My nephews birthday

Yesterday I went to a small family celebration that I thoroughly enjoyed.   It was my nephew James’ birthday celebration and it was low-key and casual.  I feel both blessed and privileged because I was the only Aunty there.

His birthday celebration was shared with his parents,  his sisters and their partners and family and a cousin. It was casual and light-hearted,  just the way I like it. The pizzas 🍕 were yummy 😋 and it was nice to have something to celebrate.

James is such a quiet, thoughtful and articulate gentleman and for many years he has worked in mental health and I couldn’t be prouder of him than I am already.  He has grown up with me experiencing mental health issues and he has never judged me.

I am happy to see him enjoy life in the little townhouse unit that he has recently purchased.

I am so proud of my nephew and feel privileged to be his Aunty.

Don’t fear the darkness light a candle

I heard this quote a few days ago it was from the late Father Bob Maguire who was a priest here in Melbourne who did a lot of good work with the homeless and most vulnerable people here. He was well known and a charming character.

I think this quote applies to my life with my mental health issues.  If I constantly worried about my future I would never get out of bed and quite possibly become suicidal.  I try to look at the world 🌎 through a glass-half-full perspective.   I try not to worry about my future and things that probably wouldn’t happen anyway. Instead, I light a candle of goodwill to my loved ones 😍 🥰 and don’t let the attitudes of negative people affect me.  If you do fear the darkness and negative things try to turn that on its head by doing something positive or nice for someone. I know and accept that there are people out there who don’t understand goodwill and spread their misery around but I don’t let these types of people control or influence my life.  I would rather light candles than constantly walk in darkness and I ignore these people, choosing instead to spend my time with like-minded positive people for my own well-being and positivity.

I associate with The Body Shop

What brands do you associate with?

Typically, I am not a brand ambassador for any known brands, but I do support The Body Shop. I love their lovely-smelling and luxurious toiletries. I particularly love their body butter, with coconut 🥥 or English 🌹 rose body butter being my favourites.

I like how The Body Shop are against testing their products on animals and I like how they are environmentally conscious  they are and you can get refills of some of their products.   It is sad that The Body Shop has gone through some hard times and I am glad that The Body Shop still has some retail stores here in Australia 🇦🇺.  Rebekah who is the lovely 😍 daughter of my passed-over angel lady Susanna is the manager of one of the Body Shops here in Melbourne. Rebekah is stunning and is a good model of someone who uses Body Shop products.

Best piece of advice I ever received.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The best piece of advice I ever received was from my brother David.  When I was first diagnosed with my mental illness,  he told me to surround myself with good people.  I took this advice to heart ❤️ and I now only l we those people with the best of intentions be a part of my life.  I lost some friends 🧡 around that time, but they weren’t true friends, only around for a good time,  rather than my true friends who were there for the long haul,  through all times good and bad.

Thank you, David,  your advice was amazing.

Marcia Hines how people of every colour can be beautiful

I have been watching programs on the ABC this afternoon and saw an interview with Marcia Hines. For readers who haven’t heard of Marcia Hines, she is a wonderful singer who happens to come from American Jamaican background and she is stunningly beautiful.  She came out to Australia as a 16 year old girl to star in the controversial musical Hair and then went on to play Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, also creating controversy then because she was the first lady of colour to play that role.  I was a child and then a teenager in the 70s and 80s and always loved 😍 🥰 ❤️ Marcia’s songs 🎵 and her beauty.

I am someone who has always had friends of all nationalities and never judge anyone by their colour and background.  At uni I was close to two girls, Gabby and Tammy. Gabby was from a well to do family with long blonde hair and Tammy was from an indigenous Australian background.

I think of my beautiful friend Zohreh from Iran, who is one of the most stunningly beautiful women I have seen.  I am glad for Zohreh’s life and freedom here in Australia 🇦🇺 that means she doesn’t have to wear a headscarf and cover her beauty.   I think she is lovely because she is beautiful,  modest and unassuming.

I don’t believe in judging people solely on appearances.  The people I think are beautiful are beautiful from the inside like my beautiful angel lady 💖 💗 Susanna.  People from all backgrounds can be beautiful and I guess that as I grew up I noticed Marcia Hines for her inner beauty.  There is nothing wrong with letting people you know that they are beautiful 😍. We are all equal in God’s eye’s