A great start for any day. Especially if you have a big day ahead of writing or editing. It’s important to eat nourishing food that will help ward of those ‘need to eat snacks’ moments we all get when in writing lock down.
I find starting the day with a nourishing and filling breakfast helps. At least I hopefully won’t have to hit the chocolates till after lunch 😁
Porridge is my favourite.
1. Microwave organic rolled oats mixed with banana and milk till soft.
2. Stir in super seed mix and cinnamon
3. Add dollop of natural yoghurt and a few prunes.
And of course enjoy with freshly brewed large coffee.
Today’s positive…treated myself to a delicious Thai Gang Dang curry on my way home from work. The beauty of living in a city with so many choices of great food.
Most of us want to be healthy and enjoy optimal living. But we are all humans and have to accept that sometimes we fail for whatever reason.
As you know a few weeks back I started blogging about my intention to living as healthy as possible. Well I have failed! I did tell you I would blog about both my successes and my failures. I knew there would be a few.
So where did I fail?
Movement
I totally stopped my morning yoga all of last week. My weekend trip to Katoomba followed by the start of our daylight saving just threw out my routine and energy level. That extra half hour of sleep in the morning seemed more important than my yoga routine. But I am back again this week so all is well.
Heathy Eating
Totally out of character I was driving home from work Monday night and a sudden craving for chips came over me. So I popped into a fast food place and ordered not only chips but also a hamburger. I can’t remember when I last did that, but I did enjoy it.
How to deal with failures
I have decided I am not going to heat myself up about either failures. We will fail in life, but it is how we react and deal with it that matters.
Accepting our shortcoming, which often makes us more endearing, can turn our failures into successes long term.
Accepting and moving on with new and stronger intentions to do better will only help us.
Realising that to fail means at least we have tried and that in itself is a success.
Focusing on the successes we have had in other areas and give ourselves extra pats for these.
Staying positive and not stress about it, as stress is often our biggest health killer
So for me it is onwards and upwards. I am determined to continue my pursuit of a healthier life.
Love to hear how you have dealt with failures in your life. Feel free to comment.
This weekend is about doing what I love; to read, write and take photos.
I am on the train to Katoomba to take part in a writing workshop, The Art of the Sentence, run at Varuna Writers House by the talented author Michelle de Kretser. It runs for four hours this afternoon and I will stay overnight. It is my weekend away from the rat race. Tomorrow I can indulge in photography. Katoomba is in the Blue Mountains and a stunning place for getting interesting snaps.
My stress level is reducing the further away from the city I travel. The landscape is changing from sky scrapers to trees reaching for the sky. The heavy clouds emanate calm and serenity. Like an old nurturing blanket covering the world.
I am glad I caught the train. I love how I can read and write on the train and let someone else worry about driving the train.
Recently started a novel by a fellow twitter friend Joanna Nell called The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Village. Love it so far. Joanna’s descriptions of the old folks in the village is so real. She makes me laugh out loud and want to cry at the same time.
Back to more reading. I will continue this post later this weekend once I am in Katoomba.
Saturday Writing Workshop
I walked to the Varuna Writers House on the outskirts of town. The walk consisted of a number of steep hills, but the scenery of old stone houses and flower laden gardens kept me entertained.
Varuna House itself is astounding. A winding dirt road and tall trees hides this gorgeous gem; a colourful old stone house set in a well kept but natural looking cottage style garden. You wish to linger. To just be. You can check out their website here
http://www.varuna.com.au
Veechi Stuart, the Executive Director of Varuna House, came out to welcome me in the front garden and led me into their afternoon tea area as I was early. Her friendly and mild manner made me welcome and at ease straight away. Not unlike visiting a family home.
The workshop was run by Michelle de Kretser, an editor and author of many novels for which she has received awards, latest being The Life to Come which received the Miles Franklin Award.
It was Michelle’s first workshop and it made everyone at ease. We were beginners, even the teacher. Michelle ran an excellent workshop over the four hours presenting her knowledge, making us question, leading us in the right direction and providing us with several great tools to go away and revisit our writing.
The main part I took away from my experience was:
I have so much more to learn
Every word/sentence is optional, unless it is essential
Review every verb and make sure they are strong
To finish a sentence on a monosyllable strengthens it.
Avoid repeat words
Mix up sentence length
Remove yourself from the story and just review each sentence to make them tighter.
Put work aside after each new draft before next edit. Do something else for at least a week.
Start one of your edits from the back to avoid fatigue and less work being done on last chapters.
After a short rest in my hotel room I took myself out for dinner at a popular local Italian place called Paladino’s. It was packed, the vibe friendly and the food impressive. Walked back to my hotel room with a full stomach and a smile on my face
Sunday Photo Time
Just love my little get away weekend. It is amazingly quiet here in Katoomba. My hotel, the Metropole Guesthouse, is near the main part of town, and yet I had the most peaceful night’s sleep. Every time I woke up the silence astounded me. No humdrum of traffic, police cars or drunken Saturday night party goers like in Sydney. I am ready for another day of playing tourist in this lovely mountain town.
Got up early to beat the threatening rain and walked towards Echo Point hoping to take photos. I didn’t make it before the wet weather set in. Breakfast somewhere cosy and warm tempted me and led me back up the main street to Pomegranate, a cafe known for scrumptious organic food. Indulged in two large coffees and a delicious plate of Eggs Florentine. Figured I had earned it with so much hill walking.
Despite not making it to any popular view points I got several photos around town. You can see them on my next post
On my train trip back to Sydney I got inspired and wrote my entry into the monthly Furious Fiction competition run by the Australian Writers Centre. Wish me good luck. In summary I enjoyed every bit of my weekend away. I recommend it. Indulging in what you love doing does wonders for your wellbeing. Go do it.
Today’s positive….is there anything better than cooking together? The food nourishing our bodies and the togetherness our souls.
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