Category: The Life Enthusiast Chronicles

Last month Andrea Stephenson of Harvesting Hecate revealed how crucial it is to remain curious in life, to explore every piece of the world, inside and out. In my monthly series, The Life Enthusiast Chronicles, beautiful beings from all over the world explain why life is so awesome to them.

This month I’m overjoyed to bring you guys Gallivanta from Silkannthreades all the way from New Zealand. Gallivanta’s blog is always playful, positive, intelligent, and inspiring. Even simple photos from her garden seem to awaken something special in all of her readers, including yours truly. Her youthful zeal shines through her words and I always leave her blog smiling big. 

To show you all one example of what a lively woman she is, back at the end of July Gallivanta sent me on a totem pole quest in Portland. Yep, a totem pole quest. I’ll write about my discovery next week, so stay tuned!

On a side note, I feel pretty darn special after working with her on this project, because unlike so many of you out there, I know her real name. (Don’t worry, Gallivanta…your secret’s safe with me.)

Delight us, Gallivanta…

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 Hello. Kia Ora. 🙂

 So pleased to meet you.

I am Gallivanta of Silkannthreades, and I am feeling rather sheepish about being here, as a guest on the Life Enthusiast Chronicles.

Because I am not so much an enthusiast, as an observer who quietly enjoys watching the world go by, and wondering what it all means…

 …and how it all knits together, or doesn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. I love life, but in a contented, sipping cocoa, knitting granny’s bed socks by the fire, sort of way. It’s my natural inclination but, really, these days I haven’t much energy for anything else.

You see a lot has unravelled since our city was hit by the big earthquake on 4 September, 2010. And, as if that weren’t bad enough most people then had the stuffing knocked out of them for a while, when the deadly 2011 earthquake erupted underneath us with the force of 15,000 tonnes of TNT.

It takes some time to stand up again after a blast like that. And when you do arise, you alternate between exhaustion and bone-weary exhaustion. Enthusiasm becomes subdued, takes a back seat for most folk, but it is definitely still there.

Every now and then, it pops up somewhere to remind us of its presence and to allow us an exuberant whoop of pure, silly joy. 

And to forget for a moment that, behind today, are the days that changed our lives, and continue to change them.

Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, for without the shake-up of the quakes I wouldn’t have started my blog; I wouldn’t have met the ultimate life enthusiast, Britt, and so many other wonderful, positive bloggers, happy to come along for the ride, as I bleat about the small joys and little woes of my ordinary life.

That’s something to think about, eh?

Oh, and here’s another thought. What’s with this using woolly threads in my post? They are not silk, as in Silkannthreades!

Well, since we don’t have much silk in New Zealand, wool has to be my visual substitute. And, some New Zealand wool, let it be known, is every bit as fine as silk. 🙂

Thanks so much for having me, and, just so you know I am not really a woolly sheep.

Here are some of my favourite photos from my blog.

The first one is me, as a little one growing up in Fiji. The last photo is me, growing older, in Christchurch, and the middle drawing is how a lovely blogger friend sees the little girl who continues on, in me, despite the woe of recent years.

And, finally, a last little stitch to hold together all the threads of this post……

The poetic theme of my blog

Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro’ the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

© silkannthreades

Last month John Grant, aka Meticulous Mick, shared the importance of nature, travel, and culture to make one feel truly alive. In my monthly series, The Life Enthusiast Chronicles, fantastic humans from all over the world explain why life is so incredible to them.

Today I’m excited to present Andrea Stephenson of Harvesting Hecate to you all. Andrea’s blog exudes mysticism and playfulness and is always a phenomenal one to read. Often I feel that I am seeing the world like a child again when I read her posts. She marvels at the world around her, especially mother nature, and her beautiful way with words shines brightly every time. This gal’s been on my list of Life Enthusiast prospects for some time, so I’m pleased to finally have her over.

Connect with Andrea on Twitter. 

Wow us, Andrea…

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When Britt asked me to contribute to her life enthusiast series, I thought: ‘who me?’ I was honoured and not a little nervous to be counted among this group of inspiring bloggers.

And I haven’t always been enthusiastic about life. Years of sporadic depression and difficult life events in the last decade have seriously tested my enthusiasm.

But what has always propelled me forward and the reason I could never give up on life, is curiosity. 

It’s easy to forget how miraculous the world is. We often take it and our existence in it for granted, when the fact that we’re here at all is a miracle in itself. Whether you see our existence as god-given or a happy accident, here we are, living and breathing and enjoying all of the things the world has to offer.

I began this post in the heart of the forest, surrounded by small miracles. 

Above my head, nestled in the eaves of the veranda, is a swallow’s nest. An astounding feat of engineering, moulded from dirt that seems precariously positioned.

The parents are relentless. You can watch them in the distance, swooping for insects. They return every few minutes, for hours, perching on the edge of the nest to feed their chirruping babies. They never miss, flitting in and out in seconds as the babies become more vocal. And then I have only to look before me to see other small miracles: the trailing larch with its delicate branches and ruddy fir cones, waving grasses, luminous buttercups, luscious orchids. 

I’m at my most content, my most ‘me’ surrounded by nature. Wandering through a forest, or along the coast, with a dog at my side is perfection.

And though I could simply soak it up and be content at its beauty, there’s always that part of me that is curious about what I see. You’ll often hear me mutter to myself ‘I wonder what that is’ and I’ll head over to have a look and make a wonderful discovery. More than anything, I’m curious about how all of this came to be and why it is so varied. Why not just one species of fly, one species of bird, one species of mammal?

The world is a cornucopia of beauty. Every single thing has purpose and sometimes it stops me in my tracks when I remember how amazing it is.

I would enjoy nature knowing nothing about it. But knowing the little that I do: how well everything works together, the continuous cycle of life and of the seasons, gives me added enjoyment. I love mystery, but I also love to know what something is. I’m curious not only about how things work but about what will happen next…where will I be in ten years time, what will I live to see, what experiences will I have had?

I think life is about exploration. It doesn’t matter whether you explore the world or you never leave your home town, it’s about exploring the wonders of life. And we all have interests that prompt that exploration.

And yes, this world can be cruel and horrific.

Sometimes being curious might seem like a disadvantage, because it causes me to think deeply about the terrible things that happen too. I rarely just accept, instead I question and rail against. Not always a comfortable state of being. But this does mean that I connect, with the good and the bad, and that makes for a fuller experience of life. 

I’m creative because I’m curious. If I had no curiosity, I’d have no desire to follow a story to its conclusion or to continue brushing paint on a canvas. 

The easiest way to be unenthusiastic about life is to lack curiosity. So if you’re feeling apathetic, my advice is to find something you can be curious about.

Last month Juliann Wetz from Browsing the Atlas shared her awe-inspired love for the liberation that comes with traveling the world. In my monthly series, The Life Enthusiast Chronicles, phenomenal humans from all over explain why life is so enthralling to them.

Today I’m excited to bring you John Grant, also known as Meticulous Mick, all the way from Ireland. Back in March John and I teamed up for a collaborative project, where I created a poem “When I am me, I am free” after being inspired by one of his exquisite photos. It isn’t hard to be enraptured by John’s photos. He captures life crisply with a unique perspective that I can only describe as beauty with an edge. His way of seeing life and sharing its awesomeness makes John a shoo-in for a Life Enthusiast spot.

Connect with John on Facebook. 

Go for it, John…

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Having been asked by Britt to join her Life Enthusiast Group, I now find myself wondering where on earth to start. It wasn’t always like this.

My earlier life is filled with irony. My outer shell projected someone who was confident, a laugh, happy with life and in for a good time. Internally, however, there was a restless angst, continual turmoil that would not settle. Just like a volcano, there were times when the stirrings below were more evident, but I did a great job of keeping the lid on.

It was as if I was trying to prove to everybody I was ok, when in truth I wasn’t happy at all.  And why would anyone suspect? I had a good job, good friends, a string of stunning girlfriends and had some great holidays.

There were times when I was truly alive and typically these would involve nature, elements of travel, meeting different cultures and trying new things.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the Galapagos Islands where close encounters with nature were an everyday occurrence. A safari in Namibia saw the excited kid in me bubble up as each corner was turned to reveal another of nature’s incredible creations.

People have always amazed me. The smile of a little girl in India on receiving a single banana that we gave her, the look of joy on the indigenous people of the amazon when music started to play, the gentle but strong face of our guide in Borneo.

One of my highlights in life was to be chosen by a local tribal chief in Namibia to pose with him for a photo. Here was this man, tall, proud and stood in not much more than a loin cloth and a woolly hat, and he had asked me to stand next to him.

To me that was a real honour, a proud moment.

While the above may demonstrate a love of life, I could not have described myself as a “Life Enthusiast”.

Too much was wrong with my life. Life was interrupted with the death of my closest relative and that was soon followed by redundancy. The death of someone so close, dying so young made me re-evaluate what I was doing and where my values lie. In being made redundant it was as if someone was giving me the tools with which to change my life.

So here I am, having a go at a complete and utter change of direction in my career, seeking to do what I really enjoy and make a living out of it. Some may think of it as reckless, I just think of it as trying to live how I want to live.

I’ve always wanted to have a dog. Well now I have one and he is simply wonderful, a breath of fresh air.

It means a couple of walks every day, and plenty of bounces and smiles to lighten anyone’s mood. Not only that but I have met lots of great local people through the Hound.

In undertaking photography closer to home, my eyes seem to notice so much more. That there is plenty of beauty all around us if we could only just take a bit more time to stop and notice.

So I haven’t felt like a life enthusiast all my life, but would put myself in that space now. As for the travel, that won’t stop and I am just back from a trip to Iceland, trying new food, lying in thermal pools and above all enjoying what nature has to offer. How can one not be positive about life?

Oh, it also goes without saying that I keep learning every day.

Last month my sweet blogger friend Dianne Gray reminded all of us that sometimes we need the downs in life to appreciate the ups. In my monthly series, The Life Enthusiast Chronicles, gorgeous humans from all over tell us what makes them in love with life.

Today I’m overjoyed to bring you my lovely blogger pal, Juliann Wetz from Browsing the Atlas. Julie is a mother, wife, and travel guru who I stumbled upon in the blogging universe forever ago. My wanderlust tendencies often bring me into the arms of travel bloggers, but Juliann isn’t like the rest. Her stories of the world are endlessly quirky, humorous, and inspiring. She brings the world to our homes with a down-to-earth spirit that I simply adore. Watch out, Samantha Brown. Because Juliann’s one heck of a traveling Life Enthusiast!

Connect with Juliann on Twitter.

Dazzle us Julie…

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I was not a happy teenager. I lived in rural Ohio, endured painful middle school years and would have been content to spend the rest of my days alone in my room with my books.

But something happened to me in high school that changed everything: I won a scholarship to go to Germany as an exchange student. Me. Little old me. I’m not exaggerating when I say it changed my life.

At 15-years-old, I boarded a plane, flew across the ocean by myself and discovered that there were other ways to live. As cliché as it sounds, there was a whole big world out there and suddenly, I realized how ‘small town’ my life had been.

The teen angst I’d experienced at home was put into perspective. Free to be a whole new me in a whole new place and explore a whole new culture was the most liberating experience of my life. Like an alcoholic tasting their first drink, I was hooked. I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to replicate that feeling and have had great success in doing so.

Wanderlust is in my blood.

Luckily, traveling is a manageable and healthy sort of addiction. (If you can even call it an addiction at all.) I am as eager to jump in the car and drive 50 miles up the highway as I am to sit in a plane for 27 hours and fly halfway around the world. I know when I reach my destination, I’m going to discover something new, whether it’s a mural painted on the side of a barn, an exotic food that I’ve never tasted, or an entire sub-culture that I didn’t even know existed.

I never know what I’ll discover. That’s what excites me most. There’s a whole big world out there!

Sometimes I am struck by a moment and am awed by the thought that I am standing on a small spot of the world where I never dreamed I’d be. This happened one night at Pemaquid Point in Maine as I stood on a cliff under a lighthouse and saw four more lighthouses in the distance blinking back at me. And behind a shopping mall in Alaska while I waited for a bus and saw the aurora borealis. And again in a tiny, cement church in Nicaragua where little girls in hand-me-down dresses sang to me in Spanish.

These are moments when I want to pinch myself for being so incredibly lucky to realize what a great, big world this is. These are my moments of bliss.

I’ve been very fortunate to find ways to travel with my family. We’ve had amazing experiences in so many different parts of the world and it has fostered true appreciation for other cultures in my children. We’ve all learned things about the world that we’ve brought back with us.

When my daughter’s Current Events class discussed the smog problem in China, she was able to share what she’d learned there. She explained what our driver had told us about the ways they limit the number of vehicles on the road by restricting certain cars on designated days as indicated by their license plate numbers.

My brother and my son can tell you how to lure South Dakota prairie dogs and chipmunks to you so you can feed them by hand. (Hint: use sunflower seeds.)

And if you want to imitate Lucy Ricardo and see what it’s like to stomp grapes, my mom and I can fill you in. As it turns out there are dozens of places in Indiana and surrounding states that hold grape-stomping contests in August and September.

Of course, I can probably tell you a little more than my mom since I was actually the champion in Vevay, not her. ☺

All of these memories make me so happy. My journeys around the world have been journeys of self-discovery as well.

My attitude and enthusiasm for a life of travel was summed up nicely by Marcus Buckingham in Now, Discover Your Strengths:  “…yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity.” So true, so true. Which is why I feel compelled to see as much of it as I can.

When Britt tagged me to be June’s Life Enthusiast, I was flattered to be among so many other creative, passionate people. I’ve come a long way from the somewhat surly tween stuck in Nowheresville, Ohio.

Now I’m off to see the world and all it has in store for those who open themselves up to the experience of it all. Thanks, Britt!

Last month blogger gal pal Kate Johnston revealed her passion for wolves, encouraging us to take a moment to think about how much we could save if we all fought for something wild. In my series, The Life Enthusiast Chronicles, fantastic humans from all over uncover what makes them passionate about life.

Today I’m stoked to bring you—all the way from Australia—Dianne Gray. I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Dianne through the blogging universe. Along the way I have found a fellow writer with a heart of gold, someone I look up to very much. So far, of her many novels out there, I have only read “The Everything Theory”…and I was blown away. Beyond the amazing award-winning author that she is, Dianne is a terrific human who has a knack for making us laugh and cry as we read her blog which explores the beautiful transitions of life. She’s a Life Enthusiast all the way. (If you haven’t read one of Dianne’s books, you’re missing out.)

Connect with Dianne on Twitter and Facebook.

Take it away Miss Dianne…

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I was so excited when Britt asked me to join her Life Enthusiast group. I love all the bloggers in this group and felt it a privilege to become one of them.

My life has been a series of ups and downs and I figure I need the downs to appreciate the ups. For many years while I was putting the kids through school in the city I struggled with rental properties and landlords and every day I wished I had a place of my own in the country again.

In 2012 that wish became a reality.

But the way I got my wish was certainly not a fairy-tale. It started as a series of terrible events.

My hubby became ill and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This diagnoses just so happened to coincide with an interstate visit from his parents, my diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, and a work bully who had just about sent me around the bend. We kept all this news quiet from his parents and then three days into the visit his father suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital where he spent the next three months.

The day before hubby was due to have his operation (Whipple Procedure) he accompanied his parents home on the 3 hour plane flight and then flew back the same day. He was in so much pain when he returned he could hardly walk. I took him straight to the hospital where they immediately operated. Ten hours later he was in recovery and I was told he had gone into renal failure during the procedure, but they had managed to get him back. They had also inadvertently nicked his aorta, but fixed that as well (poor guy!). The good news was that they had removed all the cancer and the prognosis was excellent.

When a traumatic event presents itself it can be a real test of character, but when multiple traumatic events hit within a few weeks, you need to dig deep to find the strength to carry on.

During this time I started the habit of looking up at the sky for a few minutes every day and thanking the universe for my beautiful life. I know this sounds crazy given the chaos that was taking place around me, but I found it comforting and knew that, in the scheme of things, I was luckier than most.

Hubby’s parents had left their car with us as his father was not allowed to drive until he had completely recovered. So later that year, when hubby was back to full strength, we drove the car 3,000 kilometres back to his parents on the farm. When we arrived we realised his father was still weak and his mother had begun to show signs of dementia.

There was only one thing we could do – move back to the farm and take care of them.

We had an old shack we lived in many years ago, but it had taken a fair bit of damage from the last cyclone so we needed to fix it.

I retired from my job in the corporate world and hubby resigned and found a job close to where his parents live.

One day, totally out of the blue, a friend who is a news reporter contacted us and told us an old Rugby Union Club in the city nearby was due to be demolished. He told us the owner said if anyone wanted it they could take it away.

We took the Rugby Union Club and had it put up on the farm – and I guess the rest is history. Introducing the RUC…

My writing has taken a back-seat during this time, but I’m progressively working my way through another three novels. Hey – better late than never.

I think it’s important to be thankful for what we have in life and what is good instead of focusing on what we don’t have and what is bad. Sometimes a series of horrible events can lead us on a different path and, in the end maybe that is the path we were supposed to take all along.