celebrating one

The one most significant achievement today is that the clean laundry is ironed and folded! The day just zoomed by, one minute it was morning and I sat down to do the monthly accounts, next thing it was dark outside - I was so focused on what I was doing today.

There is another cause for celebration today, 1 calendar month of 365 dragons flying solo. My thanks and appreciation to all those that have followed the journey. If I had not recorded so much through this blog, I may have forgotten a lot that has happened this past month.

Throughout life we celebrate the milestones, and their anniversaries. Each year a milestone towards an inevitable end. Then again, each month, each day each moment is a milestone. To bring awareness to as many as we can, it is possible to bring ourselves to now ... this very moment ... to be wrapped in that space of now where it is not seeking to get to some end goal but to be present now. That is the present of life.

I did read a little of the "One" book I received yesterday. Victoria Alexander (who I have since discovered is a Sydney resident) writes " In the record industry a single was cause for celebration, one song released to promote the album. This one track, part of a collective, told the story". This month, I have realised that I may be one, I may be flying solo in my business and personal life but I am deeply connected to many. I am one of many. That many come in and out of my life. One is not a life sentence to loneliness.

As I write this I just realised that in the word "loneliness", the word ONE is fenced in by to L's. Loneliness suggests a separation from, a sense of isolation. At the moment, I do not feel this when I spend days in solitude. As Alexander writes "solitude is a positive and constructive engagement with yourself that leads to self-awareness. From recent months I have learned this to be true. It is also human nature to seek and fulfil our desire for connection.

When we strip away the labels and status symbols, each of us are one. It is the starting point from which everything we each do becomes possible. We can share that privately with ourselves, with one other, with few or with many, and through that sharing we can build connections, so that "one" is not fenced in by a couple of tall imposing "L"s.

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Flying Solo Tip 031365 : It all starts with one. One is a cause for celebration.

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extraordinarily ordinary

Today was supposed to be just a very ordinary day ... grocery shopping, a bit of housework, fold up the clean laundry from of the overflowing laundry basket, and a bit of business administration. Today was an extraordinary, ordinary kind of day!

There were the unexpected phone calls and emails - rich in meaningful content. There was the client who showed considerable respect to ensure that I was OK about an upcoming shoot with very particular requirements. Where ever I went today people smiled at me - maybe because I was smiling at life. There was the unexpected visitor bearing gifts - a beautiful bunch of flowers and a book title "One: living as one and loving it" by Victoria Alexander. They had just finished reading my blog and although I have known them for a very long time and we have had our differences in that past, they wanted to show their utmost support for all that I am currently doing and to share that they are doing well also in life. I am not familiar with the book or the author but it is rich with evocative images and I look forward to sitting down over the next days and weeks to appreciate it page by page.

.... and did I mention, how much I love my social life. Even if I had the most diverse group of friends, it could not measure up to the awesome working social life that I have shooting at events. I get invited to amazing parties, and meet the most interesting people. When I shoot events, I allow my energy to radiate through the room - I think it really helps to quickly break down the barriers that sometimes exist between camera and subject. Tonight was a Great Gatsby party and the host asked if I could come dressed for the occasion. I was happy to comply. I love any excuse to dress up and get into character. Thankfully I have a fairly extensive costume prop box! So of course, I had the most extraordinary evening. On the drive home, I was reflecting on my day and in my mind was preparing the words for today's post ... I could not imagine that my day could be even better.

As it turns out, it could be! Just moments before starting to write, I checked my facebook and was simply blown away to learn that one of my product images I had taken for a long term and very special client had made the cover of an international magazine - Teddy Bear Times, issue 224. To say I am thrilled would be short of the mark!

So what do I take from today - the first thing that comes to mind is that when you put the work in and actively and consciously work on your approach to life, eventually the universe catches up. Suddenly even what is supposed to be a very ordinary, mundane day will become miraculous. The second thing I take from today is that there can be limitless abundance. Sometimes our limited thinking puts the brakes on our capacity to even see the miracles that are unfolding before us. With open eyes, open heart and open mind, every day is extraordinary. In the words of Gregg Braden, "We are tuned to our world, and the world shows us physically the energy of what we experience emotionally". We can then choose what we want to do within the world that we see.

Today, the world I saw was a reflection of me now being well.

... and p.s. the laundry basket is still overflowing ... but clean unfolded laundry is extraordinarily patient and does not complain! ... another one of life's little miracles.

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Flying Solo Tip 030365: Keep your feathers preened so you can effortlessly respond to the call to fly at anytime.

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... to be 4 ...

Such beautiful energy in the studio today, while a four year old played and his mum got her professional portrait taken. To take out the treasure trove of toys and lay them on the floor .... sigh. For a moment, I was captivated by his imaginary world, and was invited to play. For a moment, I was four, a memory to treasure, a moment of escape.

There are some toys here that were my son's when he was little, some I acquired along the way, some were characters in another 365. Today I was reminded just how fun and how much I adore each one.

My little visitor inspired me to write ...

TO BE 4

To be 4

given

for all transgressions

a bless-ed life indeed.

To be 4 ...

lawn ...

the neighbours may look greener

there are butterflies in yours, instead.

To be 4 ...

bidden

to act your age

it all passes by, all so fast in your head

To be 4 ...

gotten ...

one fish

two fish

three and four

how many can you count

lying on the floor?

To be 4

Be 4 you are seen as too old

To be 4

Be 4 your bones are too cold

To be 4

Be 4 you can get off that damn floor!

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Flying Solo Tip 029365 : Shed off your exterior adultness. Remember how creative you can be. Enter joyfully into your imaginary world and play - just play!

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