A Philosophy For Life

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.

Life is wealth, share it.
Life is love, enjoy it.

Life is a mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, embrace it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life! Fight for it!

(Found on a wall in Mother Teresa's convent in Calcutta)

Should Have Paid For That

In the beginning I set out to find a Bible study group and kept coming up empty handed. I even checked out on of the main churches in the city but to no avail. In time it fell off my priority list (shame, shame) but has since worked its way back up. Especially in this moment. But, yet again, I'm unable to find a group to join, or any type of group that exists at all! I am sad at this. Where are the people who gather once a week to read and reflect and relish in the community of others who would like to develop themselves holistically, religiously. I miss it. I miss it bad. I had just begun to find a place in Berk town when I was leaving and now, as well as for many other reasons, I wish I wouldn't have left. In time I'll find it again I suppose. But right now, all I want is to read my Bible or other assigned readings and reflect.

Onward!

Balls.

What happened to me? I used to wake up with an idea in my head to open an ice cream store in Helena and went to bed with the rights for a Coldstone franchise in my hand. Okay, so it took longer than one day but I didn’t sit there waiting for someone else to make the move. I just went for it and wrote the emails myself, made the phone calls figuratively reaching down where a man should and going for it. Graphic. A little. I’m sorry. I just can’t figure out where my “balls” went!?

I’m sitting on the cuff of something potentially exciting with a company and a new client and instead of just going all in and turning it from potential to realistic, I’m sitting here watching the emails going back and forth and feeling sheepish and shy. SHEEPISH and SHY. If you know me, you would be shaking your head – Amy? Sheepish? Shy? My Mom would get it. But she knows me. What has rocked my confidence and outgoing mentality? Where are you? Hello!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?! I pitifully yell into the dark cave of my soul, frowning when the only response I hear are the sad echo’s of my own feeble voice.

EW.

Get ballsy, Amy! Harness your confidence! The quality of your brain and the value of its output! How? Start by doing. Prove to yourself in little ways that you do know what you’re talking about and the experiences you have had are worthy of drawing from. For instance, sitting here banging my head on the table trying to think of a blog post to write for a digital agency, feeling like I need to spend at least the next 36 hours reading marketing articles to boost my own marketing encyclopedia, when all I really need to do is think about what I’ve done at Title Nine or Sparkhell and the lessons learned there. What did I do that someone else could find useful? Wait, I did useful things? Yes, you dolt.  Why is it when you’re in a job and things are going well, you’re seeing change, you feel like you’re doing really great, then when you’re out of the job and having to pull from your responsibilities to show your skills and achievements, you feel like you come up empty handed? Deer in the headlights, can you please ask me the question again Mr. Interviewer? It’s like, I know I did alright, but why can’t I write down what it is that I did that says that I was doing alright?

Lesson learned? Set some goals for yourself when you start out. Then reflect on them in a month. Are they still in line with what your responsibilities and what you thought the job was going to be? Remember to build your foundation. Are you looking to increase social media traffic? Email click through rates? Well, how? What things can you do to get there? Write those out and get set to accomplishing them. Found something else entirely is more effective? Write that down and get to growing that channel. Refrain from looking at that experience as a failure of your first notion – it’s a success in learning about your community. That’s heaps! And now you’re immediately an adaptive creature. Golden ticket, kid!

Long Weekends for the Queen

Last weekend we had Monday off (well, David did) and we actually got round to doing quite a lot! The original plan was a trip to Tasmania or something fun like that, but with everyone going out of town the prices sky rocket and it makes us cringe and sink back into our Melbourne hole where we find ourselves having plenty of fun! (And also saving enough money to score Tasmania next weekend!)

In short, we headed out to Yarra Valley to do some wine tasting (beautiful country, wine's not so much) and met an awesome dog (obviously!) and enjoyed cruising around. Luckily we had a snazzy rental, thanks to David's corporate rate, and I drove all day while he did the "tasting". Worked quite well! Then the market the next day to pick up groceries for dinner that night (having friends over from Ireland and another one of David's coworkers). Luckily David remembered the Cellar Store (beer shop) was open so we hopped over to buy some hops and supplies to brew our first... brew. :) 

OH! Coming home Friday night we stopped in at the bottle shop downstairs that I work in and landed ourselves a couple of free tickets to the Essedon/Carlton footy game, and while I was beat and sort of looking forward to renting Finding Nemo (DAVE'S IDEA) he convinced me that you never turn down free sporting event tickets and dammit if he wasn't right. That game was bloody awesome. Our tickets were from a member of the Essedon club so we were in the thick of the blue collar fans and the team had been down the whole game - well, wouldn't you know, incredible comeback and we win it in the last few minutes! The place was going NUTSO! And you guys, ITS HUGE!!!!! I need to get the video from his phone and put it on here of the song they all sing when the team wins. Awesome stuff. Really awesome stuff. We are lucky enough to have been to a sporting event practically once every month we've been here and it's a pattern I wouldn't mind seeing continue! 

Notes of the weekend that I didn't manage to work into the stories above - the dog we met at the first winery that made you feel like you were in Tuscany? I WANT ONE. She was wonderful. A cross between a dingo and collie, short hair, quiet temperament and just an all around sweetie. Big enough to run and go places but not so big you can have her on your lap for a cuddle. Upon declaring she was the perfect dog, David gave me the look of "how are you going to get it back to America? You aren't. Let the idea go and we'll talk about it in 2 years" to which I responded with the look that says "Huh-uh mister. That doesn't work anymore. She is what I want and I will find a way to bring one just like her back to America with me. And her name will be Joey". We can really do a lot with our looks. ALSO, when Dave told me the two buzzed gentleman offered us the footy tickets, I suggested he go and have fun with the boys and get rowdy blah blah blah. BUT, all anybody heard in the shop was that I DIDN'T want to go and was making him go alone, to which they proceeded to reprimand me and the entire female race for not ever wanting to have fun and go to sporting events. YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG GIRL, PEOPLE! So, I went and it was awesome and I am thankful for the gene in me that says I'll prove you wrong. Thank you David for taking me along for the ride. I need that person that says "lets go!" :)