Photo Disaster

Have you ever had something in mind that you thought would be really lovely... and then watched it all fall apart?

That's what happened this morning.

I was given a gift certificate for a professional photo shoot for my birthday back in August. I'm not very photogenic, but I thought I might end up with a nice pic of me to use on the backs of books, for profiles, etc.

My idea was to get a photo of me with my three dogs:- Mickey on my knee and Tiger and Nigg either side of me, sitting on our back steps. Good idea. Casual and natural.

Did it turn out that way?

No way! Of course it bloody didn't!

Mickey wouldn't stop growling at Tiger, who decided Mickey was breakfast-sized. Dixi the cat planted herself on the top step and growled at the dogs until they went bananas. Tiger and Nigg wouldn't settle or stop barking. They wouldn't listen to me and raced around like lunatics. [My early morning walk to settle them down obviously made no difference.]

I had to put Dixi inside and lock Mickey inside as well. He protested throughout the whole photo shoot - very loudly and incessantly.

By the time I settled the other two maniacs down, I looked all frazzled and rumpled. I'd taken so much time getting my 4' long hair to look nice and wavy, and put nice make-up on. Well... my hair went flat, my make-up ended up in places I didn't think make-up could go, and I'll be lucky if I don't end up looking like a Piccasso.

Just great!

The glimpse I saw on the photographer's camera wasn't too promising. Nice photo of the dogs, but I looked like a fat, rumbled frump with my hair all over the place and a red face with panda eyes.

Now I'm dreading going up there tomorrow to have a look at the finished product. One can only imagine that the poor photographer is going to be in therapy for the next month to clear those images out of his mind.

How am I going to explain to the guy that the only reason I'd buy any of his photos would be so no-one else can get their hands on them and use them as blackmail material?

I've seen some really beautiful portraits of people with their animals. Why couldn't it have worked for me? Just once!

And to make matters worse... while I'm bitching about all this, all I can hear is that annoying little voice inside my head saying: "So, what did you learn from all this?"

This is what I learnt:

Animals definitely never behave when you need them to - even when they are really well trained. Note:- They've been exceptionally well behaved since the photographer left. Grrrrrr!

When you plan something special and there's no room or time for things to go wrong - that's when everything will go wrong.

[Insert sigh here]

What else?

If you start out in life as an "ugly duckling" you'd better develop a good sense of humour! You sure are going to need it. Especially when you have to look at photos of yourself in all your manic glory.

When I looked on his digital camera, instead of seeing the beautiful swan I imagined myself to be, there smiling back at me was a fat old duck perched on a step like a stale bit of crumpet between two manically grinning dogs. Yikes! Do I really look like that?

Ugh!

I really don't know what I'm going to say to this guy tomorrow.

One thing I do know - he'd better destroy all the evidence!

Cheers

Brittany K.

Halloween Competition

This year, celebrate Halloween with some creepy poetry and two vampire short stories by... well... me!

For a chance to win a Halloween pack that includes: "Where the Night Things Are", "Sword of Anubis" and "Shadow on the Crystal", be the first to guess the answer to this question:

What did Belladonna do that amused Hemlock and Nightshade?

Go on, have a guess. Send your answer to me at: brittanykingstonauthor@gmail.com


Good luck.

Brittany

Fancy a spot of gardening?



Weeds are not the only things I have to watch out for.

This juvenile red belly black snake was having a good look around. He/she is a mere 2 meters long and then some. You should see its parents!

Cheers!

The Silence of Now

I was at a funeral in Bendigo yesterday. Aunty Nell Caelli died a few days ago and was burried at White Hills Cemetary.

It was a lovely service in the small church that Aunty Nell loved so much. She was such a wonderful part of many people's lives for so many years. I know it's a cliche, but she will be missed.

During the service, I took a moment to step into what I call "the silence of now". That's what refer to as the real heart of myself.

There's a stillness there in the centre of your being that brings great peace and light. It's a place where you can allow the emotions to come and go; a place where memories are clear and bright. This is where you can access your inner knowledge, your memories, your connection to all that is.

While I sat there, partly listening to people telling us the many ways Aunty Nell made an impact upon their lives, I reviewed my own special times with her. Frozen in time forever are little snapshots of hot cups of tea, homemade scones, cakes, slices, jams, smiles and laughter.

Memories are great things! They don't always have to hurt, you know. We have the power to remove the sorrow, the pain, the negative baggage we humans so love to drag around with us.

So, I removed the sorrow and left happy, loving memories for me to look back on and smile along with.

I found myself smiling during the service. Maybe some people thought I was an idiot.

When I did shed a tear or two, it was for Uncle Noel. They'd been married for 59 years. Nell was the love of his life, and now she's gone. I felt for his pain and that awful, aching emptiness that settles into your heart at times of great loss.

I know she's waiting for him. I don't think they'll be apart for too long. What a joyous reunion that will be! Until then, like the rest of us who've loved and lost, he'll find a way to endure, a way to live on. I wish I could introduce him to the silence of now, but, like so many older more practical people, it's a concept that would be too alien for him. I'll send him loving, healing thoughts and energy instead.

At times of tragedy and sorrow we really need to find the silence of now. We need to find the quiet centre of ourselves and be at peace with our grief; to accept it, own it, embrace it, see it for what it is and love it as a part of ourselves. It's only then that we discover the joy and strength that hides within its depths.

Love and light to you all.

Brittany

Once Upon A Time...

Once Upon A Time

There Was You

By Maia Berens

http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com
http://twitter.com/lifecoachmaia

I’ve been reading, as usual, and learning, as always. And… couldn’t resist the opportunity to share what I’ve discovered – about me! Not that you asked for it, but here it is anyway.

My latest revelation came in the form of an ebook written by a very inspiring woman, Maia Berens.

Maia’s book, “Once Upon A Time There Was You”, is a wonderful journey into yourself.

It starts out by telling you a story about a little girl. This story is told as you would read it to a child.

The real kicker is, YOU ARE READING IT TO YOURSELF AS A CHILD.

I couldn’t help but connect to this story. My inner self related to this child-like tale on so many levels that I even ended up crying.

Yes, I know… I’m soppy enough at the best of times. But this got me right where I live – right in the soul.

Maia made me look at my life from the time I was born as a brand new person, full of hope, love, light and possibilities. Her story took me through my dark teenage years and into adulthood. It made me really see me as I am, and, most importantly, me as I could be.

This is more than just another self-help book to discover new ways to find yourself. This is a journey to the centre of yourself and back out again. Not only does this ebook give you the key to YOU, but it also helps you to fit it into the lock and turn it.

As many of you know, I call myself a “soul healer”, for want of a better term. I deal with people’s emotions, past lives, fears and soul-deep damage. I try to help others reconnect with themselves and the universe, to accept themselves and to love all that they are.

This is not something I’ve learned to do in just one life time. This has been a very long haul of lives and experiences. One thing I can assure you is that what I do for other people, I am also constantly doing for myself.

However, healing yourself when you don’t have any help or instructions can be an extremely long, hard road to trudge along. Believe me when I say I’m still walking that path, even though I started putting one foot in front of the other several lives ago! Maybe I’m a slow learner.

I wish someone had read Maia’s book to me as a child. It would have led me to a greater understanding much sooner, and possibly without half the scars. I would have believed in myself and my own inner light much sooner. These tools would have helped me through many dark times.

I also wish I had this book to read to my two sons when they were little. What wonderful possibilities there would be for a child who grows up with this philosophy, and with the tools Maia has blessed us with.

Within the book are, as I’ve just mentioned, tools. Tools for life – keys to open the door to yourself.

There are exercises for us to do as well. Being me, I couldn’t resist the exercises. The following are some of the lessons, or realisations, that I learned. Most were no surprise for me, as soul-searching and analysing moments of my life is something I do quite often. Some realisations were quite surprising – even for someone like me who considers themselves adept at digging the positive out of the negative.

For what it’s worth, here are some things I’ve learned from the darkness:

I thought about all the many minor things that bug me about my life at the moment and what lessons I’ve learned from those.

I have learned that I’ve been given the time to reconnect with myself, and to connect with the universe again on a deeper level.

I’ve learned patience and endurance. How to live in the here and now and cope with the practical day-to-day physical plane of existence.

Most importantly:- I’ve learned how to be me and how to stay true to myself when others can’t/won’t/don’t want to see me or accept me for who I really am.

I thought about the slightly more serious negative things about my life.

I’ve learned resilience, lateral thinking and problem solving. I’ve discovered how different situations and emotions impact upon me, my life and emotions, physically, mentally and spiritually.

I’ve learned how to deal with them, how to embrace them and own them as a part of me and my journey. I’ve learned how to live through them and with them.

Now for the major problems and really negative parts of my life.

I’ve learned that my inner self is strong.

I’ve learned that my spirit and soul cannot be destroyed by despair and cruelty.

I have learned that hate cannot destroy love.

I know that the harsher and darker the world/people are, the brighter the light that shines from within me.

I have gotten to know myself. I know I’m a work in progress, but I also know that I am worth working on.

…and so the journey continues.

Please surf on over to Maia’s web site, http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com and check out “Once Upon A Time There Was You”. This is not an ebook you’ll read once then put aside.

Thankfully it is an ebook and not a print book. I’d probably wear the print off the pages by constantly thumbing through them!

It’s never too late to work on yourself, and think what a wonderful gift this knowledge would be for any child or teenager in your life.

Thank you, Maia, for helping to spread light in the world.

Cheers

Brittany