Once more the weeks have passed and here in Oz the clocks have gone forward. I love the longer, lighter days. The most significant recent event in my personal world is the publication of Things That I Believe In. What a journey! I am delighted with the book and with other people’s responses to it, which is often, ‘Oh, I love the cover!’ I am mindful of the adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but it’s a great start as an inviting cover tempts us to peek inside. Also, as the photographer, the comments make me feel pretty good. I hope the owners of that gorgeous house on the cover will be happily surprised if they ever see my book!

Photography was not something I was ‘into’ but when my husband bought me a digital camera a few wedding anniversaries ago, that changed. I love taking photographs, especially when I go walking on my own. At one time I would tease Gordon about taking photos without any people in them, but now I do that myself all the time! There’s so much beauty to be inspired by. I find myself looking at the world more and more with an artist’s eye – or maybe it’s a child’s eye - noticing things that I once may have passed by. I took 275 photos on my brief trip to Central Australia. I wouldn’t have done that with film, but with my digital camera I point and click to my heart's delight.

Publishing my book is the end of a long process but also the beginning of something new. I now have to do tasks well outside my comfort zone to get Things into the world. The advantage of self publishing is in having control over your product and, if you do well, reaping the rewards. The biggest disadvantage is the initial financial outlay. You have to have belief in your product and, of course, access to the means (thanks for helping, Gordon!).  Also for me – but not for everyone - being my own sales rep, publicist and secretary is not something I enjoy. It's a steep learning curve. Although I trained in administration, what feels like a lifetime ago, since those days I think my inner wiring must have changed. There are people who would thrive on the business side of things. Me? I want to write…

My book launch was great. About 60 people came to celebrate at Burrinja Café, a fabulous venue. Gordon McKenzie was an outstanding MC and guest speaker. Along with my good friends Monika and Klaus Mueller, my other guest speakers, I couldn’t have asked for more enthusiastic advocates for Things. Check out the photos in my gallery. My ‘inner publicist’ was too reticent to call the local press and do those other things one ‘should’ do to publicise a book launch. The calls were on my ‘must do’ list... While there was a lot going on and it was an incredibly busy time, of course that’s all excuses! It would only have taken a few minutes to pick up the phone. My courage can ebb or flow quite strongly and at this time it ebbed a long way out! On a different day I'd have rung and ‘talked myself up’ with panache but hey… it may have been a missed opportunity but I had a great time and a day I’ll remember with pleasure.

Last weekend we took time out to relax, staying in a riverside cabin in the Nagambie Lakes region of Victoria to attend my brother-in-law David’s 60^th birthday celebrations. It was a happy event and I enjoyed lots of photo opportunities - both with and without people in them! 

Below is a message I received this afternoon, when I was musing about what I have or have not achieved in life - I found it very reassuring. I know it applies to everyone, not just me, so hopefully it might help others feel a bit better about any apparent lack of worldly attainments...

You don’t have to strive to be someone – you already are someone. When you recognise your right to exist, to be, without needing anyone else’s approval but your own, then you will find peace within and be more effective in the world without – even if you do not ‘do’ anything. Any worldly achievements that you may attain may bring you pleasure and they may bring you recognition but they do not elevate you beyond who and what you already are in the eyes of the Divine – for in those eyes you are a star and continue to shine whether you are seen or unseen in the world of form.

Remember, what we see in the realms of spirit is your true essence, which is incorruptible and shines as brightly as it did at the first moment of creation. What you see in the world are projections of portions of much larger spirits, and these portions are sent on fact finding missions in a world of cause and effect, to see the results of free will choices on the consciousness – to see how this affects the perceptions of the individual portions incarnated at that point in space and time.

You are a projection of a much larger spirit and that spirit is a projection of an even greater spirit. You too have projections sent forth from your spirit, parts of which you experience in dream form and sleep state. These projections eventually return to their source, bringing back information and experiences to increase the understanding of the higher self. Your projections bring you insights, mostly on a subtle level, and your own insights are taken to your higher self, who analyses and processes the data to be in turn absorbed by their own higher self and so on, to infinity.

There truly is no beginning and no end. Our major power in this world is the expression of light and light may be expressed best through a peaceful heart and an unfettered soul, regardless of worldly attainments. Do what brings you joy, for the up-swelling of joy indicates that you are doing what you love and fulfilment comes from activities that link your heart to your creative force. It is then that you express yourself from your highest vibration which is always of love.

©Jan Hunneybell, 27 Sept 08

It’s over 3 months since I wrote in this blog so I guess it’s time I added to it! It has also been a fairly barren time for my other writing but hopefully I’ve come out of that phase now; if not, well, I'll have time to type and edit some of my past writing! My book Things That I Believe In will be ready by early October and I am planning my next project for publication, which is a collection of my poetry which I hope to have ready close to Easter.

I recently visited Central Australia for a week – fantastic! With 15 other women I went on a ‘Spiritual Adventure Tour’, staying in Alice Springs and visiting Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Kata Tjuta (the Olga’s), King’s Canyon and Ormiston Gorge. The energy of the place is amazing and often challenging – all that quartz in the rocks seemed to amplify and bring issues to the surface for some people. I was in a pretty good space. It was the first time I’ve been on a trip without my family, so it's good to have a new experience. I enjoyed feeling totally ‘present’ which is something I’m not always good at achieving in everyday life. I didn’t think much about the past or the future and I also managed to avoid seeing or hearing any ‘news’ for the whole week – the ‘real world’ was somewhere else. I let the world keep turning by itself and it seemed to manage very well without me!

On the long bus trips, when I wasn’t chatting with fellow travellers, I was happy to sit and just ‘be’. Uluru is 460 km from Alice Springs - most people don’t realise this until they get there - and a lot of time is spent on the road. I enjoyed watching the alien landscape from the bus window, soaking in the sight of the rich, red earth, enjoying the trees and spying the occasional kangaroo and wedge tailed eagle as we sped along. There are just two left turns from Alice to Uluru! I didn’t expect there to be so many trees. The trees in Ormiston Gorge are amazing; some are hundreds of years old. What a beautiful place that was. I walked around the base of Uluru at sunrise, just over 9 km and a wonderful experience - and climbing Kings Canyon was a true challenge but so worth the effort. Magic! 

Now I’m home and the trip is already a distant memory. The energy of the place seems to have done something to me - as it probably does to everyone who visits there – I’m just not quite sure what! I was only there for a few days but it’s such a profoundly amazing place – it touches the soul. It was also great to meet up with such an interesting and inspiring group of women, so thanks for arranging it Linda!

I’ve been awake since the early hours, thinking. It's still only 4.30 am. My ‘middle of the night thoughts’ tend to be painfully honest! I realise that in several situations in my life I have been holding tight to particular ways of thinking. I see myself as easy going and flexible, (although I can drive myself and friends crazy going over and over stuff… my daughter says, kindly, that I ‘over analyse’!) but even that flexibility and openness to change can be part of the problem.

Until I came to Australia I moved home often. Before we moved here, the longest I lived in one house was 7 years - and that’s how I like it. I find moving house to be an adventure and dream of having a home with a view. We have been in this house for almost 19 years and I can’t quite believe it - I have wanted to move for 16 of those years but Gordon and my children love it. I like it, the land is lovely; the area beautiful - but moving every few years is something I enjoy.

I’ve inherited my restless nature from my dad, who also liked moving. I understood, even when I was quite young, that he wanted to move when things weren’t going well (which was most of the time!) or when life seemed mundane. It was a way of escaping. I can be the same but I realised we can’t run away from ourselves. We are with ourself wherever we go so we might as well get to know and like who we are. I’ve been working on that for a long time now. While I still wanted to move, I knew I had issues that I needed to confront while staying where I am.

Late last year Gordon and I walked along the beach in a place I’ve often said I would like to live. He said, ‘I was thinking, maybe we’ll move here when I retire.’ I was thrilled. ‘At last! Maybe I’ll stop going on about moving.’ As it was only for another four years I decided to make the most of where I was. With that thought I released years of repetitive, ‘I want to move, I want to move…’

Guess what? Within a short time I realised – ‘I LIKE IT HERE! I don’t need to move any more.’ How embarrassing… and how many people hold on to ways of thinking because they can’t admit even to themselves that they don’t feel that way any more? It’s not wrong to change our minds. In letting go of my position I had an attitude shift. I had lost interest in the house years ago and had no enthusiasm for it – I was just biding my time until I could go somewhere else…

You know the saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it…’? I believe there are times in my life when I’ve been lucky that I didn’t get what I wished for and disasters have been averted by my prayers being answered, ‘No!’ If I had moved home before now, it would have been for all the wrong reasons.

I still want a house with a view one day – and believe that will happen – but not right now. For now, my enthusiasm for the home I have has returned. It needs quite a bit of work done on it – just as I do! I don’t think self renovation ever ends – it’s the same as with houses really. I finally realised I didn’t need to shift house – I just needed to shift my attitude…

This is a perfect autumn day. It is very dry here and while we do desperately need rain, the sun today is gentle and the colours of the autumn leaves are breathtaking. I’m glad for this wonderful day, knowing that the rain will eventually come and that worrying won’t change the situation. Sadly, when the rain finally does fall we can be sure that there will be those who still complain. There will either be not enough rain or there will be too much.…  

Last night I was invited to a spiritual development group to take a session on Inspirational Writing. It’s been a few months since I’ve taken a group like this and I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoy it. I get a lift from helping people connect with their own source of inspiration. At one point we all picked an Angel card and my card was ‘Waves of Prosperity', which cheered me up no end! We concentrated on our cards then wrote our impressions. My message was:

Prosperity and abundance to me are one and the same and not confined only to money. How prosperous we are when we can count on many as friends. What riches we have when we can rejoice in another’s good fortune. How poor we are, even if we have money in abundance, if we have no generosity of spirit. Locked in their ivory towers, the misers get no true pleasure from life. Look at the word MISER – add a Y (WHY!) and you get MISERY – for it is in giving that we receive and we will receive our prosperity by the love that we give and that is reciprocated for our efforts. Gratitude and generosity are the greatest gifts – and if you have those then waves of prosperity will crash upon your shore…

In the world as it is currently organised we all need money and I’d be more than happy to have more – but let’s not confine our definition of prosperity merely to finance; that’s just a fraction of its true meaning. Our abundance comes to us in so many wonderful ways if we are open to the gifts the Universe has to give us. Days such as this golden day, which in Australia is Anzac Day and all the more poignant for that, are as available to the poor as the rich, the old as the young and whatever our colour or creed. True love can’t be bought. Peace of mind can’t be bought. A supportive group of friends and family are a treasure that can’t be measured in financial terms.

I guess I’m saying what my mum used to tell me when I was young, but that I didn’t appreciate at the time. ‘Count your blessings.’ Don’t discount a beautiful day because we need rain – enjoy the day anyway – it’s a slice of your life. We don’t know how many any of us has, something that Anzac Day brings home to us, so make the most of every day; rain or shine. That doesn’t necessarily mean getting busy – it might mean kicking back, sitting outside and feeling that sun on your skin. And remember to say to the Universe, ‘Thank you’.

Something strange happens when we feel gratitude and appreciation; in that ‘giving out’ we receive the gift. Those feelings lift us – they ‘raise our vibration’ and in doing so they make us magnetic to other good things. That’s not ‘Pollyanna’ stuff – it’s how the Universe works… it’s the Law of Reciprocity – as you give out, so you get back. It happens whether we think, act or speak negatively or positively, so we need to be aware of the power of our thoughts. It’s something I have to constantly remind myself of… 

Until next time, may life look upon you kindly.

I have spent most of the last two weeks at the beach with two of my grandchildren for the Easter holidays. It's good to have a chance to see things with simplicity and wonder - with and through the eyes of a child. We walked on the beach looking at the shapes the waves left in the sand, such glorious patterns in nature - and how the bits of driftwood were shaped like serpents. Such fantastic shapes - nature's works of art. We wondered about where the wood had come from - how far had it travelled? And picking up seashells is just as lovely a thing to do now as it was when I was a child.

It was good to get the children away from the TV and get their imaginations working, as well as my own. I'm so glad that they love to do drawing, colouring and writing. In the evening I read them 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe', bringing back memories of reading it to my own children - and having it read to me in school (around 1959 - ouch!) 

One wet and windy afternoon they did watch children's TV. One of the puppet characters was an elderly female turtle with glasses on. Amy said 'Oh nan, she's just like you,' and I wondered if she meant I was a peculiar shade of green and wear specs, but then she said, 'She's really kind and she knows everything!' Oh, how gorgeous... I accepted 'kind' - I do my best - but explained that it would be lovely to know everything but there was quite a lot I didn't know. I suggested that maybe I just know a little bit more than she does because I've been in the world for a while longer!

One of the people who left a message on this site, Saddaf, suggested I put the poem 'Simplicity' on my poetry page and I will do - for that has been the nicest part of spending this time in our little cabin at the beach. It reaffirms for me that it is the simplest things that are so often the best...  

Hi dear Web-friends! Today is Good Friday and I wish you well this Easter - may you be blessed with peace and love. Whether you believe in the Easter story as a fact or merely symbolic, it is a powerful and moving story that provokes deep thought about transformation, birth and rebirth, whatever your belief system. For others, Easter is all about chocolate…!

I’ve been thinking about the purpose of this blog and have decided to use it to share snippets of my writing that I think are profound, helpful or just beautiful rather than using it for my own random musings. With this in mind I found a message from the guides in my journal from a few weeks back when I took some visitors to a favourite place of mine on Mount Dandenong – The William Ricketts Sanctuary. It’s a place of forest and tree ferns in which the late William Ricketts made and placed his amazing clay sculptures honouring Australia’s indigenous people. They seem to merge with the surroundings and a mystical quality pervades the area, particularly when there aren’t too many other people there. Heaven on Our Doorstep, on the poetry page of this website, tells of the Dandenong Ranges where I live. I also took my visitors to the Rhododendron Gardens – and treated myself to an annual season ticket to both places, to go with only my pen and pad for company, tune into nature and be inspired…

Time to draw close to nature, dear child, to get close to the earth from which you sprang, to be out in the green and the wild where the wind blows through your hair, the sun shines upon you and you connect to the wonders of the natural world where man has not built and where angels have trod; up in the clear mountain air where you can think and feel through nature and your connection to it rather than in the artificial world where such destructive thoughts and atmospheres have been constructed. To get clear of them, partake in the joy of nature among the flowers and the trees and the work of one who had been touched by the Divine Presence and who made his passion for the rights of the indigenous peoples and his respect for their dignity his life’s work.

That place is imbued with the presence of the spirit world; the spirit of the ancient land and the spirit of nature and man come together in harmony and grace. There is a blessing upon that land and the whole of the mountain is sacred space. It has an energy that connects human to Spirit and to his/her own spirit as well as the spirit of the subtle realms of nature. It is a place of inspiration and connection and the more you can get there the better for us all, for this will clear you of much that concerns you and infuse you with the creative influence of the Divine Spirit. Build it into your daily life to go there and be inspired – and to your Birdsland (another lovely place even closer to my home). You now have many options to walk and get fit physically, mentally, emotionally and, greatest of all, spiritually.

Even if you are not lucky enough to live somewhere lovely, most people have somewhere, a back garden, a park or a reserve with some grass and trees nearby, so if you can, get out into the air and be ‘inspired’. Maybe you could take your pad and pen with you… until next time, Namaste.

I've been writing a journal for several years so I don't know why it seems so hard to do a blog, but it is - probably because it's so public. I've started putting a few more items on this website - slowly, but I'm getting there. It's difficult deciding what to use and I'm a committee of one when it comes to selection. It's mind boggling to think of the potential numbers of people who could end up reading something I've written - but what really got me to finally set this website up was when I said in a fit of despondency, 'I reckon I'll have to wait till I'm dead for someone to publish my writing,' and got the (rather insensitive) reply, 'Maybe they'll bin it!' The thought of all that hard work ending up on the landfill has given me the impetus that I needed to get this website going... I'll thank him for that comment one day - but not yet!

Hi people! Welcome to my site. This is a first for me, so I have to take baby steps - maybe this site is what all those dreams I've been having about babies and small children are all about... new beginnings.

I have wanted a website for so long and finally I found Mr Site, which has enabled me to create my own site with my limited computer skills. I'm rapt!!! So now I have the site I am agonising over what to put on it! Where to start - suddenly I'm looking at the things I've written with a far more critical eye. Maybe that's a good thing... and it's interesting to go back over things that I wrote a while back - and realise how often I've failed to take my own advice... Some of us are slow learners... What has all this procrastination and avoidance been about? The 'fear factor' of being judged. 'What people think'. But my bigger fear is of never doing anything with all this writing!

In putting my writing 'out there' I am simply sharing. I'm not telling anyone what to believe or think - I have no interest in 'winning over' anyone who doesn't connect with what I'm doing - I'm just hoping to share it with like minded people who might enjoy reading some of my 'stuff' and who might get something from it. Much of the writing addresses my own issues, but then I generally find that many things that bother me bother other people too. The issues might come clothed in different disguises but most things come down to love or lack of - several of my writings say 'love is the answer whatever the question'. Sharing my writing has helped others and that's a wonderful thing - now I can share it wider.

To make a difference, to have people who visit my page feeling better for having read some of its content, is my aim. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd say I wanted to make people feel better - I never wanted to be a nurse, it wasn't about wrapping people in bandages. It was more about wrapping them in love... I knew when people were hurting on the inside - that's what I wanted to make better. I hope this website helps. As I mention on my home page, this is a work in progress - just like me! It may be some time before you see any photos or anything vaguely artistic on the site... I hope the words are enough for now.