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Showing posts with label -2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label -2012. Show all posts

1 December 2012

Spiritual moments (2012)

Being

  • Start meditation - start yawning
  • Mindfulness (walking)
  • Incense


Wisdom

  • Eckhart at Jilly
  • Geraldine's lessons
  • Behram workshop
  • HAI workshop
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28 September 2012

Event highlights (2012)


Life

  • Wisdom Trove (start Feb, full time in June)
  • Teaching (till June)
  • Mum and  Mike visit


Spirituality

  • Behram weekend
  • Jilly Tuesday nights (Eckhart)
  • HAI workshop
  • Geraldine


Dani (from June)

  • Whale-watching
  • Blue Mountains weekend away
  • Matthias Klum presentation
  • Blue Mountains party
  • Xmas trip


South Africa

  • Kruger National Park
  • Orange River


Hiking

  • Orange River
  • Blue Mountains (Ruined Castle)
  • Blue Mountains walk with Dani and friends (birthday party)
  • Cathedral Rock National Park
  • Two Creeks Hike


Photography

  • Kruger (leopard,  bee-eater, owl, wild dog)
  • Newcastle wader photography
  • New Year fireworks
  • Hunter Valley weekend away with camera club
  • Leopard
  • Photographing the farm


Travel

  • Orange River
  • Fish River Canyon
  • Kruger National Park
  • Waterfall Way, Nambucca, Dubbo, Mudgee


More

  • Daily walks (city skyline, Ball's Head, Berry Island)
  • Tennis with Brendan
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27 September 2012

Priceless moments (2012)


Photography

  • The leopard
  • Wild dogs
  • Newcastle wader photography
  • Hunter Valley photography weekend


Nature

  • Kruger (leopard, bee-eater, owl, wild dog)
  • Bull elephant in Kruger in way
  • Orange River stars on final night
  • Cathedral Rock National Park
  • Cathedral Rock National Park - rock summit
  • Regents Bowerbird
  • Python
  • Millions of soldier crabs
  • Stars on The Orange River


More

  • New Year fireworks
  • Working on Wisdom Trove
  • Getting onto minimalism, clutter free
  • Peace over Xmas - peace of the farm
  • Swimming in the ocean at Nambucca
  • Going up naked at HAI

Movies


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27 August 2012

Insights (2012)

  • Mindfulness - watching, letting it be.
  • My Divine Being.
  • Consciousness behind presence. Purpose to allow to flow into world.
  • Non resistance to pain - watching it.
  • Adversity and suffering has its gifts - growth, learning and spiritual awakening.
  • Learn from failure and mistakes.
  • Personal productivity and time management
  • Minimalism, declutter
  • What would love and peace do now?
  • Let go my the story of me - it's just a stream of thoughts.
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27 July 2012

Gratitude (2012)


Wisdom Trove starting

  • Part time - so able to focus on Wisdom Trove.
  • Came across Brian Johnson's Entheos


Kruger

  • Saw leopard in Kruger, so very close 
  • Did not go back to Cape Town but stayed in Kruger and saw leopard 
  • mum's calls in Kruger 
  • There was cash and food in Kruger 
  • Got to Kruger gate in time 
  • 300 mm lens was much better than 500 mm in Kruger 
  • Wild dog in Kruger on last night 
  • Animals had babies in Kruger 
  • Camp sites not full in Kruger - flexibility 
  • Neck was ok in Kruger despite heavy lens 
  • Giant Eagle owl, cheetah, European bee eater (great photo) in Kruger 
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27 June 2012

Progress (2012)


Wisdom Trove

  • Start in Feb 
  • Add Brian Johnson quotes before work (idea of a book)
  • Work on AOL full time from June


Spirituality

  • Start meditation - start yawning
  • Mindfulness (walking)
  • Incense
  • Eckhart at Jilly
  • Geraldine's lessons
  • Behram workshop
  • HAI workshop


Compass

  • The start of deep reflecting in Kruger
  • Spirit on blog


Health

  • Walking almost every day.  
  • Diet - more fruit & veg, less meat


Teaching

  • All my English lessons on a USB - very little preparation


More

  • Get Kindle - start reading
  • Uncluttered and organised (minimalism)
  • Putting keys and wallet in place
  • Music seeds - Pandora
  • IMDB - watchlist
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27 May 2012

Special connections (2012)


Connect

  • Dani
  • Mum & Mike visit
  • Meet Neri
  • Jilly
  • Chris, Peter, Shushan
  • Geraldine & group
  • HAI workshop
  • Brendan (tennis)
  • Steve (Kaplan) & English girl
  • Mack & Liza
  • Brendan and Sanga group


Helping

  • Helped Jilly with computer
  • Sue's portfolio (safari)


Expressing love and appreciation

  • Letter to Dani
  • Letter to mum
  • Tell mum I love her and cry (2012 visit)
  • Letter to Jo
  • Letter to Sue 
  • Jo's photography.  "You're so good for my confidence.  Will always keep your e-mail."
  • Bought homeless man food at Coles
  • Africa portfolio for Sue (Mango Groove)
  • Sending flowers to Dani's work (x2)


Dani

  • Holding hands in movies and watching TV and when walking
  • Do your dance.  "Oooh Lah Lah"  
  • Texts every night
  • Hugs, Dx
  • Letter
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27 April 2012

Affirmation (2012)


Dani

  • Attracting Dani
  •  "Struggle with intimacy?  No way. So easy to talk to compared to others.
  • Dani party - mullet, helping, barbecuing


Photography

  • Kruger 
  • Newcastle birds
  • Hunter honeyeater photo (won award)


Courage

  • HAI - standing up in nude


Blog

  • Your blog is incredible, as is this post! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. (On wonders of the universe)


Teaching

  • Scanning lessons
  • Survived almost no preparation in last year
  • Stockpile of ready lessons - print in morning (amazing!)
  • Rosa did ask me back in summer - knew I was going away
  • Funny video of BBC Guy - hilarity
  • Whiteboard lessons


Kruger photos

  • Thank you so much for sending me your stunning photos. What beautiful moments you have captured. Your leopard is a wondrous creature, and you have captured his essence so beautifully. All those gorgeous animals, and birds, and the light.... what a clear eye you have, with such natural attention to detail, harmony, balance, shape, form and the formless.  Sharon on Kruger photos
  • The eye of the photographic master. I have seen no-one else who can capture the moment more accurately than Graeme. Weather it be occasions like this where there is so much joy and love in the room for the birthday of a special being or the wilds of Kruger National park where the creatures have facial expressions almost communicating to him at that vey moment his finger dips into the essence of that moment. Then then there is the sharing of the beauty of what he sees. Very special. Keep it up Graeme we al love your work. Cheers Chris
  • Pamela "Best photos ever seen!"  
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27 January 2012

Challenges (2012)


Teaching

  • Students wanting to leave
  • Stress of getting new class
  • Perceived rejection from Rosa
  • Janice shout at me
  • Photocopy lessons at 8 am - stress!


Dani

  • Anxiety erections
  • Pain when not work
  • Dani's period late 1st time
  • Guilt and indecision re Dani
  • Fear of rejection
  • Indecision. On tiger's back.


Meds and agitation

  • Agitation effects me later in day
  • Meds x 2
  • Addiction to coffee milk


Other

  • Sick on Orange River
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8 January 2012

Non fiction books read (2012)


The power of Presence

  • The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle)
  • A New Earth  (Eckhart Tolle)
  • Stillness Speaks (Eckhart Tolle)
  • True Meditation: Discover the Freedom of Pure Awareness (Adyashanti)





Happiness

  • The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want (Sonja Lyubomirsky)
  • You Can Be Happy No Matter What: Five Principles for Keeping Life in Perspective (Richard Carlson)




Soulful purpose

  • The Power of Intention  (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer)
  • The Fire Starter Sessions: A Soulful and Practical Guide to Creating Success on Your Own Terms (Danielle LaPorte)
  • Life on Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life (Brad Swift)





Manifesting

  • The Secret (Rhonda Byrne)



Productivity

  • The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich (Timothy Ferriss)
  • Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life (David Allen)
  • Zen To Done: The Ultimate Simple Productivity System (Leo Babauta)
  • Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (Brian Tracy)
  • Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More: Transform Yourself from Overwhelmed to Overachiever (Quick & Dirty Tips)  Stever Robbins
  • Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible (Brian Tracy)


Focus and innovation

  • Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography (Walter Isaacson)



Simplicity and essentialism

  • Inside-Out Simplicity (Joshua Becker)
  • focus (Leo Babauta)
  • The Effortless Life (Leo Babauta)
  • Zen Simplicity (Leo Babauta)
  • The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life (Leo Babauta)




Finances

  • Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert T. Kiyosaki)


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2 January 2012

2012 Highlights

Quality time with the family in Cape Town and The Orange River, photographing wildlife in The Kruger National Park and fun times with Dani



 Priceless Moments
  • The amazing fireworks on New Year's eve which I photographed from my own secret spot in Ball's Head.
  • Deciding that, like my dad, I look better with a beard.
  • Capturing lots of action at the Penrith Whitewater Centre with the camera club and stopping off at the Spur (a South African institution) for a pecan nut sundae (one of my favourite things as a kid).
  • Mum and Mike visiting Sydney after a cruise on the Queen Mary and doing some fun outings with them including Blue Mountains, Cremorne Point, Watson's Bay and Palm Beach.
  • A fun day of steam with the camera club and thinking of dad, who would have loved it.
  • Doing a weekend workshop with Behram Ghista, a Buddhist teacher (thanks to Nerium, a new found friend), that set me back on my spiritual path of meditation and mindfulness.
  • Joining an Eckhart Tolle group in Kirribilli and the beautiful, loving, indomitable Jilly coming into my life.  
  • Through Jilly, joining a wonderful Saturday meditation group run by wonderful Geraldine.
  • Lots of mindful walks around Berry Island and Balls Head.
  • Any time spent with gorgeous Mack.
  • Buying a Kindle, one of my best ever purchases.
  • Crawling on my belly on The Newcastle mud flats to photograph birds and the wondrous sight of millions of soldier crabs.
  • Playing weekly tennis with Brendan and having some titanic battles. 
  • A fun weekend away at the Hunter's Valley with great people from the camera club and getting to photograph hot air balloons and beautiful horses and birds.
  • A great day outing to Robertson and getting to admire the amazing autumn colours.  
  • Meeting the beautiful Dani at the Kirribilli Hotel pub and being so smitten that I forgot to pay for our drinks and had the bartender run after me!
  • My first real date with Dani - rollerblading near Manly - where I got to hold her hand and feel even more smitten.
  • Photographing the Vivid Festival with Sue and Guy , the three amigos together again.
  • Doing the Two Creeks Hike with Dani.
  • Photographing a gorgeous black swan with its chicks at Bicentennial Park. 
  • Whale watching with Dani and dolphins swimming alongside our boat.
  • Ice skating with Dani, always such a romantic thing to do.
  • A wonderful weekend at the Blue Mountains where we did two lovely hikes.
  • Being blissfully reunited in Cape Town with my family and frolicking  with Matt and Sam by the pool.
  • Paddling down the Orange River with my family through gorgeous desert scenery and especially the awe inspiring stars on the final night.
  • Three unforgettable weeks in The Kruger National Park by myself where I had a wondrous encounter with a leopard, got great shots of birds and had a very close shave with a bull elephant. 
  • Spending an evening with Jo in Joberg on my way back from the Kruger to Sydney, helping me to get over my end-of-holiday blues.
  • Getting to wear a mullet and leopard trousers at Dani's fun 40th birthday party in The Blue Mountains.
  • Getting to experience Mattias Klum, one of National Geographic's top nature photographers, present his life's work at The Opera House. 
  • Spending Xmas at Nambucca Heads with Dani's family on their macadamia nut farm and getting to see Regent Bowerbird, a bird I've wanted to see for ages.
  • Exploring the gorgeous waterfalls and rain forests along the Waterfall Way.
  • A sensational hike in the Cathedral Rock National Park where we needed to use chains to scramble up mighty boulders to a incredible view.
  • Cycling around Dubbo Zoo, photographing cute critters.


Less happy moments
  • Thomas Pham, a photographer buddy, passing away from cancer.
  • Getting a bad cold and fever on day two of the 5 day Orange River trip in sweltering heat.  My lovely sister saved my life by being my engine.


 New friends met this year


Favourite Movies
  • Prometheus
  • Argo
  • Skyfall
  • The Descendants
  • The Separation



2012 Index of Links


 Holiday in South Africa  (late Sep - early Nov)


Christmas roadtrip with Dani


Fun times with Dani


Mum and Mike visit Sydney  (Feb)


Photography outings


Everyday life


Related


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