What do you wish you could do more every day?

What I wish I could do more of is to have a lot more quality time with Lily and my loved one’s.  I am busy throughout the week and wish I could spend more time with Lily just touching her and talking quietly to her.

I would also like to spend more time with my loved one’s eg opshopping with Ksthryn and Lani,  having coffee and cake with Russell etc. I treasure these moments so much. I also wish I could spend more time with my brothers and my nephews and nieces   I see them all so rarely now and love ❤️ them all dearly.

I also would like to spend more time being creative, especially with my writing ✍️ of this blog and my other writings ✍️.  To be able to be fully immersed in it is my goal.

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

I wrote a blog post 📫 about this topic a couple of days ago under the title Distracting Myself

One of the strategies I use is to practice mindfulness in my everyday life.  Mindfulness literally means living in the moment and controlling our mind by focusing it on what is occurring in the present. I use mindfulness in a number of ways,  to meditate,  to focus on little details like eating slowly and savouring the taste and texture of the food I eat, slowly patting Lily and focusing on the feel of her fur and body.

Writing ✍️ this blog and my other writings certainly are a big part of distracting myself from negative feelings, and when I am unwell, I use my creativity in artistic pursuits like watercolour painting, pastel drawing and in the past silk painting.

Spending time with Lily certainly helps me a lot.. Walking Lily and playing with her is wonderful and helps me to keep an optimistic attitude 

Spending time with friends 🧡 also helps in a big way.. Watching my favourite television shows and cooking a few meals at the weekend helps to keep my mind focused and occupied so I don’t focus on nega stuff.

Listening to my personal playlist of music 🎶 🎵 is also another strategy I use. Music is so powerful and so healing.

Talking to friends also helps.  It is important not to isolate yourself and maintain regular contact with your support network 

What activities do you lose yourself in?

I lose myself in my writing both of this blog and my other writings ✍️.

I lose myself in a good book.

I also lose myself in what I do with Lily, eg, walking and her or playing with her.

I lose myself of a weekend when I cook a few meals for the week.

I lose myself in the company of good friends 🧡

I lose myself in my daydreams of the future of my life.

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

The movies I have watched more than 5 times are The Man From Snowy River,  Pretty In Pink,  Dead Poets Society, and Pay It Forward.

The television series I have watched more than 5 times are The Newsreader,  Wakefield, and Little House On The Prairie.

Are you superstitious?

No, I am not really superstitious,  but I am quite spiritual 🙏🏽 and I believe that everything in our lives happens for a reason. Call it the universe, or God, there is definitely a greater plan involved and we all have a life purpose and particular lessons to learn in our lifetime.  I have a faith in God and there is just so much that has happened in my life that could not be coincidences .Sone superstitions are just common sense. Like for instance I would never walk under a 🪜 ladder,but some are just silly.

I do believe in God, and my faith guides how I live my day to day life. We reap what we sow, and the universe gives us back threefold whatever we give out to it.  So our big lesson in life is to learn that so we must learn to treat the universe with kindness and 🙏🏽 respect by only giving good intentions to the universe.  That is not superstition,  just spirituality and faith. It is the way I choose to live my life. Carpe Diem.

Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

Today’s task is a bit daunting.  I’ve never really thought of myself as living 100 years but here I will give it a crack by asking some questions I would like the answers to.

Dear Kaye,

Wow you’ve lived to be 100.  What is it like to have lived for such a long time?. Did you always find the peace and serenity in life you were looking for?  Did you find the love ❤️ you were hoping to find? Did you impart your wisdom to your loved ones and younger generations?  Did you live the life of a writer, and did you write your blog and books to share your skills with the 🌎world?  Are you happy?  Do you still practice mindfulness? Are you still independent? Do you love your life?

Yours sincerely Kaye at 55 years old.

As you can see, I have a lot of questions for my 100 year old self.  I look forward to knowing the answers one day.

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

Where would I go on a shopping spree.? That would depend on my circumstances and what I actually need to purchase.

As I am planning to move house about a year  from now I would like to go on a shopping spree somewhere there is a variety of shops selling antique furniture or new antique reproduction furniture,  possibly somewhere like the village of Daylesford,  a small country village here in Victoria . It would be nice to furnish my new place with the type of furniture I ❤️ love, but this is a pipe dream.

The other place I would like to go on a shopping spree would be to take Lily to Petbarn to stock up on toys, treats, and goodies for her. Admittedly, another pipe dream because Lily already has lots of toys and treats

The other place I would like to visit is a craft mstket in a country town to stock up on all manner of goodies eg home accessories and home made treats.  I hope to do this sonetime soon.

What is the last thing you learned?

This week, I learned something new. Australia often experiences 🌀 cyclones in its northern regions of far north Queensland and the Northern Territory.   This week, we are experiencing cyclone Alfred, which is reaching as far south as the northern parts of New South Wales.   Until now, I did not know that we could experience cyclones that far south.  It is coming towards the end of the cyclone season here in Australia.   I hope the system downgrades and when it hits the coast that it doesn’t cause a lot of damage.