Trusting in my self today

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.

You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Writing prompt by Author Jen Louden

We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”

Today is a message of heart-felt thanks to all my readers for your ongoing support, kind words and valuable feedback.

I’m extra grateful for your support during the past couple of weeks where I have been preoccupied with the Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 3o writing challenge.

After spending half of the night huddled up in bed with Ms. Insomnia and ideas flitting through my head in a mad stream, I decided that today will be my last post for the #trust30 challenge.

Convenient because todays prompt highlights the importance of self-trust and self-knowledge.

Things I have been reminded of as a result of participating in this challenge:

• Honest self-reflection is vital for personal growth and improving clarity and focus
• Writing is a fantastic creative outlet that can be used to explore places long forgotten or previously uncovered
• Commitment to the process of writing is important to me but completing a writing challenge just for the sake of it is not.
• Creativity begets creativity
• The importance of not confusing pleasure with happiness and income with impact.
• Dreams can easily become attainable goals with an action plan, an open mind and a determined spirit

Some positive actions directly related to the undertaking of this project:

• I have connected with some amazing new people and been inspired by some fierce writers.
• I have a whole heap of ideas bouncing round which I can’t wait to cultivate.
• I’ve made a few bold moves of my own that have pushed me that much closer to attaining my personal and business goals for the year (more on this very soon!)

On a final note….I am very excited to announce that I have a new website coming!

My business website and blog will all be located at the one adress  http://happymumsathome.com – within the week.

Keep watching this space and, as always…

Have a happy day!

~Kirri

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Speak less of your plans

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.

You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Writing prompt by Author Laura Kimball

I once received a fortune cookie that read: “Speak less of your plans, you’ll get more done.” What’s one project that you’ve been sitting on and thinking about but haven’t made progress on? What’s stopping you? What would happen if you actually went for it and did it?

There is a little secret passion I keep concealed beneath many layers of half-truths and maybes.

Sometimes it emits a burning light  that I wish I could share with the rest of the world.   Other times, it taunts me, demanding to be revealed so that I will be disgraced and humiliated for even contemplating that I could share in it’s power. Ha!

Painful and beautiful…it rests in the gap that inhabits my total truth.

The place I go to play when I dream in glorious wonder, only to awake firmly rooted in doubt…once more.

It’s that teeny space between the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘dont be so bloody stupid’ girl!

You know exactly what Im talking about….dont you?

I did something though.

I made a bold move towards claiming this elusive piece of me.

In doing so,  I imagined that I would rise up – shattering the glass encasing my secret passion and bask in it’s glow…FEARLESS.

Instead, I  realised that it was just the first step in many and that part of me is still holding back, only half-showing up.

Perplexing to have your self-imposed walls re-erected after you seemingly faced a demon. Bah.

I know what my next move is.  I’m just not sure how it’s going to play out.

Isn’t that part of the allure though?

~Kirri

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know I. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wholly strange and new

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.

You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Writing prompt by Author: Bridget Pilloud

Can you remember a moment in your life when you had life in yourself and it was wholly strange and new? Can you remember the moment when you stopped walking a path of someone else, and started cutting your own?

These days were decidedly fun yet predictable.  Dad would ask me what kind of fish I wanted for dinner and proudly present me with the juiciest mangoes from his favourite local market.  Security was rent-free, endless weekends of partying and beach time.

A job I never took seriously and sunshine on tap.

This Gold Coast girl was living large and running with the pack.  Keeping the shadowy whispers at bay by weekly shopping trips and life on the glitter strip.

Two weeks after an “Are you ok?” talk with dad, I found myself walking down a completely strange and wholly new, smog filled street in a very foreign country.  A place that I had fleetingly decided to call home for the next year – Pyon-chong-dong, Kyung-Ki-do, Anyang, South Korea.

Distracted by hunger, I meandered the streets concerned by the fact that I couldn’t speak one word of Korean.  For some reason I thought there would be subtitles…just for me, you know?

I couldn’t order from a menu and I so did not recognize any of the packaged goods in the stores!

Was that a bottle of water or vodka??   Hot and spicy noodles or a cup full of worms?

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

My self-consciousness was compounded by the fact that Korean people of all ages were staring at me, some even pausing to get a really good look, giggle, or ask me for my “famous” picture.

I felt awkward and as conspicuous as a palm tree planted outside Buckingham Palace.

I was a little bit lost, had no way to recognise landmarks or interpret signs without ‘proper’ letters, did not know how to ask for directions or help and…. I also had a class of Korean schoolies to observe in 20 minutes.

The snow – a further companion to my foreignness, heightened my self-awareness and I felt certain that I was about to have a full-blown panic attack.

I had left my dad, my home and country, was single, alone and a complete and utter stranger in this alien land.

A mad adventure and new friends?  An opportunity to learn spliced with a hint of challenge?

The anxiety slowly melted from my limbs as something inside me connected with that stroke of freedom.

A discernible grin spread across my freshly chapped lips…one that suggested just a hint of my awakened spirit inside.

Wholly strange and new? Bring it on.

~Kirri

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name;—— the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Surprising myself…

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.

You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Writing prompt by Author Ashley Ambirge

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself.  How will you surprise yourself this week?

At university, I was always one of the stragglers when it came to handing in essays and assignments. Up all night the day before it was due, usually rushing to see my lecturer paper-in-hand, five minutes before deadline.

I wasn’t a lazy-ass, I was a perfectionist, and would pore over papers laboriously, changing and editing for days until somehow it went back to resembling what I initially wrote in the first three hours.

I surprised myself again and again by actually managing to hand any work in!

It was a painful, frustrating process and led to a lot of self-doubt as I compared myself unfavourably to my peers, who somehow managed to complete work in half the time I did.  I think I spent most of my time in the Masters programme, feeling like an undeserving fraud, waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and gently usher me to the door.

I still struggle with ‘perfectitis’ and no where is it more evident than when it comes to writing. I have been writing secretly for years but only started publicly blogging in January.  My posts have been sporadic.  The creativity is there, but my inner critic is always stifling it, questioning it and rearranging its apparent shoddy composition.

I usually work on a post for an entire week before I find it worthy enough to be released.

So, why did I agree to join a challenge that required writing every day??

That’s where the surprise arrives…not completely unexpected but definitely welcome.

I have been almost writing every day and I have boldly or blithely hit the publish button with no dire consequences….yay!

Sometimes I enjoy what I have written and hope that others gain some value from it. Other times I remain dissatisfied  but I have surrendered to the process, surprised myself and have to say….it feels liberating!

My aim for the week and beyond…to keep writing and to keep surprising myself.

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where in the world?

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.  You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Day four prompt by author Chris Guillebeau

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

I’ve done a fair bit of travelling – London, Paris, Greece, Turkey, Spain, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand are some of the most memorable places I have been fortunate enough to visit.  Sometimes I stayed for a week, sometimes a whole lot longer and as any avid explorer will tell you – there is not much that can compete in terms of the depth of life experience garnered, particularly when you’re young.

Senses are on high alert due to differences in culture, food, language, buildings and behaviour. You get to soak up artifacts and architecture previously viewed by media alone and if you are lucky enough…you get to discover that you are far more capable than you ever imagined.  On your own.

You may find yourself alone with bag stolen on a painfully overheated clunkered ole bus, headed in the wrong direction. With no ability to communicate other than hand-gestures *some tears* and charades, somehow you still manage to make that bus turn around so that you make your connecting flight seconds before gate closure.

Them be good times!

In retrospect at least.

While a passion to explore the world can most definitely provide you with a suitcase of unforgettables, it can also bring you back to a place of contrasting landscape rich in colour and as diverse as its inhabitants….. Australia mate!

The Majesty of Uluru

I had to leave home to appreciate what I already had.

I have lived in four cities and three states but have never been over the desert and into the west….part of my story that needs to be amended.

How will it happen?  Just wait and see.

Cheffy hubby and I have started “the trip” fund and hatched up a random plan which involves three small girls, skipping school and a winebago.

I’ll let you know how it plays out.

~Kirri

If we live truly, we shall see truly. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Source of image 

Life as a series of endless post-its…

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.  You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Day four prompt by author  Jenny Blake

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

In my haste to get everything done that desperately needed to get done this weekend, I now find myself behind in this writing challenge.

Behind who?  I’m not sure, but I do know that I spend many days and weeks racing and rushing…hyped up on adrenaline and a barrage of less than kind self-talk.  Driven by responsibilities and the need to do, to create, to make something out of every waking moment.

I can spend up to an hour planning each and every week, and have a bunch of post-its adorning mirrors, doors and notebooks.

I’ve been told that this is a good thing.  I’m motivated, enjoy keeping fit, making it happen and have all my ducks lined up in a nice straight row.  Thanks for noticing…..so what the whispers of insomnia and anxiety in a mind that won’t shut the hell up?

Enter pretty pink post-it:

Moment of truth.

I have coached people on maintaining work-life balance.  I aspire to live a simpler, more conscious life and yet there are times when I have to admit to being a junked up overachiever.

The sleepless nights and jitter-bug mind are always an indication that I’m out of whack and headed to that place of pure whackness!

So what do I do?  To be honest, taking this time to reflect and examine is the biggest step of all for me.  It takes me back to a place of awareness and reminds me of the importance of checking in and making minor adjustments to my current path.

Some other things I know will help and that I can consciously commit to:

– Work smarter not longer and harder.  Work in specific chunks of time and take breaks.

-Prioritize and differentiate between what is really important and what is urgent.

-Minimise caffeine and no chocolate at night (ooh that’s a hard one)

– Do more yoga, meditation and less running, dancing and metaphorical bouncing off walls

-Spend more time outside with the aim of connecting with nature

-Keep doing what I love but make sure I’m still plugged in to my family and friends

-Have one day a week where I am completely disconnected from technology – completely (also a hard one!)

– Make time to examine and reflect….That’s what I’m doing right now.

~Kirri

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What’s one strong belief you possess?

Written by Kirri White.  Follow me on twitter or facebook.

You can also contact me by email –  kirri@happymumsathome.com

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.  You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

Day three:

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

(Author: Buster Benson)

I have to admit I have spent much of the morning struggling over today’s writing task….Why?  Because I’m not sure I hold one strong belief.

Is that bad?  It’s bad isn’t it?

Honestly…I’m a fence sitter.  I can see both sides of every argument.  I can empathise with all points of view which makes it difficult to stand up, hold a placard and speak boldly and passionately about a lot of topics.

What I am certain of is that there is rarely one definitive answer to many of lifes’ big questions and for all the research and evidence supporting one hypothesis, you will find another that strongly supports the opposing view.

Like fashion, belief systems come and go and my personal perceptions also keep evolving.

There are few absolutes and a handful of truisms.  This fact alone is what inspires me to keep searching, learning and evolving.

A thirst for knowledge and learning that life serves up in a rainbow of flavours?

That’s something I’m willing to stand up for.

*Final thought – I do have one strong belief not shared by some family members and friends….

Homosexuality is biological and we all deserve to be treated with respect and share equal rights.   That debate is over.

Today in a sentence?

This post is part of the #trust30 writing initiative, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emersons “Self-reliance” that encourages you to look within and trust yourself.  You can find further details regarding the challenge here.

Day two prompt by author Liz Danzico

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.

Staying in line with the nautical theme, my sentence for today –

It’s much easier to change course when moving than it is standing still, so grab the reins and Giddy-up!

Yeah, I like to mix my expressions…so what 🙂