About us.

It’s always intimidating putting something on a blank page. So here it goes.

Watching Modern Family on television right now and it makes me laugh out loud, which is funny cos families are funny. So is ours.

We live in a cottage together. There’s just the four of us. Graham, a smart sheriff type who stakes out the going’s on around the premises. Kennedy, a cream puff of loyalty who has your back. Then there’s Sooty, who doesn’t say much but laughs furiously. And Des. A wifey slash student slash chef extraordinaire. Somehow we work.

In this space – odd bits. shout outs. interesting finds. deliciousness to share. rants out loud.

If you want to read it, participate in it, cool. If not, I’ll probably still write it anyway.

Over and out. 

Join the lulu community

Well, talk about an AHA moment! today I begin (note: start to maintain, not start to give up by the weekend) a more whole, gentle, self loving new lease on life. And i invite you to join me. I’ve been quietly gnawing away at getting myself, my life, my mind, my body into the zone where i want it to be: happy, fulfilled, secure, independent and sustainable.

• I quit the job that was making me unhappy
• dreamed about what i want to create for myself
• found a community to be a part of that will pay me a wage for doing what i love
• am no longer plugging the holes in my finance and taking responsibility for myself
• am taking steps to changing my lifestyle, what i feed myself with and what i spend my energy on
• am seriously examining my health and wellbeing, both physical and mental

I didn’t get to this point unscathed – it’s been a long drawn out process where I ummed and ahhhed and listened to others about what was best for me and allowed them to drown out my screaming gut instincts that always tell the truth. I have been largely unhappy, miserable even. and haven’t felt that i could get around it. I forgot that i had power in the situation and repeatedly gave it away to others. i’ve been playing a very large victim and worse keeping it all to myself, turning inward and slowly sinking away from the world. And then i had a spectacular incidental dinner that opened me up and propelled me to change – for myself, and for the better. My dear old friend Imo was about to leave the country for a well deserved trip when we decided on a whim to grab a bite to eat and we proceeded to talk each other’s ears off, mainly I guess because we needed good company and someone to listen. From there she really just mirrored back the things I needed to tell myself – to trust myself and go after what I want. Sometimes you need someone to tell you the things your inner voice has been saying just a little bit louder. Give you permission until you give it to yourself. And so, inspired by the reflected encouragement and pep talk I went away and made little changes which spurred me on to make more. It became like an avalanche once I looked at my life – rose coloured glasses off and helplessness aside – once you start cleaning something up, you start to realise the other shitty looking things that you’ve had lying around and start to get rid of that, and then the next thing and then the next thing. and then I was lucky enough to have a few more people continue to spur me on: my nan helped me out by giving me a good ol’ lecture about becoming responsible not for any other reason than I need to. Be your own person, owe no man anything. If you want something work for it and get it yourself. my friend and now personal trainer, jeremy, has been sending me training schedules and bringing my food and exercise to the forefront of my mind. even though I haven’t been necessarily doing all that he’s set out so far, it’s the journey i’m on, and i’m becoming more and more ready and committed as the days roll by and my life is opening up to make room for putting me first my mum and my partner simon have both been there unconditionally whilst i did a spring clean of my life and have reserved judgement and put up with my being rile and vile at times. you quit your job today? okay. you’re not sure what you’ll do next? okay. you want to just sleep all day? okay, well maybe you should go for a walk? you want to eat fish and chips for dinner again? hmmm maybe we can have salmon instead. And now today, after feeling sluggish and tired and not wanting to go out and do my prescribed exercise for the day i watched ‘hungry for change’ and it potentially is the next thing to spur me on. my brain has been attuned to sugar for the past while and i’ve let it be. i’ve changed everything else around me and its the one last thing glaring me in the face: my 87.5kgs of fatty, weighing me down and three times a day i’m making sick and stupid choices out of laziness and self pity. but it stops here. because from this point forward i’m going to ADD IN. i’m not going to use negative words like diet or can’t eat etc etc and limit myself but look at this next step of my journey as adding – value add to my mind, to my body. One of the best parts of the film, besides the encouragement and education and simple messages, was when a guy talks about how he joined a group that’s simple philosophy was ‘let us love you until you love yourself’. The speakers were talking about how love equates to safety in a primal sense – if you don’t have love, you don’t feel safe, therefore you go into survival mode and sometimes what’s programmed to save you is actually not good for you… such as eating fast food because it’s quicker easier and makes you feel good… or putting yourself down because you don’t look like x y or z or don’t have the same abilities or amount of money or whatever your gripe is. And i thought back to my journey of change and the positive decisions i’ve been making for myself lately and had that AHA moment again. Love. People. Support. Encouragement. They’ve all been there until i was ready to take matters into my own hands. and remain there even afterwards. Wether you pay for the privilege with personal training or a psychologist or a tutor or whatever – sometimes you need someone there for you until you can pick up the slack yourself. And so here is your invitation to: Love me. If you need a bit of support, have something that you want to achieve – be it weightloss, a dream, a change, a belief you want to shift – then join. Post it here and ask for what you need. Tell people what you want and allow them to support and encourage you. Be part of a community that picks people up until they can do it for themselves. People need to be told their great sometimes before they can see it for themselves (it’s always there, just sometimes hidden beneath the crap we indulge in). Let’s tell each other we’re great! Let’s spur each other on! Let your successes be motivation for others. Why the fuck not? You can post here or on the facebook page. Let’s love each other until we can love ourselves…

When someone makes you want to be a better person

There’s nothing worse than wallowing in your own ‘ness’; sad-ness, down-ness, cloudi-ness, negative-ness, sick-ness – whatever ‘ness’ your in. (Clearly I have a filter on at the moment which is quite revealing).

But then there are those moments, those people, words, thoughts – things that make you just pop and see the beauty outside of your funk. I’ve had a few ‘aha’ moments this week and thought I would share them with you.

We need to learn to embrace the unknown, look deeply into its eyes, tame it

This kid. He’s a 16 year old kid from Denmark who is inspired by wanting to reach out and share his thoughts.

‘If you don’t have cancer, cherish life. If you do, cherish it even more.’

My friend Jim. He was a friend, mentor and inspiration while he was alive and helped me find one of the greatest gifts I’ve received, a thirst for greatness. Even posthumously he continues to inspire many by releasing a book which I was proud to attend the launch for this week.

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“I don’t believe in luck,” Alex says, “but I believe in hope.”

Hollywood finally standing up for the little guy. The Weinstein Company is releasing this film unrated because perhaps he wants this film to be taken in the same way it is dished out every day to kids all over the world – unfiltered and uncensored in its savageness. TIME Magazine called it ‘A punishing movie your kids must see’. Hopefully people take their word for it and we as a society get a group education about the terrors that some people go through. Having worked as a youth worker, the most heartbreaking moments sometimes for me was trying to give something, anything to the kid up the back that had been shocked into their shell and locked up the door to the world. Or to the class that allowed them to be bullied day after day by their pedestrian ways.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

My friend Jimmy Heenan. He has more talent in his little finger than most, but best of all he bloody uses it. His newest stream of creative consciousness is the canvas project which he opened up to his closest to give him a canvas and he’ll produce something after a coffee and a chat. Here’s a little something he’s already done…

Helping others shine. Amanda is a wilful soul, open honest and blessed. And she creates spaces where you can find some of that for yourself. I still have a piece of my own greatness that she guided me to create. I do love it dearly still.

If you have something to add, please share. Enjoy the sunshine x

This is why blogs exist.

http://wheninmelb.tumblr.com/

I have nothing more to say because this, as a melbournian, as a blogger, as someone with a smattering of humour, says it all.

Thank you, whoever you are.

My hand has been forced

Today my hand was forced.

My rights to freedom of choice were disregarded like rubbish in an alight bin at flinders st station.

I was made to buy a MYKI card.

Goddamn it. If you’ve ever been within earshot of me and any discussion on the subject you’ll know that I hotly contest the unjustly imposed, subservient system which has been painted as an ‘answer’ for the public to a taxpayer funded black hole of question that was never asked. Its a fucking sham. And today i was forced to become part of it.

What a joke. You know that it will become a government monitored tracking system for its citizens. More fool you if you think it was installed to make your life easier. This country can’t even make trains run on time, improve infrastructure so you get to work on time, or even manage to not sell off public assets long enough to keep pricing within a reasonable proportion to the meagre wage of those who are employed in the first place.

This is how i feel…

 

 

This is for my friend who is feeling a loss.

 

It’s also for my friend who is lost.

 

 

Connectedness

Its amazing in this day and age that we are so connected that we become isolated. That’s how I feel anyway.

I write a blog that people i don’t know read. I can have people listening to my voice with the slide of my finger tips, i don’t even have to touch a phone because we have hands free these days. I can text people on the other side of the world and have them reply seconds later. i can video call my mum if i want.

Yet in the darkest of moments all that means nothing.

my friend used to talk about the importance of really listening to someone, hearing them.

I’m not sure how often we do that, that i do that. Or how often, in fact, i truly speak. And not literally just opening my mouth. I mean opening my heart, my inner most feelings with another human being.

Sure we can text pictures of the food we’re eating at that precise moment in time so our 355 friends can see it. We can be the 45th like in a thread post or comment by giving our two cents in a comment started by someone else.

But are we really connected? Are we truly hearing each other? Am I in fact speaking my truth? Would anyone know the difference? Or indeed do i know what it really is anymore?

Do you?

Making opportunity for yourself

From refugee to banker, Forest Hill worker’s amazing tale – People – News – Whitehorse Leader.

You need to read this article.

Our community need to read this article.

Our country needs to read this article.

What a courageous man, so full of courage and an example to everyone, particularly young people not just those who have been displaced by war.

Imagine getting a fresh start. Imagine, a second chance. Imagine, though,  starting from ‘the bottom’ of society and in a difficult position as we all find ourselves in from time to time – being challenged by life – and yet CHOOSING to act with valour to create a better life for yourself. And those who depend on you.

What a pillar of character you are John Madol. I send you all the light, love and energy on your journey that I can muster and urge you, dear readers, to do the same.

And to extend it out to anyone else who may be trying to gather together enough bravery within themselves to overcome their circumstances. And be understanding of those who are yet to find it.

Happy Hump Day!

Happiness!!! Happy hump day…

Article here…

Advance Australia Fair

Sooty and I were driving around our old neighbourhood after visiting our elders on Sunday and I, peering sleepily from the passenger side of my own car, started to feel my blood boil.

What am I going on about? I’m talking about these monstrosities.

Fences. Fucking fences. Colorbond steel to be exact. By BlueScope. Available in 14 designer colours. And it’s killing our communities.

What happened to taking pride in workmanship? What happened to constructing something with your hands? What happened to popping down the local hardware store and organising some timber – an organic material – and putting up on the weekend yourself. Or creating local employment by getting a local tradesman to do it for you.

It doesn’t happen anymore. Instead we order these disgusting prefabricated pieces of metal that will never rust or wear or have any sort of character and get some bastard to install them. And their high. No more leaning over the fence to speak to your neighbour or borrow a cup of sugar, now we lock everyone out. Now, the people either side of us are strangers, we don’t know them, we don’t want to know them – we don’t speak to them, we don’t give them the spare key to our house incase we get locked out, we pretend we don’t see them when we’re walking down the street just incase we might have to engage in some neighbourly conversation. What is wrong with this country?

I remember as a kid when anyone used to go on family holidays, you would always make sure there was fresh milk and a loaf of bread in the cupboard for your neighbours when they got home. That was after you had collected their mail, brought their bins in and feed their dogs while they were away. What has happened to us all?

We erect these walls of armour around ourselves, our families, our homes; to protect anyone or anything from coming in. We disengage from the world, put roller shutters on our windows and security systems on our doors and in the process we are cutting ourselves off from the world. And each other. It’s so sad. We no longer know the person who bakes our bread – because they’re from a different country! We buy what’s cheap, we’ve substituted the quality that this country was once known for and sold our grandkids jobs out from under their feet before they’re even born. Our industries are falling down around us because the average Australian is trapped between a rock and a hard place – they don’t have the money to buy luxuries and still spend money that stays in Australia and pays the guy next door’s salary so he can feed his kid – it goes into the pockets of the big guys, like Coles and Woolies and the offshore investors, because our country is selling itself out. And it all is wrapped up in something as slight as a fence.

On a wider scale, it’s this senseless behaviour, giving way to keeping up with the joneses and being obsessed with buying suburban perfection that is killing our country, our industries and denying aussies their right to an honest days work.

Take Ford for example. For years it has been part of Australian history – you’re either a Ford or a Holden person in this country – and yet, it took over $100 million dollars of taxpayers money to bail them out and make them promise to stop job cuts but months later are predicted to soon leave Australian’s in the lurch. How does our country stand back and let this happen? How do the leaders of this country let their people be taken for such a ride? Oh that’s right, their gutless, visionless turkeys who would rather distract everyone with their squabbling than produce real policy and effective change in the middle of what will become known as the low of Australian history – the beginning of the end.

People are hurting in this country. I see them everyday, fresh out of a job because the fat cats have run out of options or they’ve taken the money and run. People are getting dumber because they’re not valuing education, kids are having kids and their growing up too fast. Working in a trade is a hard road because our government made everyone pay for it, then ripped out all the tradeschools, and have now tore the heart out of TAFE’s. I know firsthand how hard being a student is – university or otherwise. And after such a arduous journey, they come out of their further education with a piece of paper in hand and are confused.

“I’ve studied from the age of 5, battled through the turmoil that is high school, went on to further education – be it uni or tafe til I’m 25 and now there isn’t a job for me? What? I have to work my way up a company from the bottom and do menial work for a low wage? You mean, I’m not starting on $75K in my first serious employment? What??”

There really isn’t a work ethic anymore; at the risk of sounding like an old fogey, kids have a sense of entitlement that comes from not having to have experienced hardship before, for living a privileged life and taking that for granted. I’ve seen it. I’ve worked with kids of all ages, of all periods of time, of all socioeconomic backgrounds and across this big land. We think we’re entitled to something. But not for long. Because there will be a moment when a very sobering reality will dawn on this so-called lucky country of ours. Hopefully it’s not so far away that we are powerless to do anything about it.

Just remember, I told you. It all starts with fences. In 14 designer colours.

Rough Day?

Read this… and you will smile.