primary liver cancer, and passed away last Sunday morning (23 August). Her funeral was yesterday. She was only 29, with her 30th birthday not until 27 November.
I have been reflecting on the memories I shared with Penny, and there were many wonderful memories indeed. I don't know if I realised how much of my life was entwined with hers, and see how we grew from teenagers to adults together.
I visited her in Japan in 2003, and Vancouver in 2005, both places she was living and teaching English, and now consider how fortunate I am to have had these unique experiences with her.
Big love to you hombre.
Tracy
Despite my obvious lack of frequency when updating this blog, I certainly do think a lot about what I would like to post. Since my last post I wanted to write and post photos of an amazing concert experience I had when I went to see Simon and Garfunkel while they were here in Melbourne at the end of June. I was also incredibly lucky to see them at a secret gig of sorts near where my folks live in the Yarra Valley. I have been a fan since I dug out one of their albums from my parents' old record collection. All in all, I have credited this as being among my happiest memories.
But all of this seems pretty distant in my memory as recently my friend Penny was diagnosed as terminally ill with primary liver cancer, and passed away last Sunday morning (23 August). Her funeral was yesterday. She was only 29, with her 30th birthday not until 27 November.
I have been reflecting on the memories I shared with Penny, and there were many wonderful memories indeed. I don't know if I realised how much of my life was entwined with hers, and see how we grew from teenagers to adults together.
I visited her in Japan in 2003, and Vancouver in 2005, both places she was living and teaching English, and now consider how fortunate I am to have had these unique experiences with her.
This photo was taken on a teacup-style ride at Tokyo DisneySea and is shows her capacity for humour and enjoyment. We laughed our heads off together so many times.
She was an amazing person, and when we first became friends I couldn't believe it. My closest friends now were actually all in the year above me at school, so I was in a position to admire them as the 'cool' kids while growing up. But Penny was special by anyone's standards. Funny as hell, bright, and with a self belief that allowed her to march to the beat of her own drum and carry the rest of us along for the ride. She was creative and so much fun.
There are so many things and so much to say. I'm sure I'll share funny anecdotes as they come to me, but for now I will just say that I miss her, and can't believe that she's actually gone.Big love to you hombre.
Tracy
06 June 2009
Playing with photos
Hey again folks
This one was taken sneakily while driving (don't worry, my eyes were on the road). It was just too beautiful to ignore.
Just a quicky this time (especially seeing as I just wrote the last entry about 10 minutes ago), but I wanted to try playing with inserting images. I've got a pretty new phone and have been taking some photos. Here are a couple:
This is a photo of a rainbow projected onto my wall at work. There is some kind of magic prism formed through my window every now and again, when the sun is just right, and I couldn't resist taking a photo.
This one was taken sneakily while driving (don't worry, my eyes were on the road). It was just too beautiful to ignore.
So there we go, new frontiers have been crossed (speaking of new frontiers, I saw the new Star Trek film last night - crackingly good I say!) and a new world of possibilities has been opened.
Cheers
Tracy
Tracy
This Magic Moment
Hi there uber-cyber folks!
I promised I would be a neglectful correspondent, and neglectful I have proven to be. My intention is to write often but must confess to being a tad lazy when it comes to writing posts as I don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home. Working on one all day tends to be enough, and TV or reading tend to be my evening mistresses when I'm actually at home, but I think the benefits of keeping a blog will be their own reward.
It is strange to read the entries of myself from over a year before and very interesting for me to note how certain things happen in cycles. There was an entry where my parents were overseas, and indeed they are again as I speak. I also spoke about helping students write their applications for our State Training Awards, and again I have just completed this process. Sure, many other things have happened in the past year but I suppose my reflection on this is that it is amazing how fast time flies, and the positive to be drawn is that time needs to be seized otherwise I'll be sitting here again in a year, still in the job I don't like, not sure what to do about finishing my study and feeling a bit melancholy about that prospect. I hope that by this time next year I will have all kinds of different things to report. I hope to be working in the field that I'm interested in (something life coaching-esque, though perhaps in a broader sense as well as an on an individual basis). I make myself a promise here and now that I will not be sitting here with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, telling you all about how I've just worked on the Victorian Training Awards applications, and still don't know what to do about uni. Well, I can't promise about the blanket part for they're entirely too delicious. But that's another post entirely.
On a completely different note, I love downloading songs. I know people who download tonnes of albums but for me it is about collecting songs. I keep a note in my phone containing a list of songs that I want to add to my collection. Sometimes I know the name and artist (eg. Love is All by The Rapture) and other times it is a description of where I heard it, thus helping me find the song (eg. song from Queer as Folk episode where Ted is in Babylon and runs into his old junkie friends). Some of these are harder to find, but therein lies the appeal in collecting. When I did finally find Cherish by The Association or Don't Give Up Now by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, my happiness was great. This post is named in honour of the song This Magic Moment by The Drifters which was playing when I started type-type-typing away.
Okeydokes, if I want a faithful following of humble and lovin' folks I suppose these ultra-long posts aren't going to win any friends. Mental note: take some photos and brighten this thing up!
Peace kids.
Tracy
I promised I would be a neglectful correspondent, and neglectful I have proven to be. My intention is to write often but must confess to being a tad lazy when it comes to writing posts as I don't spend a lot of time on the computer at home. Working on one all day tends to be enough, and TV or reading tend to be my evening mistresses when I'm actually at home, but I think the benefits of keeping a blog will be their own reward.
It is strange to read the entries of myself from over a year before and very interesting for me to note how certain things happen in cycles. There was an entry where my parents were overseas, and indeed they are again as I speak. I also spoke about helping students write their applications for our State Training Awards, and again I have just completed this process. Sure, many other things have happened in the past year but I suppose my reflection on this is that it is amazing how fast time flies, and the positive to be drawn is that time needs to be seized otherwise I'll be sitting here again in a year, still in the job I don't like, not sure what to do about finishing my study and feeling a bit melancholy about that prospect. I hope that by this time next year I will have all kinds of different things to report. I hope to be working in the field that I'm interested in (something life coaching-esque, though perhaps in a broader sense as well as an on an individual basis). I make myself a promise here and now that I will not be sitting here with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, telling you all about how I've just worked on the Victorian Training Awards applications, and still don't know what to do about uni. Well, I can't promise about the blanket part for they're entirely too delicious. But that's another post entirely.
On a completely different note, I love downloading songs. I know people who download tonnes of albums but for me it is about collecting songs. I keep a note in my phone containing a list of songs that I want to add to my collection. Sometimes I know the name and artist (eg. Love is All by The Rapture) and other times it is a description of where I heard it, thus helping me find the song (eg. song from Queer as Folk episode where Ted is in Babylon and runs into his old junkie friends). Some of these are harder to find, but therein lies the appeal in collecting. When I did finally find Cherish by The Association or Don't Give Up Now by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, my happiness was great. This post is named in honour of the song This Magic Moment by The Drifters which was playing when I started type-type-typing away.
Okeydokes, if I want a faithful following of humble and lovin' folks I suppose these ultra-long posts aren't going to win any friends. Mental note: take some photos and brighten this thing up!
Peace kids.
Tracy
27 June 2008
Poorly but happy
Hey folks
I have been either bed-ridden or couch-ridden all day today, having been struck down with a cold and sore throat combo. This forced state of sloth sounds pretty tempting in normal, healthier circumstances when one is bored at work, but when this scenario presents actually itself it is not so appealing. Plus as it turns out, there is pretty much only shite on telly. What is the point of being couch-ridden if you can't enjoy it?!
However, recently I read "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle and was really interested in what he describes as the three modalities - acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm, and that you should always be in at least one of these states (and hopefully working through to the third state). I don't know about the other two, but I have certainly accepted that I am poorly today. I like the idea that by accepting things, I am on the right track towards being happy. It's all good. But now the weekend is on my doorstep, I hope that my slack day will put me in good stead to enjoy the next two days fully.
Hope all of you out there are well-er than me. Keep it real peeps.
Cheers
Tracy
I have been either bed-ridden or couch-ridden all day today, having been struck down with a cold and sore throat combo. This forced state of sloth sounds pretty tempting in normal, healthier circumstances when one is bored at work, but when this scenario presents actually itself it is not so appealing. Plus as it turns out, there is pretty much only shite on telly. What is the point of being couch-ridden if you can't enjoy it?!
However, recently I read "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle and was really interested in what he describes as the three modalities - acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm, and that you should always be in at least one of these states (and hopefully working through to the third state). I don't know about the other two, but I have certainly accepted that I am poorly today. I like the idea that by accepting things, I am on the right track towards being happy. It's all good. But now the weekend is on my doorstep, I hope that my slack day will put me in good stead to enjoy the next two days fully.
Hope all of you out there are well-er than me. Keep it real peeps.
Cheers
Tracy
08 May 2008
Twice in One Day?
This is just a quicky I promise. I was just about to sign off when 'Detachable Penis' by King Missile came on the old media player, and I just had to tell the known universe how much I love this song. Not only is it freaking hilarious, but an awesome song musically.
Don't even get me started on how good 'The Cheesecake Song' or 'Jesus Was Way Cool' are! It's all too much.
Thanks King Missile.
Cheers
Tracy
Don't even get me started on how good 'The Cheesecake Song' or 'Jesus Was Way Cool' are! It's all too much.
Thanks King Missile.
Cheers
Tracy
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