
Calmkate, aroused Fun Friday… Unusual
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Calmkate, aroused Fun Friday… Unusual
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
I enjoyed some relaxing leisure time with colleagues and students on our yearly outing recently. Our trip included time at The Irish National Stud & Japanese Garden. This display of flags represents all the countries that have completed The Irish National Stud Breeding Course. Can you spot your flag here? If you can or if you can’t, please say hello and tell me where you are on the globe? Better still tell me something interesting about where you live?My geography is improving daily thanks to the little map on WP Stats!
Learn more here…https://irishnationalstud.ie/attraction/japanese-gardens/
Le gra,
Mindfully Marie,
Ireland.
You can find these two beautiful creatures at The Irish National Stud & Japanese Garden in Co.Kildare.
Read more https://irishnationalstud.ie/attraction/japanese-gardens/
Cee’s two items or the number two https://ceenphotography.com/2019/06/18/cees-fun-foto-challenge-2-items-or-the-number-two/
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Welcome to Monday’s memory lane where I share an old post…
In this post Scatter your thoughts…
I pondered the impact of our thoughts when they transform into words…
As we age, we change how we think, how we feel and how we behave. We drop old habits and seek out new. Enjoy scattering your thoughts…some go unseen and blow away on the breeze but some nourish the ground they fall on.
What thoughts and words have you scattered today? Are they ones you’ll be proud of?
Le grá,
Mindfully Marie xx
Inclusive…
‘an intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who are handicapped or learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities.’
Have you ever booked a holiday or a mini-break and been very aware of what’s included in the package? Well, I know anytime I’m lucky enough to plan a holiday, I pay a lot of attention to what’s included as part of the deal!
If I’m booking two nights away for example, I like to have breakfast included on both mornings and it’s a bonus if dinner on the first night is included at a nominal cost.
It’s also encouraging if access to a gym or leisure centre is included at no extra cost as part of the package deal, although any of you who know a little about me will have guessed I’ll probably admire the gym from afar and spend more time relaxing in the sauna than strutting my stuff in the pool! But even so, it’s probably fair to say that inclusivity is important to me!
And maybe that’s why inclusitivity is important in other areas of my life. I’m always aware at any meeting or event of the importance of reaching out and helping others feel included. Just like I did at my recent ICASSI in Bonn. You might like to read about my ICASSI experience here Perfectly Imperfect
I seem to have a radar that helps me spot people who are just a little outside their comfort zone and I enjoy helping them feel at ease.
Years ago, for example, I was involved in setting up a local women’s club and a young mother, a non-national joined us. Most people there made polite conversation with this newly settled person to our rural community but none made a point of actively including her. As a result I tried a little harder to include her and I enjoyed getting to know this lady and watching her settle in and make friends as time went on.
Maybe it’s because I find people fascinating, or maybe it’s because I grew up in a three generational home where my Nana also loved being around people and included me in her frequent visits to neighbours and friends in our locality.
Or maybe it’s because I best describe myself as an introverted extrovert…yes, if you didn’t already know it, you can be both!
So, I like my own company and quiet time but I love people, I love being around people, I love getting to know people and I love people feeling included and being inclusive. This is probably because I hate walking into a social situation on my own. I’ve had to push through that feeling at ICASSI recently (as you can read above) and it’s encouraging to have overcome that challenge. But knowing how it feels for an introvert to face a gathering… of more than one person!… is important, as it gives me insight into what it’s like for anyone who finds themselves on the fringes of any social situations. I know, like me, they probably find it a bit intimidating at first until they find their feet!
So next time you consider a hotel break or wonder what’s included in that all inclusive package deal, spare a thought for inclusitivity in other areas of your life and spread a little of your warmth and social inclusion further afield!
Thanks for your company and for including me in your day! In what ways do you like to be included? Have you ever felt excluded? How did it make you feel? Have you ever gone out of your way to include or exclude others?
Much love,
Marie xx
Do you struggle sometimes looking for inspiration for your blog? I know I certainly do, particularly when I’m tired.
You may have heard fibromyalgia being called the ‘holiday illness,’ a very cruel characteristic of fibro/chronic fatigue that, when you ease down from any continuous activity, you then realise you have over-done it. In my case it’s when I’m let go/laid off from my paid contracted Adult Education/Adult Literacy employment. My body crumbles into an exhausted and sometimes lonely mess; if I let it…
When I’m totally drained, having used every tool available to me to manage my fibro/fatigue, such as positivity, pacing and prioritising, I find writing or indeed achieving anything, including socialising is next to impossible but I choose to believe that there is always light in the darkness if you look for it!
So I take encouragement from the words of Pat Schneider in her excellent book ‘Writing Alone and with others.’
She reminds me that…
P.13 “…we will create powerful writing out of the stuff of memory…”
And she tells me…
P.15 ‘…every time you came home from a hard day at school or work and said to someone in your family, “You know what happened to me today?” and told the story – the writer in you was practising using suspense, character, dialogue, metaphor, simile, plot, denouement. All your life, you have been writing on the air, and that has built craft and confidence and voice. It is all there, ready and waiting for you.’
So, I say don’t struggle with tiredness, loneliness or with writing…just reach out in person or via social media, keep sharing your day, keep on “writing on the air.”
So, what do you think? Please join in the discussion below and share what encourages you! Thanks for visiting, your company is another source of encouragement for me!
Much love,
Marie xx
Friday Flashback…”OR” Welcome old friends and new!
I know how precious my time is and I’m pretty sure you feel the same! Although I love learning a little bit more about you everytime I read one of your posts, it is a challenge to read today’s posts let alone get around to checking out older posts.
I thought a link back to a little piece of me before we came to know each other might help us get to know each other a little better!
So how about a little bit of time travel again this Friday and maybe if you find it enjoyable you’ll travel back in time with me again next friday!
For today’s post I’ve chosen a short poem about choices, simply titled Or
What choices have you had to make recently?
Are you a ‘can’ or a ‘can’t?’
Please feel free to make another choice…add a link to your favourite post in the comment section, it will help me get to know you a little better!
Much love,
Marie xx