Life's collection. What are you collecting?

On Saturday night I lost my grandfather; a sweet man who was a true gentleman. He loved ardently, remembered remarkably and delighted in sharing quality time with others. He will be sorely missed. I have several posts I had written prior to my grandfather passing away but right now I am not sure about their timing so instead of sharing my past posts I'm going to talk to you about life. 

Life is something that we all cherish more when we are at risk of losing it or when something reminds us of its fragility. While it was never my grandfather's approach to life it is one held by many; this nonchalant belief that 'it doesn't matter I'll have time.' You know what IT does. Whatever 'it' resembles to you, you need to do it. Time doesn't have a warning bell, it isn't always going to remind you to get your shit together and it shouldn't have to. This is why life MUST be about collecting memories and not things. I don't just mean mass material things that control our lives and our minds but I also mean the things that change our hearts and destroy our relationships like bitterness, jealousy, envy, anger and hatred.

Now you can justify till the cows come home that a $3000 watch, a $2000 mixer, $600 vacuum cleaner, $80 000 car, $600,000 house or a 20year old 'righteous' grudge makes you happy but here is the harsh reality:

On Earth without memories you merely exist as a set of business transactions, cards, rooms & buildings that need to be packed up, donated or sold. Nothing else. 

When people speak of you they won't care about those finer things in life they'll care about the quality time they had with you. They'll think of shared laughter, tears, stories, pain and the quality time you spent together. They will recognise how you treated others and contributed to the world. When they look on your life they won't just see stories but bravery, courage, strength, honesty, trustworthiness, determination and intelligence- but only if you show it. People will not say, 'he/she was a good talker but let many down'. They will only talk about the actions.

So I ask of you these things:

1. Who are you? 

2. What do you want?

3. What matters to you most & why?

4. What VALUES do you want to leave generations with? How will they positively impact on those that come after you?

Now ask yourself these things:

1. Do I have what I need?

2. Do I have too much of what I want?

3. Where can I down size?

4. What reminders can I give myself that LOVE not money/possessions/angst rules over my life? 

After you have done this look through your house. Spring clean. Get rid of excess. Donate. Go to Salvation Army Crisis Centres and give away your goods if you don't want people to have to pay for products that help them to survive everyday life.

Focus on giving not getting & collect memories of altruism. Add them to the memories you have and will continue to have of quality time spent with loved ones. FYI phones, tablets, Xbox, playstation do not count unless of course you are using it as a sporadic bonding sesh. Show others you care enough about them to speak. 

Collect memories not things so that when it is your time to be celebrated, just like my grandfather, the difficulty lies in summing up all the positive content of your life not finding some. 

Till next time xo

Making everyday inspiration your written work

So you have participated or have followed my quest to complete A Written Revolution's photo project: 21 Happy Snaps but how do you turn it into a worthwhile piece of writing? 

Photography is an art just as creating literature is, it takes time, perseverance and a willingness to constantly improve ones self. As photographers (albeit amateur) we can choose to capture the literal meanings of words or we can search for something deeper that demonstrates the same meaning but has to be interpreted to be understood. Each of the topics on AWR's 21 Happy Snaps were comprised with the knowledge that care, kindness, love and an altruistic mindset bring the most, long lasting happiness for others and for ourselves. 

Have a look at the list. What do you see? When you read 'beautiful' do you automatically think of flowers, a stunning lady, a pretty sunrise or sunset or do you see simple things as beautiful? Random acts of kindness or different cultures choosing to understand each other? Now think of number 21 'happiness'. How many ways can you depict happiness? Where do we see it? How do we know when someone is happy? Is it always blatantly obvious or rather quietly present? 

You see whether you are capturing images or writing literature it is all about the perspective you choose to show. Everyone will look to see the immediate reactions to each word, to each common conflict or character, our challenge as writers is to show them that life is a loudspeaker and a whispering voice. We need to direct our reader's mind to a world where they can identify the difference and they want to look for it in their own lives; they want to engage with the characters & be surprised by where you take them. After all know one wants to read a story they already know the ending to in the first 5minutes. 

Therefore I encourage you look at the topics from here on in and think of the different ways the topic could be captured from. Then photograph and write about the loudspeaker, in your face immediate response and also about the quiet, whispering voice that hints to you a different direction that could be more powerful, yet show the same meaning. After 3 days and letting it sit, without you mulling over it, reflect on your work with a clear mind. 

Please feel free to share your work on the Facebook page. 

How do I begin?

The life of a writer is an inconvenient one. Many occasions in my life I have been wandering around, speaking with friends or even sleeping and I am awoken to a story stirring in my mind. There is nothing greater than inspiration that springs haphazardly out of life, however those who really embody writing know that at some point we all get writer's block. So how do we quit the frustration and begin?

Firstly I must begin by saying that writers just like artists are perfectionists at least to some degree. We can produce work time and time again and we will always return to it with further edits, never in a way happy with the final product. In some ways this makes us successful in our jobs and in others highly unproductive. To me perfectionism and one other thing, life, gets in the way of beginning writing. 

Life as we know it has it's ups and downs and whether we choose to recognise it or not it impacts on our ability to get the creative juices flowing. Whilst anger, jealousy, hatred and revenge have no doubt assisted people to write about such topics, harbouring that in your own life makes solving the climax to stories difficult and focussing properly almost impossible. Similarly unresolved issues can produce some ideas for stories however unless your prepared to become bare throughout the course of a story or expose those you got your inspiration from you'll end up in a writing rut. 

So how do you stop this? Writing doesn't always have to be about producing a literary artwork it can be writing for writing's sake. It has long been identified that writing about how you feel will enhance your current mood and situation. So why not begin by writing about how you got into the rut, why your frustrated and what you want to achieve. You might be surprised how the writing randomly turns up. Secondly, this is the best piece of advice I have ever received (I'll be honest I didn't believe in it at first because I thought it would kill the creativity in my stories); write everyday. Do not include work (if you aren't currently paid as a writer). Write a journal, write jokes, write lunchbox notes for your loved ones, bring back the art of letter writing, describe a setting. Just write. If you still struggle I recommend this:

Change your routine. Writers get used to a routine, their go to places for inspiration- which leaves their work sometimes stagnant and boring. So go somewhere different. Write in a different place or take yourself somewhere where the sounds in the environment can be what you begin to describe. Soon you'll be writing something. 

Most importantly though do not decide to stop writing if you are in a rut and cannot begin. Do not assume that you are no longer a writer. Do not give up. Failure is merely a subject created by you. 

Good luck with the writing,

Jules xo

A spring smoothie!

Recently I have really been embracing making my own juice. It's amazing how lovely it feels to create my own 'product' each morning. What's more I have come to understand more clearly the impact of portions when I create food myself instead of buying it off the shelf. A juice lover my whole life it has always been my vice in the fight between a cup of juice in the morning or 2 pieces of fruit in the day. Thanks to my trusty blender (and the experience of using one of my client's Breville Juice Fountain machines) I have come to understand a whole lot about juice and fructose. So what is it?

Fructose is fruit sugar. Just like everything we eat, if we have too much of it, it is not good for us and can help us stack on the weight in all of our favourite places. 

I have studied about fructose and the importance of it for the body but since I typically buy juice from the shop laced with preservatives and other kinds of rubbish I've never come to understand the real sweetness of fruit and it's sugar in the purest form. Enter blender/juice fountain and the muffin top defying lesson- pure juice is delicious and super sweet, so much so that you won't crave more juice when you have experienced the real stuff made fresh.

Some of you probably are thinking 'what a dork? Of course that would be the case'. But have you tried fresh, homemade juice? I guarantee you if you do you will immediately feel freedom from the juice guzzling days, where you'd convince yourself drinking juice was far better than Coke or countless sugar filled coffees. You will also know exactly what you put in your mouth (goes without saying) and you can portion your food effectively and start achieving positive outcomes like reducing your muffin top or even simply decreasing your daily sugar intake. You don't have to be a juice guru either to be successful. I simply think of foods and throw them together and see how they go (sometimes silently cringing it'll be rubbish- but that hasn't happened yet!). Here's three recipes I have made recently that were delicious & sweet enough to satisfy my sugar cravings all day long! Enjoy!

Tinkled pink

-1/2 cup raspberries (roughly)

-a handful of blackberries

-3 dessert spoons of natural yoghurt

-a handful of slivered almonds and pine nuts crushed

-a splashing (probably a cup's worth, I didn't measure this out) of Almond milk

Method:

Mix all your ingredients together. You can use fresh or frozen berries, I used frozen to save time on crushing ice. 

Apple a day

-2 fresh apples (pink lady or gala are best)

-nothing else! 😱

Method: blend & enjoy

Fruity bliss

-handful of fresh pineapple

-orange juice (already juiced fresh is best/no added sugar if bought)

-2 apples

-handful of frozen raspberries.

Method: blend & enjoy. For a metabolic kick have a glass of warm water & lemon before hand. 

Simple huh! Now if your not a fly by the seat of your pants or go with the flow foodie I suggest you try and let go of the control reigns, juice can really become something else when you just wing it! You'll start making flavour combinations based on your taste buds not on what others suggest, yes it could mean some surprise chef disasters but learning & experiencing self-made success and having the ability to laugh at yourself are two extremely awesome qualities you don't want to miss out on! 

Till next time...enjoy!

Ps: if you've got a smoothie/juice suggestion for me of your own creation hit me up I'd love to try it, photograph it & boast about your foodie talent! Ciao! Xo

Fresh Apple Juice. Super sweet treat!

Tickled pink smoothie!

 

A Written Revolution's 21 Happy Snaps

Hey all,

At A Written Revolution it is all about being happy and passionate about life whether that manifests itself in writing or other aspects of our lives. When we are happy we are productive, pleasant people who are of greater benefit to others and ourselves. Sometimes its easy to forget, especially when the world appears to be getting crazy, how important it is to be a happy, passionate influence on the world. To cultivate this within us I have developed a little photographic project, 21 Happy Snaps.

21 Happy Snaps requires 1 photo for 21 days that focuses on being happy and passionate about life. Why 21 days? Well because 21 days is what it takes to break a habit and therefore alter your mindset towards positivity, happiness and a passionate life. Better still, you are not confined to a particular month, simply take the 21 photos in succession. Each day I will contribute my photos to the Facebook page also titled A Written Revolution and throughout the 21 days I will show you how photographic images can become the stimulus for your writing right here on the blog. Want to take part? Simply check out the topics and start photographing. Make sure you add the #awr21happysnaps to your work as well so your creativity can be shared in a community and perhaps even be used to inspire some of my writing! 

Happy photographing, Jules! 

A Father worth celebrating

For 28years of my life I have had one man by my side, a man who constantly supports me, loves me and has worked tirelessly to provide for me- my father Robert Trask. Each year Father's Day comes around and each year a common thing happens- I find it difficult to put into words what he has done for me and continues to do. This year I'm trying harder...

On January 28 1986 I met my father, through the first tears, haircut, tooth appearances, nappy changes and father-daughter bonding time it didn't take long for Robert to become Dad. Over the years I would get to know a man who wanted to do everything well, worked hard, disciplined strongly, loved endlessly and believed in God ardently. But it wasn't all perfect and neither was Dad. The best part about having a Dad who isn't perfect was that he was and still is real. Through his real-ness I could come to understand constantly over the stages of my life (and now as well) that I could be real too. I was able to be a mixture of goodness and mistakes. In my adulthood it is this constant lesson, taught advertently or inadvertently, that helped me more than anything, but it is the relationship Dad & I have that I cherish the most. 

For me Dad was the person as I child I had to shout at to stop tickling me; he was the wrestler, the player & the handyman, even to this day. None of my childhood memories have a year without Dad fixing something, he's able to build part of our house, rebuild engines, create makeshift pools & hug me when I need it. 

An intelligent, creative, selfless and driven man it's not surprising that I was left with a pretty impressive gene pool (especially when you add Mum to the mix). A fitter and turner, teacher, photographer, charity worker for broken young kids and owner of a business degree he sure taught my brother, sister & I that your career doesn't end with your qualification. But the resume of mass skills is not what I love the most, it's the quality time I get to spend with him. 

Over the years my life and Dad's life has changed but the desire for quality time shared together will never change. So Dad, if your reading this, thanks for all the life lessons, being your imperfect self (like me), setting a standard for any future significant other of mine and for quality time shared so far; I truly cherish it. 

For my readers reading this thank your Dad, thank him for the moments, the support and who he is. If you're a father make sure you remember your child craves time with you more than anything else. For anybody who doesn't know or have a relationship with your father celebrate the a Dad around you- the man who provides an example for you that you are honoured to call him 'family'. Most importantly everybody needs to remember this, sometimes Dad isn't there, he's working or busy on another project but he's working for you and that is still love.

Happy Father's Day to all the special men out there! Till next time...

It's easier being angry

                                     

                   

In a world full of disappointments, an over abundance of bureaucracy and where people justify their horrific actions with 'just cos' responses it's blatantly obvious that being angry is the easiest reaction we can have. Humans love this reaction so much that when someone have a positive mentality to their life or heaven forbid offer forgiveness to another, people shoot them down as being fickle and ridiculous. Our infatuation to reach for the reaction of anger in every aspect of our lives in so prominent that we glorify any other mature, helpful reaction to life as miraculous. So how do we change our angry, negative mentality, help ourselves and positively contribute to the world? It's all in the mindset.

Our mentality is greatly affected by what we allow our minds to accept. Always entertaining the negative means negative outcomes and a negative attitude are guarantees. Conversely positive thoughts produce positive outcomes and attitudes. This isn't new information for us though. Everybody knows positivity is the key to being happy however few recognise how important little steps are to making a big change. 

For anybody who has ever achieved a goal you will understand the little steps it takes to accomplish your desires. Without these little steps goals are not fulfilled and it's exactly the same with changing a negative mindset to a positive one. So what little steps can you make now to change your mindset?

1. Listen to your words. Many of us listen to speak and not to hear. You need to listen to what you say and recognise it has a spiral effect on how you feel. Science proves the mind and body are connected, don't go kidding yourself. Some people might find themselves saying 'I can't do this' when they haven't even tried. Here's my advice for you- quit while your ahead darling. If you aren't willing to try, accept that whatever circumstance you are in it will NEVER change. If 'can't' is in your vocabulary banish it!

2. Become friends with high modality words. These words demonstrate the certainty of something. Key words to keep in your think tank- will, can, do, is. You'll be surprised how saying 'I will complete my task' instead of 'I should get that task done' brings you a sense of ownership and achievement.

3. Be prepared to be silly. This is probably the tip most people will laugh at and say 'yeh right' but it is also the reason why they don't change their mindset. Positive affirmations are important, we need to tell ourselves things at times before we come to know them as truths. Positive actions are also very important. If you don't like your appearance or your just having an off day look in the mirror, tell yourself how handsome or beautiful you are- steer away from sexy, it reduces you to an object not a person with superb personality & stunning physical features (which everyone has a least one of!). If your feeling grumpy or sad make yourself smile or laugh, granted you'll feel like a loser but you will absolutely end up laughing genuinely about your attempts to be positive and then...well it worked! 

4. Ban the news. Let's face it the news for a large proportion of its air time focuses on negative things. While you shouldn't be naive to the world around us it serves us no purpose seeing an article or watching a headline that has graphic images of suffering or death. News can exist without this graphic content- find the newspapers that don't allow mass exodus of graphic images or switch the television to something more positive, you will scarcely find anything positive on the news.

5. Rid yourself of negative people. This can be super hard because there is far more negative people than positive, so here's 2 suggestions. If you cannot remove yourself from the situation to get a breath and be positive (and reflect on how lucky you are to have a positive mindset) absolutely do NOT allow others to entertain their negativity in conversations with you. This will mean your positivity won't be affected as much but also they will start talking less negatively which has only good effects on their body and mind!

6. On hard days where 3 or more bad things seem to happen in quick succession you must look for the silver lining. Remind yourself too that at times it doesn't come straight away but the excitement of finding out what it is could spur you on. Also if need be get someone else's perspective. If your complaining about not having something or things being difficult why not look up the life situations of women who cannot carry water everyday in Africa without endangering their lives, or children who have less than $2 to feed themselves a day. Read their stories, find inspiration in the fact that they cherish what they do have. Be careful here though when you recognise silver linings for others, who still cling to negativity, to help them rid themselves of anger they may make a mockery out if you. In essence they are saying 'I want to own my anger leave me be.' So leave them, if someone wants to go to bed angry every night and mull over things long gone let them- it's only doing them damage & hey you tried.

7. Ask yourself what you want. If success and happiness is a part of it you MUST change your mindset or you will never achieve those things- whatever they may be. True happiness after all comes not from things but through doing things for others and loving our lives and ourselves.

8. Still not convinced? Write a diary for a week on how much energy you have. List the most important things that you frequently write about- they will possibly be the things that bother you that you could do something about. Read your old entry back a day later and reflect on what you wrote. Did the bothers of yesterday matter today? Did you have much energy? Anger robs you of energy, so while it might be the easiest way to react it is also the easiest way to get tired, sick and lonely. Again...what do you want?

So now you have tips to begin your probably wondering 'what happens if I fall off the bandwagon?' Get back up. We humans know what we want- if anything 'want' is the most overused word we speak to each other about- so tell yourself what you want and then begin the steps again and be realistic. 

Big changes especially our attitude, comes with hard times, you will experience great highs and epic lows on your quest to reach any goal you desire but this is where the achievement lies. There is no success in getting a promotion if you didn't have to work for it. There is no success in understanding your own beauty if you wear make up everyday. There is no success in losing weight if you never exercised- you're merely giving yourself an intermission to returning to your original 'uninspiring, emotionally annoying' body shape. Most importantly however, there is no success in being positive only on days where things are great.

Today's society has begun to tell us that we can have what we want now and it won't be hard work but we need to get real with ourselves. We only create our own disappointments by having this opinion. When it comes down to it no one gets anything for nothing. Being positive isn't easy (especially when you have jealous haters) and life will knock you down to see how far you've come- accept it as a challenge, recognise your gains and never go back to thinking about the days that once were. Through this your personality and your outlook on life will become infectious and to me that is an infection the world needs right now.

Till next time...