Love thy sister and thy self

I've been witnessing a little too much womon hating lately... by other women and you know what? It's really got to stop.

First we criticize women for not changing their names when they're married, now we're criticizing them when they do change their names.

We criticize them for being too fat, then we criticize them for being to thin.

We criticize them for not breastfeeding, then we criticize them for breastfeeding in public.

We criticize them for not 'contributing' to the workforce and financially to their families, then we criticize them for neglecting their children by also having a career.

Why is there so much scrutiny on a woman's choice? On a woman's right to make her own decisions? And why, oh why, when we burned our bras and banded together for women's liberties are we now judging them for the biggest liberty of all? 



A woman's right to shoes - I mean choose

You have the right to choose your lives ladies and you know what - it can be whatever the fuck you want. 

It shouldn't matter what it is you choose, the name of the game is that you get to choose it. And whatever your fellow ladies choose - respect that it's their choice, because in 2014 Australia, thankfully we can! 

So let's drop the judgement, ladies and pick up the empowerment!





*I saw these images recently and thought 'Amen Sista!' For more truely inspiring peices of acceptance check out Carol Rossetti on Tumblr.

Inspiration - it's everywhere!

I believe it to be true that when you open yourself up to opportunities, speak up and put something out there, the universe conspires to get you what you need. 

What I needed was inspiration and lately, the universe is absolutely showering me in it! I feel like a never ending packet of sparklers and each day someone or something is just the flame I need to set me in a crackling, fizzing, sparkling fuzz. Alight with beauty and a fierce tingling flame.

And once alight, all it takes is one quick connection to spark that flame in someone else.

Lately I have been meeting people. Really meeting people. People I feel instantly connected to. Some might call them kindred spirits. Not only that but I've been taking them with me when I leave, embedding them in my networks. One random conversation in a room full of people, one turn down a street towards a new shop, one word outside an event, one word at a dinner party and there they were. Other people just like me, ready and waiting to open their floodgates of inspiration and support.

I feel like a sponge at the moment, soaking everything up then wringing out the residue to mop up the juices again and again. 

I've realised that there are so many inspiring people in this little town of ours. People who are generally interested (and interesting!) and you know what - they genuinely want you to succeed! They genuinely want to support you and value your support in return.

It's often too easy to get stuck inside your own head. To talk things over with yourself so many times that you talk yourself out of them. We're our own worst critics in that way. So talk to some other people about it instead! Get out of your head and get into the real world because it's full of amazing people flickering with inspiration.

So go get sparkling!

Much love
A spongy, sparkly El x

Back in the land of the living

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been well... ah... absent lately.

I'd love to say that my absence from this space (and several other spaces both physical and virtual... and mental now that I think of it) is because I've been on some spectacular trip sunning myself, sipping cocktails or trekking through majestic mountains with my nearest and dearest... but no. I've been working. Working harder than I ever have before on a program/event. But I must say, climbing that metaphorical mountain has been a significant challenge and the view from the top is pretty darn good actually. I've not climbed down yet, I'm staying up here with the sunset for the time being, assessing the world from this height and appreciating every bit of it.

But now that the climb is over and the next phase begins, I've been taking time to rejoin the land of actually living, instead of the land of the working dead - yes I mean working, not waking.

I've been able to appreciate little things like the smell of jasmine from a tree in full spring bloom, the incredibly happy face and wag of tail from my hound running around the park, even a cup of tea. I've had time to start new projects, to read beautiful books, to eat cake and start planning a big exciting trip in the not too distant future with MR. There's been time to sip wine on friend's front porches, to watch soccer grand finals and to celebrate the coming of the new season with those I love. 

I've come out of my cave just in time for my favourite time of year in Perth. When the sun wakes earlier and goes to bed later, as do I. When I want to be out in my garden more, want to exercise more, want to generally celebrate more. And the sunsets are starting to become really beautiful too.

It's good to be back in the land of the living.      

Thia week's pearls

1. Blue skies and sunshine - hasn't the weather been fabulous! What winter?

2. Forgetting which Tuesday of the month the play writer's meeting was and going into the city on the wrong night... so I bought myself dinner and had a glass of red over a good book in one of my favourite bars. I should do that every week!


3. A much overdue lady date with a girlfriend and spotting another kind of date at Elizabeth's Bookshop on the way home. I love love love this concept!

 

4. A Sunday roast chicken dinner (not pictured because we were too busy gobbling it) with my beloved, in which all elements were perfect - which is more than I can say for my last attempt with floury gravy and woody parsnips. Sunday roast success!


5. The book club - come food and wine club that was altogether the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

6. Love, friends and family making my week.

25 reasons being a grown up is not all it's cracked up to be

When I was a little kid I couldn't wait to be a grown up. It all looked so glamorous and dramatic(in terrible 90s style ofcourse). I dreamed about having a briefcase and trotting off to work in a pencil skirt and stilettos like my mum. As a teenager I simply couldn't wait to be able to do whatever I wanted and when I first started uni, I couldn't wait to be taken seriously. All these things we dream up for our adult lives... turns out their a little bit bullshit!

Call me pessimistic but lately it's dawned on me that being a grown up is not all it's cracked up to be. And I don't even have kids! Those mother effers got it bad! The saving grace is that I do get to wear pencil skirts and stilettos, thankfully briefcases went out of fashion! I think we should all go eat fairy bread and play in the sandpit.

So here's 25 reasons why being a grown up is not all it's cracked up to be.

1. When something goes wrong at your house you have to fix it/pay for it because you own the bloody place.

2. You realise The Never-Ending Story had nothing on your pile of bills - that never seem to stop coming, never, ever! Not to mention the pile of washing that's taken up residence in your spare room.

3. There is still someone telling you what to do, only they are called 'Boss' and 'Bank' and 'Water Corporation' instead of 'Parents'.

4. You have to make decisions about the rest of your life because 'what do you want to be when you grow up'... well it just doesn't apply to you anymore.

5. You have to admit when you're wrong.

6. You can't eat cake anymore without thinking about how hard you're going to have to work in the gym to work it off.

7. People expect you to 'know better'.

8. There's no fairy bread at parties.

9. You only get 4 weeks holiday a year instead of the 12 weeks they accustom you to at school and the 3 months you get at uni.

10. Your life is consumed with getting rid of unwanted hairs (not to mention the cost of getting rid of said unwanted hairs).

11. Drinking a whole milkshake makes you feel sick.

12. People will still say 'no' without giving you a reason. And it will still not be fair.

13. You realise your parents were right about a lot of things.

14. You have less and less disposable income.

15. There's no hope that you're going to get any taller.

16. You still get pimple breakouts - what the hell! They told me that was just puberty!

17. All of a sudden - poof - imagination gone!

18. Your body starts to hurt... in your 20s. This is not something that happens to old people.

19. Your friends start dying... again, this starts in your 20s, people are taken from your life way too soon.

20. Kissing and holding hands rarely make you giddy anymore.

21. Christmas and birthdays get less exciting.

22. You have to cook your own dinner... every night.

23. Mostly your weekends are just as busy as your weeks and they're filled with house things. Buy this, cook that, weed this, fix that, pay this, wash that - 'Muuuummmm can I go to the beach now???'

24. All dreams of being an artist/singer/dancer/poet/historian go out the window when you realise you can't make any money out of them.

25. You look back at photos from when you were 16 when you thought you were fat and wish you could be that thin again!

This week's pearls

1. This lovely morning walk and My Houndy's 'No I will not sit still and pose for a photo when there is so much else for me to do in the park!' face.

2. A fabulous family dinner at The Reid's - no picture from me but such a lovely, hilarious, joyful, silly, wonderful evening that is all the great stuff of life.

3. This wrapping paper - I don't know why, I just love it!

 

4. Getting our built in wardrobes... well parts of them, after 5 months of living in our little place! Finally we have hanging space, and soon drawer space. The rearrange of our room and the clear out of 'stuff' that has followed and will continue for the next couple of weeks is certainly a therapeutic exercise.

5. These socks, which I'm sure you'll agree really need no introduction.   

6. A beautiful Friday lunch of duck and fennel salad, with a gorgeous friend at The Peasant's Table.

 

 

7. Awesome toilet wall graffiti at The Bakery and ofcourse, dancing to The Preatures on Saturday night.

Lesson in patience

I've never been patient. 

For this Miss, patience is not infact a virtue. 

And lately that patience has been tested.

Through losing things, through IKEA wardrobes, through work and loud talking and piles of washing and dishes and forgetting my glasses and the busyness of everyday life that never seems to stop.

But today I found solace in music and Chet Faker gave me the reminder I needed to slow down, relax, focus, persevere. Be patient. 

*Apparently the title of this song, Lost in Patience, is a piss take of his own saxophone performance on the track.