Author: lizseverest

Hello there, What would you like to know about me? Well, I'm Australian and writing from Australia. My interests are varied. As I've said in the Contact and About Me page, I'd like to grow wise, not old. Much of the content I'm writing at the moment is more spiritual, which is probably because that's where I am at the moment. Although this may change as we go along. Just as a note and because I include it on the Welcome Page of my Blog itself (see the Menu bar if you can't find it easily), I am heavily influenced by Christianity. This is mostly because it's where my roots are, but I know that other religions also have credibility, and I try to not be constrained by this particular take on spirituality. My interests include writing, gardening, and travel. I love working in my community and I love politics. Occasionally, this leads to getting onto my soap box. But my true love is Social Justice, and it is this that drives much of my behaviour and, sometimes, my writing. I'd like to make this a better place before I die (in the distant future). If any of this interests you, please come along for the ride.
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ANZAC day, a personal approach

Last year, on ANZAC day, I wrote about the dark side of this event in the Australian calendar.

You can read it here: http://ANZAC Day's Dark Secret

In response to these thoughts, rather than attend the War Memorial Services, I’m creating a more personal approach.

Instead of listening to stories designed to whip up the Patriotic spirit, I’ve chosen to light a candle. With the candle keeping me company, I sit and dwell on all the reasons why war is not the best way to win at anything.

Not only do I consider war in the context of the ANZACs, but I also spend some time soul searching for when I’ve instigated war and conflict within my own life.

The solution, if it cannot be found in the wider world, can be found at home with oneself. And for that to happen, it’s important to take time out from the busyness of society and look towards one’s own life and impact upon others.

What thoughts do you have on how to cease war?

What personal stand are you making in order to create a more peaceful world?

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Legacy and a homecoming

As the mind turns towards one’s legacy, it also turns towards thoughts about the After life

For some, the After life is a place of desolation and fear. For others, it is a place of non existence.

For me, death is a homecoming.

I can spread my love more evenly in death than in life. No longer, am I restrained by time and space, for I have met my God and realised the secret that is within being made in his image.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being alive too. It’s just an admittance that I cannot predict it’s timing and method. All I can control is how I face each day, and ultimately, my own death.

Do you fear death?

What does thinking about your legacy turn your own mind too?

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Legacy and friendship

When considering what legacy to leave behind, it is sometimes useful to watch what legacy your friends and own family are leaving behind.

For a clue as to what is really valuable, think about the glue that holds these people in your life.

Is it your religion. Or that you all like to garden, or volunteer.

The themes that run through your closest relationships indicate what your values are.

They also point to what would be valuable to those you care the most about in your life.

And therefore these values can provide a foundation for determining what to centre your legacy around. And for who would benefit from it.

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Grief and my love

My beautiful Soul Pet, Milo, taught me a powerful lesson in grief last year.

For those of you who have been following Liz’s Everest since then, you would remember an article including a poem. That poem I wrote at the death of my Granddad.
I posted it upon the death of Milo.

Death was a release for both these living beings. I know that, yet still I can’t help but miss them.

As I face my parents aging, I know that I have the power within me to take the lessons I’ve learned from them into my future. And I know this, because Milo taught me.

The theme for this season is Legacy.

May each of you be thoughtful about the legacy you leave behind. And of the legacy that others give you at their own passing.

Watch this space, as other articles will be posted between now and the end of April, dealing with legacy.

It’s a fitting theme, as those of us in the Southern Hemisphere start the wind down into Winter.

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Elections

I’m sitting here, at either OMG it’s late… or OMG it’s early. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Where am I sitting?

Well, it’s Election Night. And so now, I am in the Voting Centre Manager room, with a feast set out infront of me of cheese, chocolate, strawberries, nut bars, and coffee.

It is a thank you for all our hard work, ensuring a good Election is had by all.

In Australia, we’ re proud of our Elections. They are one of the fairest in the world, and are conducted without fear.

I’m writing about this because our Elections are close to my heart.

Sometimes, I wonder about young 18 year olds who don’t understand the importance of their vote.

The fact is, for women, this is a right that they were willing to die for. One famous British lady, actually through herself underneath the hooves of the King’s horse at the races, in order to have this right realised.

It was after women received the vote that rape, domestic violence and child abuse became crimes.

And there are plenty of people in other countries where people are fighting and willing to sacrifice their lives for the simple right to determine who will rule their government.

So, if you’re living in a country where the vote is allowed, become engaged in politics, take an interest.

Your vote is precious.

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Simple dreams

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I believed in complicated dreams.

Dreams large enough to fill a nation and to encompass the world.

Now, approaching 40, I have a new and novel strategy.

You see, I’ve many unfulfilled dreams and this both makes me empowered and sad at the same time.

My new strategy involves taking all my dreams and simplifying them.

This means I’m busy boiling them down to the necessary steps that make up each dream.

And maybe, in the next 40 years, I’ll live all of them, with room for more.

Is simplifying dreams a better strategy than the one you’re using now?

How can simplifying your dreams make them more attainable?

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Creation stories

Researching into different religions and cultures, makes it possible to draw parallels between each.

One parallel is the abundance of Creation Stories.

These are stories that hold a people together.

Christians know they’re Christian, because of the story of Adam and Eve. The Romans knew they were Roman because of the story of the twins being suckled by a wolf, and other peoples are not much different.

Now, I’d like to make this a little more personal.

Everyone has an individual Creation Story. This tells us who we are in society and the larger world. It often has information like who our parents are, where we grew up, and our history, told through our eyes.

This creates a filter of how we interpret everything in life.
So, by acknowledging our own Creation Story and its influence, and by understanding how it impacts upon our decisions and perception, we can set ourselves free.

Don’t ignore it, don’t deny it. Embrace it because it is important and unique…

But don’t let it shut down the imagination and the ability to write more stories.

This is my challenge also.

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Life is change and 2019

Everyone is busy signing up to their Resolutions, but how they are achieved is sometimes beyond us. This is because everything changes.

For those of us who freak out about change, coping is really quite simple.

It’s taken me roughly four decades to work this out, but change is cyclical and there will always be something constant… something that doesn’t change.

If I focus on ensuring I’m organised for the things that don’t change, then I’m halfway to coping with the overall change.

Getting finances sorted is a worthwhile Resolution. This one underpins much of what can be achieved and what cannot.

  • How finances work is a very easy example. Bills don’t arrive randomly. Utilities are usually billed every quarter, even though the food budget may change a little depending on season (although that can be brought to order easily too with some know how).

So, the idea is to work out how much the utilities cost for a year (if this amount cannot be calculated, I multiply the bill I do have four times to give me a rough cost) and then save towards that amount every three months.

So randomness is brought to its knees and now there’s more control in our hands. Change is curtailed and more manageable.

And there’s always the trick of getting your finances as well as the rest of life into a routine that takes some of the unpredictability out of life.

An old suggestion but a good one.

What change are you focusing on managing into the New Year?

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As 2018 wraps up.

It’s the end of the year. December already. How did that happen?

Well, this year, I’ve started the Blog and climbed a part of my own personal Everest.

This has involved several events.

I’ve been lucky enough to have changed positions within the Charity I work for, have some training coming up for another casual position I’ve picked up (I work part time at my primary job) and I even have an idea of what I’d like to achieve in 2019.

Presents have been wrapped and are underneath the Christmas tree. And this weekend my Christmas gift to myself is the neatest and best presented house in the neighborhood.

Life is good.

Are you organised for the Christmas season?

What’s your gift to yourself this Christmas?

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Meaning of Christmas

Once a year, during the Silly Season, all my cousins descend upon a little house near Leichhardt.

We discuss topics of conversation that would make our respective Aunt and Uncle’s ears burn.
We bond, in ways that elude us outside this event, and we share all sorts of family memories, and tales.
Christmas, to me, is about these events. It’s about family and good company and good food.
Pork is a tradition, as are salads and soft drink. Although as the younger ones mature, we’re steadily adilyky turning to good wines and beer.
When Nanna passed away, it was decided that we had to remember that the extended family was important. Us cousins, being the next generation, were in a position, where we could take the lead.
And so we have.
It’s small. One event each year. But it’s big too. It keeps us all in contact and keeps the good memories rolling.
May you all enjoy family, in whatever way you can. And understand that, to those of you without cousins like mine, there are plenty of Churches and Charities that form temporary families, on Christmas Day.