28th June, 2023.

Paint the world as you see it - your own personal take on life will represent the creative that you choose to be.

My first quirky 'Slice of Life' painting was great fun to draw and paint in this 'line and wash' style (draw with pen and paint with watercolour). Would I change anything if I were to re-visit a year on? No definitely not. I love it!

It would be great if you left me your favourite quotes, insights or comments.

Follow your heart

However crazy or difficult a decision you feel you have made may seem to you, follow your heart. Throughout my life, I have sometimes taken the safe route and then regretted it. Robert Frost's poem 'The Road Not Taken' springs to mind. After I had completed my degree, I had two roads open to me - I still wonder whether I should have taken the road less travelled. BUT - there is still time to explore new and varied paths. For all of of us.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

It's too easy to allow our imagination to take us down dark roads when we're isolating from the outside world.

I have always had a tendency to overthink; sometimes this can be a positive thing, sometimes not. So my thought today is 'Don't borrow trouble.' On recently re-reading the Anne of Green Gables box set, it was Anne's adopted mother - Marilla Cuthbert who gave this advice to Anne after she had allowed her imagination to take her down a very dark road.

Now when I start to overthink an old memory and take it to a place it doesn't needed to be - I stop myself by recalling Marilla's words

Don't borrow trouble.

Drop Everything and Read.

You are fortunate. You have dropped by to read my blog. Did you know that globally, 8 million people can't do that? Please promote the DEAR strategy wherever and whenever you can. And should you meet someone who can't read - help them, guide them, read with them, anything that will make them want to learn. You can't write if you can't read. We really cannot ignore the numbers, so many people who deserve the same chances in life. Work together to eradicate Illiteracy.

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Semi-retirement isn't the scary place that I thought it would be - it's full of opportunities.
I'm not the best at throwing myself into new situations and meeting new people; or so I thought, but as I embrace these new ventures, I feel that life is starting
again at 63 - and that's great!

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“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

― John Lydgate

Walking around my hometown in the sunshine this November morning was wonderful.

Make time for yourself and don't feel guilty about that.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

I have set my goal and I shall achieve it. To write my trilogy, produce a graphic novel along with a video game for Aimael's Saga. It may take time, but with my own desire to achieve and the love and support of my family and friends, I shall get there - however long it takes. I have never written fantasy fiction but I am loving the planning and research stage.

It's how you make people feel that matters

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

― Maya Angelou

Love your curves

Did you know that a study of 16,000 women found that females with more curves are smarter than those who weigh less?

Not that I am saying skinny isn't the dream - but I love my curves.

Life First

Life first - so important that we value living and loving life rather than getting sucked into that next leadership position or ambitious ladder climbing at the detriment of spending time on 'life' and living it.

Dorothy said that there was no place like home - I have learnt that lesson over time. Click your heels and your back there.

I'm really quite simple. I plant flowers and watch them grow...

I stay at home and watch the river flow.

George Harrison

Be bloody, bold and resolute

I am running to meet the confident me, that has been waiting out there for all of these years. As Shakespeare says in Macbeth 'Be bloody, bold and resolute' - but as always, wrapped in kindness of heart.

Don't be afraid to age

Gosh! When I look at my last posting, I realise that it has been 4 months since I visited my own blog. My reason - I have been so busy enjoying my birthday year. Yes, I have decided to let my celebrations run over the year as I am so proud to have reached the grand age of 60 and still enjoying both life and work to the max. So my message this morning really is about loving life but making sure that you stay as healthy as you can whatever situation you are in.

Carpe diem friends.

Seek and you will find (Steven Covey - 7 Habits of highly effective people).

Four years ago I left a leadership position; which was a very well paid job, because I felt that I had lost the values, morals and principles that mattered to me.

So important - I know I made the right choice for me.

I also have friends and colleagues that have now made that brave decision - and I wish them the happiness that I sought and found.

Celebrating my 60th birthday.

I have loved my 60th birthday celebrations in both Howarth and Iceland. Time has taught me that:

Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art

Some of my favourite birthday pictures

In the words of Pablo Picasso

"Youth has no age"

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Thinking of the shocking news of the death of George Michael yesterday

So many of my work colleagues are so unhappy in the teaching profession these days - it is so important to change when change is due. We must live for today - we don't know what tomorrow will bring. When I decided to leave teaching in 2013, I was able to make a decision to return a year later on my own terms and I do not intend to ever put myself in a position again where work takes over my life. The passing of George has made me ever sure to stick to my decision to only work on a level where I have the time to enjoy my life with those I love.

Carpe diem.

'Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today . Let us begin.' Mother Theresa.

Always be true to yourself

We are all born helpless. As soon as we are conscious we discover loneliness. Born lonely, we try hard to fit in, to be the kind of person that will cause others to like us. Craving and needing very much the affirmation of others, we compromise, put on any face, or many faces; we do even those things we do not like to do in order to fit in. We are bent toward the creature, attempting to find our identity in him. Slowly and compulsively the false self closes its hard, brittle shell around us, and our loneliness remains.

Transposition and Other addresses. C. S. Lewis

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Kindness isn't just for others.Treat yourself today. When my children were small and money wasn't easily available, I always made sure that I had something left for special occasions.

Take time out to relax.

Never ever believe that you can't because you can.

Why think negative thoughts?

Believe in yourself and you'll reach for those stars

Give yourself permission to get it wrong. It really isn't the end of the world and sometimes it may be the beginning of something new and exciting

Took me a long time to accept that advice.

Obstacles are just opportunities in disguise.

No mountain too high

No river too deep

Reach for the stars

Capture your dream

Keep an open mind.

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Diggers

A message to self:

Give myself permission to be brave.

I have learnt that if I want to be brave and just go for it -

It is so much easier and more rewarding to seek forgiveness rather than permission.

Done with humility - saying sorry, is not the hardest word.

Be be brave and adventurous

Life is all about opportunities.

Don't let any pass you by

without exploring the possibilities that they present.

Give of your best always.

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.

Marilyn Monroe

New challenges for a new year

Your failure does not define you, your determination does.

Feeling really positive about my September start back at school.

So my quote for today is -

A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you

Celebrate Success

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Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion.

If you think 'I can' you will. If you think 'I can't' you won't.

Believe in your self and keep an open mind.

Over a year ago, I left a very highly paid job because I felt that I didn't believe in the job anymore. It was a gamble but felt good to take the risk and leave. Bumbled around for a year did some supply teaching; which turned out to be an exciting challenge rather than the scary see me off job that I thought it would be. Just completing a fixed one-year term contract and then on to a permanent teaching job in a school where I respect colleagues, leadership and vision. I feel very blessed to have taken the chance and re-directed myself. My wage will be lower but I shall be happier and better rewarded in other ways.

So my flash of inspiration to you is to take the risk. If you are positive and have self-belief, it will all work out in the end.

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So far 50 is just the best decade -

but I'm sure 60 will be also, then 70 and then on to 80 and 90. Hopefully even 100!

I love loving life.

Love is a verb

Do something special for someone you love.

Believe you can and you will.

Positive thinking will lead you to achieving your dreams.

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I dwell in the realm of possibility

Emily Dickinson

I have learnt that eventually all things fall into place.

Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moments, and know everything happens for a reason.

To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground.

Stephen Covey

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Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms.

A favourite quote from my favourite writer.

“I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind. And this is one: I'm going to tell it - but take care not to smile at any part of it.”

― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Flowers make me smile.

A smile is worth everything and the flowers in my garden make me smile.

Reach for the stars.

Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.

Karen Ravn

Hold them close

Not always easy to find them but when you do, hold them close.

Keep Calm.

Go placidly among the noise & haste & remember what peace

there may be in silence.

Have an inspirational week

(Desiderata).

Last of the summer flowers from the garden.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

Maya Angelou

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I love having the knowledge and understanding therefore the tools for debate.

On religion.

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness” - Dalai Lama XIV.

Weeds or wishes.

When you look at a field of dandelions, you can either see a hundred weeds or a thousand wishes.

The journey of wisdom.

But you can always share the wisdom of the journey.

“It is never too late to be what you might have been”. - George Eliot.

You are the artist of your destiny - design your future on the canvas of life.

Turn your cant's into cans and your dreams into plans.

Taking control.

“Your life is in your hands. No matter where you are now, no matter what has happened in your life,you can begin to consciously choose your thoughts, and you can change your life.There is no such thing as a hopeless situation.Every single circumstance of your life can change!”

― Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

Guardian Angels.

I've always believed in guardian angels and spirits. Not for everyone I know, but for me, there is absolutely more to this world and our lives on earth; than we know of, or are aware of. And that feels good.

Your perception of me.

On Truth.

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters”

Albert Einstein

Life is like photography - develop from the negatives.

Don't worry.

I have been a worrier all of my life and it's now time to stop.

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.

Get the apostrophe right. Don't omit the omission.

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Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions be louder than your words.

All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.

Alexandre Dumas

Family folklore

Teaching for a term in a new school has reminded me of how much children love stories. Whatever age. I have given my year 9 students a glimpse into my story and have left them wanting more. They loved it as I loved the stories they exchanged with me. Now we start the creative writing process of 'Autobiography'.

On Love.

“You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars”

Anaïs Nin.

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An old adage seems to be so true for me at the moment

When one door closes, another opens.

I also have a great faith that carries me through times of change.

Born to teach

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” Confucius.

I think the job chooses us. From the age of 4, I would bossily sit my friends down and teach them their 'times tables' (that's ironic in itself, I am terrible at Maths).

So possibly born to teach. There is no finer feeling than sharing knowledge with a youngster who wants to learn.

Possibilities.

Helen Keller; who was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, believed:

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

I believe that we are placed on this earth to make the most of this life and even more so in the next.

So hopefully many more adventures in store.

Love yourself.

Live your life and forget your age! At my age that's the only way to go.

I would also add - forget the weighing scales and when you look into that mirror every morning, tell yourself that you are beautiful.

Because you are.

Moving on.

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination”

Oscar Wilde.

Taking voluntary redundancy has forced me to take more risks and think outside of my own box as to what I shall do next. I am hoping that I am brave enough to follow Oscar Wilde's philosophy here.

It's all about the imagination.

Karma.

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.

I so believe this gem of insight. It hasn't always been so easy to follow but I know, deep down in my heart, that you should always 'seek to understand and then to be understood'.

Build pockets of stillness in to your life.

I love sitting in my summerhouse, enjoying my garden.

On crazy days, I think the importance of grabbing time to be still and calm is fundamentally important to your sanity and well-being. I'm heading for a mad few weeks, so I shall endeavour to take my own advice.

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I loved reading 'Middlemarch' by George Eliot so I have chosen one of her quotes for today:

It is never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot