Kath Mazzella

Kath's incredible message to the world about losing her genitalia.

The Easy Way - How a Woman Deals with A Man's Reluctance to Maintain His Plumbing

This video explores the female/male partnership in relation to maintaining the plumbing in the household. Check out how this diminutive woman motivates her husband to desert the TV to go fix the leaking tap!

The Easy Way - How a Woman Deals with A Man's Reluctance to Maintain His Plumbing

This video explores the female/male partnership in relation to maintaining the plumbing in the household. Check out how this diminutive woman motivates her husband to desert the TV to go fix the leaking tap!

Susan Boyle ~ ''Wild Horses'' by TommyUSA

Just love this. Can't wait for her CD to come out, cause it's going to be sublime.

Life's Wisdom

Enjoy what life has taught me.

Online Marketing Proformas - successful or not?

I have been watching online marketers for many years now. You know, the ones that work with a one page proforma where they make you an offer, tease you with a free product, in the hopes of securing your email address or even better, you buying into the product. Then they bombard you with testimonials about how great their product is, kind of like the midday and middle of the night commercials you see on television. My question is, do these really work?

For me, I look, see that they are the same old standard approach and immediately they have lost me. Is this how others feel?

As someone who is involved in packaging and marketing, I'd really appreciate the feedback of my online friends as I am going to be advising my clients in relation to these processes. What are the outcomes for this type of marketing? Is anyone doing it and having huge success?

I know this probably sounds just a little cynical, but I've seen a lot of people selling business and marketing systems and having a bit of success with selling the systems, but how many who buy these systems are also experiencing success? There is lots of talk of growing rich online, but I'd like to see the evidence of it. Anyone who has an opinion is welcome to post a response. I am truly interested in what you think.

It just makes you wonder about Twitter Grader.com

I have been studying Twitter Grader for some time now, as I can see that people put a lot of value on being ranked highly there.

In my study, I have noticed how easy it is to influence the rankings merely by conversing with others, by retweeting their tweets and by increasing the number of followers you have and the quality of those that are following you and your ability to engage them interactively.

Then I thought to myself last night, how would I be ranked if I were in America instead of Australia? So I decided to do a little test. To change my location settings in Twitter.com to New York, USA. The outcome was astounding. I was ranked in the 600's when my location was Perth, Western Australia. Then suddenly I ranked in the top 200's when I changed my location to New York. This raises a lot of questions about the validity of the rankings system. My rating of 99.98 went up to 100 as well and the only change was a change of location!

This tells me that the whole Twitter Grader.com site is biased towards people living in America.

I have decided that I will no longer support this site in protest of it's rating system.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

"I" Live

Just love Kurt's gorgeous voice. Goes straight through you.

If you like this, you'll probably love the Shrek Hallelujah version he does, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NEU6Xf7lM&feature=related

Do you have WISDOM to share?

The 1 pound miracle baby

Saw this video and it made me cry. What a miracle of life and determination on the part of one so small. Also, you could almost tangibly feel the love of the parents pouring into this child.

An invitation to women in Perth, WA

I'd like to extend an invitation to all women to come and meet us at the Portabello Restaurant and bring along your girlfriends.

9:30am, 4th April, 2009, Portabello Kinross, 3 Shin Way, Kinross 6028.

Looking forward to seeing you girls there!

All Things Women Radio Show: Interview with Beth Graham-Aumau

Today on the All Things Women Program I interviewed Beth Graham-Aumau from the Small Business Centre, North-West metro office based in Joondalup.

Beth shared her personal business journey and also valuable information about what the Small Business Centre offers small business owners and also tips for people starting out in business.

To listen to the audio, click here.

All Things Women Radio Show: Interview with Chantal Vanderhaeghen from Franc

Today on the All Things Women radio program on Twin Cities FM 89.7 I interviewed Chantal Vanderhaeghen, the founder and owner of Franc, a natural range of skin care products.

Chantal was invited to share her business journey and how she created this range of original, completely natural skin care products.

Here is the audio of the interview.

For more information visioin Chantal's website.

The Great Aussie Tweetup - Anzac Day

Arising out of the positive feedback we've had from our Leederville Tweetup video on YouTube.com, the desire to create a mexican wave of Tweetups around Australia was born.

So, we made an executive decision, that's @womencan and @ausi1, that we should Tweetup on a signficant day. So the Anzac Day Tweetup is a celebration of the Anzac spirit that pulls all us Aussies together.

#aussietweetup and #town are the hashtags to use to tell everyone about your event.

We are challenging, from a very positive place, anyone out there that would like to start a mexican wave in your area, to start to tweet about this event.

For all the Perth crew, we are going to have our Tweetup at Kings Park Cafe, Kings Park (next to Fraser's Restaurant) and make the most of the Anzac Day spirit that Kings Park embodies at 2pm on 25 April 2009.

Wouldn't it be great if all Tweeters around Aussie got on board and filmed their events and posted them to YouTube.com and then tweeted the links under the #aussietweetup hashtag.

The challenge is on...which town or city or place in Aussie is going to have the best attendance and the most creative video uploaded???

Ranked 15th in the Top 100 Most Influential Twitterers

According to Social Networking News Daily, the list of Australia’s Top 100 Influential Twitterers was created and is powered by @nickhac of ShiftedPixels the Online Influence Agency based in Sydney, Australia.

Social Networking News Daily says that there are many lists out there on the web like Meg’s effort on Dipping into the Blogpond to keep the Top 100 Australian Blogs list updated, and Leigh’s list of the Top 100 Australian Women’s Blogs however, no-one has posted the Top Twitterati from Australia… so Nick took it upon himself to Be The One to do it… and why not seeing as Twitters growth is escalating at a very rapid pace.

Further, originally, he thought to list 50 of the top Aussie Tweeters and once word got out, they all came out of the woodweb and left their ID’s or were recommended in the comments. Hence, it has become a list of Australia’s Top 100 Influential Twitterers.

Of course, if it means getting the positive 'you can' message out there to women, I am thrilled to be listed...

Tweetup at Leederville

A new ship to launch...

I am privileged to be working with Kath Mazzella, an international women's sexual and gynaecological health campaigner.

Kath was recently awarded by the Moment Women's Forum in Perth and presented by the Governor-General an award for being an inspirational woman in the community.

Kath, a cancer survivor, has been valiantly campaigning for the past 15 years!

Many say Kath is 5 years ahead of her time and I know that it is going to be my privilege to help her get her message out to the marketplace. Here is a photo of us together today...






Here is also a promo that I did for Kath last September to promote the International Gynae Awareness Day on 10 September.

How to Get the Biggest Bang for your Buck

Watch this video - it will get you thinking...

Perth Girls Tweetup @WomenCan's!

@EliseBerenger came over for a cuppa. While she was with me we had some fun with my iMac computer.

We took a photo with the photo booth capacity.



And stuffed around with making a video...



Had we both not been on Twitter we would never have met, despite living only one suburb apart.

To quote Elise,in relation to Twitter, "To connect is just brilliant!"

Gorgeous artwork...Music stunning.

Check out this beautiful video.

A very moving video about life...

Very inspirational, touching and incredibly real. Awesome typography!

Another hard life lesson

Since the blog post about my painful life lesson it seems that life has taken me on, seriously.

The life lesson was that I need to listen to my inner voice and trust it more and to give voice to what it is telling me.

Since the workshop, life has been placing me in situations that have caused me to have to look at my childhood and how it is influencing how I am now.

As I went back in time I revisited the abuse I'd suffered as a child that had robbed me of my voice. Suddenly, every day became filled with an issue that related to my "lack of a voice" and the pressure has become immense on me to change.

So today I am taking back my personal power. I have decided twice today what I do and do not want to accept into my world and I have grabbed hold of my voice and started to use it again. It has truly been liberating.

If you are reading this and you relate to what I am saying, please leave a comment. Every day we have the power to decide how our world will be. I do not need to be that voiceless child that was disempowered. I can be an empowered adult who is able to say no to things that are not positive in my life.

Hayley's Chicken Pies

Here is my recipe for the Twitter #recipeXchange:

Hayley's Chicken Pies (Makes 8 pies)

4 Puff pastry sheets
2 chicken breast fillets
1/2 tin Campbells (or other) Chicken and Corn condensed soup
Crushed garlic
Soy Sauce
Olive oil

Method:
Dice the chicken into pieces.
Brown the chicken in olive oil in a hot fry pan, lightly coating with garlic (about a teaspoon) and soy sauce (pour over chicken enough to lightly coat each piece of chicken).
Once chicken is just cooked through remove from heat.
Cut pastry sheets on the diagonal in half.
Place several pieces of chicken (about 3-4) in the middle of the triangle.
Add to the meat a tablespoon of condensed soup (do not pre-heat the soup)
Then fold the edges of the triangle on the longest side in to meet the bottom point of the triangle. (Should make the triangle now look like a square).
Use a fork to press the edges together along the edges that are not sealed (one edge is a fold and doesn't need to be forked)
Place in a hot oven (approx 180-200) and cook for approx 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
Serve with a side salad or vegetables.

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 20 mins

This is what love is...Misty Edwards

Saw this video today and it sent a wave of tingles through my body.  This is what love is...

Embedded Video

All Things Women: The Value of Twitter!

All Things Women: The Value of Twitter!

http://twittalk.tv/

First Segment - Had a Blast!!!

Today was my first session of the All Things Women radio show on Twin Cities FM Radio, Perth, Western Australia.

It was so exciting, because I am now the official Radio Announcer for the time slot 9-12 on a Thursday morning.

It is also exciting because now I can finally launch into my style of presenting. I've already lined up a cast of women to be interviewed over the coming months and I'm really starting to see the show take shape.

There was so much valuable information shared yesterday on the program. The focus of the morning was "Women in Business" and we asked the question, "If you were giving someone starting a new business advice, what one piece of advice would you give them?"

I thought I'd share some of the responses here so that my readers could appreciate the great wisdom that came out of my Twitter friends (a special thanks to you all that contributed!).

The Fitness Guy says… Make sure you believe in what you are doing and be willing to take the time to plan. Does it make you smile?Make sure you believe in what you are doing and be willing to take the time to plan. Does it make you smile?

The Fitness Guy also says… Here's another piece of advise...Join groups and/or get coaches that are successful at what you want to do. Huge impact!

Amit from Vienna…. Keep the faith in yourself above all else

Janet Beckers from NSW says… Outsource earlier than you think you can then spend the free time on marketing & product development & more marketing & more marketing

Jim Yiapanis from Melbourne … Know your strengths, know your weaknesses and establish your support network

Tessa from Singleton Hi Hayley,my advice: Be optimistic.A disaster can be useful-if you learn from it! Be creative with resources. Looking forward to your show Hi Hayley,my advice: Be optimistic. A disaster can be useful-if you learn from it! Be creative with resources.

Peter Fletcher from Burswood Do something that you'd do even if you weren't being paid.

Kay Ballard The truth? Have lots of cash and don't expect people to be charmed that you are boot strapping! LOL
Essentially, “boot strapping” means self-financed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping

Henry Harris from Maryland in the US - Good morning, in starting a business, keep the business a separate entity. I carried the credit personally and now it shows.

CrozfromOz I couldn't wait for success so I went ahead anyway

Jennifer Givler from East Fallowfield, Pasadona in the US says… Be clear about WHO you help and HOW you help.

Patricia Rossi, Protocol Coach from the USA says…Get Mentored By Leaders That have Been in the Biz You Are Getting Ready to Go INTO. Ask about Their Highs&Lows Surprises Good&Bad.

Danalynbyers says I suggest taking the time to complete a business plan to review monthly so the new venture doens't go off track.
Teresa Morrow from St Peter’sburgh Florida Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Lee Amon 1)Make sure you have the resources to get through hard times, 2)have a plan. 3)Do one thing really well

Yogesh Goel from India says…Have lots of persevereance & patience & committment & punctuality. what else do u need.

Jude from UK Make sure you're passionate about your company and your products/service

The Value of Twitter!

I have been on Twitter for the past 12 months. During that time I have built up a following of approximately 2800 people and am currently ranked in the top 10 in Australia on Twitter. (See http://twitter.grader.com/index.php?Action=TwitterUsersByLocation&Country=AU

Some people have asked me "What is Twitter?" "Why do you spend so much time twittering?"

To answer that question I would say Twitter is probably the most instant social network I've ever seen. The conversations, the level of relationship you can build, happens very rapidly and as far as I can see,the quality of the friendships is very rich and rewarding.

If I have a question about anything, I simply twitter that question and within seconds I have people tweeting back to me their thoughts, their knowledge, their network connections and my question is well on the way to being solved.

For example, I have a radio show on a Thursday morning. I have introduced a "question" every week that gives my listeners the opportunity to interact with me. I simply post the question on Twitter and people from all around the world post their comments back to me. Within 30 minutes I have enough material for my whole radio program. It really is extraordinary and amazing!

Another example, I decided recently to write a book called "Life's Lessons - Collective Wisdom". I recognised that between us we hold so much wisdom from our life experiences and wouldn't it be great to share that wisdom with others. So I put up a request for submissions for the book. Within a very short space of time, I had people emailing me with their suggestions and submissions. This is unheard of in the "real" world.

Another example, I am a musician and I recently connected with a professional musician in the States. In one conversation with them I was able to unlock a whole software program to get my music moving forward. Access to professionals like this is difficult in the "real" world.

People may have an attitude about "cyber" relationships but I see the beauty of people from all around the world sharing their knowledge and resources collectively for the good of the majority.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, I am WomanCan. For the investment of time and effort, I am heaping huge rewards. I value the people I meet and what we can exchange and am so thankful for this opportunity to connect worldwide.

Here are some videos that will help you make the most of your twitter experience:


This is a video that explains Twitter in plain English.



All about Tweet Deck - This is a great free program to download to make your Twitter experience smooth.

Want to know a secret to getting your housework done joyfully?

Today I was feeling a little blue. House was a mess. Kids had issues with the school. Life was giving me some pretty nasty feedback about my lack of order and perfection!

So tonight I was understandably in despair.

But then I decided to do a little music therapy and this is the result.

This music piece will help you to get your housework done with a great attitude, quickly and get you ready for that reward you've been promising yourself if you get your house in order.

It's really motivating...so go on and listen!

Jingles a hit!

Posted a couple of jingles on Twitter for friends projects and both were a total hit. I've been encouraged to offer this as a service to the masses, so I thought I'd ask my blog followers what they think. Do you think I should offer jingle writing and music clips as a part of the service I offer my customers?

To get a feel for what I'm talking about, here are the links to a couple of jingles I've literally just thrown together. Blokeslib jingle, which incidentally is going to be uploaded on the www.blokeslib.com home page anytime now and the #twitterwedding jingle, which is just a bit of fun for those who are on Twitter.

So do you think I should add this to my repertoire???

All Things Women: 3 Hour Radio Program goes live 1st week march!

Great news. I have been approved to host a 3 hour radio program on 89.7FM radio, Twin Cities FM radio station, Perth, Western Australia.

There will be a monthly focus for the program and I am looking for guests to interview on the following topics. If you are interested, please email me.

March - Business

April – Community Service

May – Creativity

June – Family

July – Education/Career

August – Adventure

September – Health

October – Managing Your Resources

November – World View

December - Spirituality

I am very excited because I believe this program will be a valuable asset to Twin Cities FM and to all of the community. Join me Thursdays, 9:00 - 12:00, Perth +8:00 GMT

Heartwork Heather's How to Cooeee instructional video

My funny friend Heartwork Heather's Instructional Video - How to Cooeee!!!
http://gallery.me.com/heartworkheather#100815

I helped my friend on Twitter, Heartwork Heather, teach people who are not from Australia how to Cooeee on video. Cooeeeing is an Australian traditional way by which you can get the attention of someone, especially if they are not within eyesight range.

After our one-to-one instructional phone session on how to use imovie on her Mac, she went away and created this video. I was very proud of her efforts as this was her first video she had made with imovie.

I really enjoyed helping Heather with this project and I know there are other women out there that sometimes struggle with learning new technology or like Heather, just are not sure where to start with a new program and just need a leg up.

If you need one-to-one tuition in how to make the most of some of the technology that surrounds you, especially Mac users, please feel free to follow me on Twitter (WomenCan) or email me and I can let you know what I offer through my business, Up Front Training & Motivation.

Post by Heartwork Heather on Twitter today, 28 Feburary 2008 @ 20:18pm.

@womencan helped me do the cooeee video over the phn!! U're a gr8 1-to-one trainerHAYLEY *giggle* thx heeps! We make quite a team!

A prayer song for my soul...

Tonight I was feeling quite sad and burdened, as you do after going through some major heart work. So as I sat at my computer I decided to sing a prayer and record it. I didn't judge the words or melody, I just let it flow out of me. Then I layered voices over it. This is the end result - I hope you enjoy it. :)))

Sweet Music by Hayley Solich

Processing...the inner workings of the heart.

When you go through something significant and painful, I find it is the most extraordinary time where there is so much going on below the surface.

For example, if you suffer an injury. The injury may be healed, but the memory of the injury just seems to linger.

So I guess it is no wonder that almost a week on I am still "sore" about what happened last weekend when I learned my painful life lesson.

Is it that I am in "victim" mode, looking for someone to blame for my bad choices? Or is it that I am genuinely trying to comprehend the "why" about what I did. Or could it simply be that this one small event has triggered a heap of unresolved issues that are suddenly surfacing???

Part of me wants to believe that I am relatively in touch with my own emotions and do not need for work on the inner being but another part is saying that all the pain from the years of abuse as a child, the abandonment as a young woman and the ongoing dramas as a mother and wife simply need to find room for expression to be released from my life.

I have been reflecting on the time I spent passing through the "valley of the shadow death", that deep dark place of despair and depression following my son's birth in 2002. Was I just tired and overwhelmed, retreating into a space that protected me or did I have a chemical imbalance due to multiple births in a short space of time? How did I end up there? What could I have done better?

Once again, part of me wants to believe that the children were to blame but another part of me sees it as an accumulative effect in my life and that I chose an "out", the most accessible "out". For it was easier to blame a condition, than to accept the reality of my choices.

So, here I am cogitating...vascillating...contemplating. Which way will I jump? Self-condemnation or self-acceptance. Time will tell.

The beauty of a life lesson learned - Got a story to share?

Time...the great dealer and great revealer...marches on.

As I am reflecting back on my life lesson, the lessons just keep on rolling. Isn't it funny? You sit with yourself and suddenly, after all this struggle, you feel comfortable, in control and able to shut out all the noise, centre and focus.

So what can you expect from the I Can Woman in the future?

An abundance of wisdom - all learned the hard way - and I would love to invite others to post their life lessons. Why not email me your story so I can post it on the All Things Women blog? What hard life lesson did you learn and how?

I'm really looking for some great stories to include in my book that I am currently writing entitled "Fat Girls Can Dance!" - Defying the critics. So if you've got a great story of a difficult life lesson you learned and the inspirational outcome, please take the time to make a contact. If you're not a writer, let us connect on Skype and I can write your story for you.

I look forward to hearing all those wonderful life lessons! I was amazed at just how many people popped by and read my lesson, then took the time to post about it on Twitter or on the blog. You could be making that kind of ripple in the pool of life, so please, contact me or post in the comments.

You live and learn...sometimes painfully!

Yesterday I attended a personal development seminar. It was the usual stuff...DISC personality types, vision statements, blind walks, discovering your purpose and passion etc. There was the usual hype - what do we want? Success...Whose success? Mine...What will we give? 200% Yes! There was dancing and team chanting, questions and answers, video clips and the opportunity to name your fear and smash through a piece of board with your bare hands.

By the time the board came around, everyone was on a bit of a high from the day's proceedings. We'd been well fed, revved up and prepped for it...now the time to put our faith into action. We were told, name your fear, write on the board what you want, then focus your energy and smash that fear in your life. Everyone was encouraged to do it...in fact, it felt like to not do was to acknowledge that you didn't have the strength of belief that you could do it.

As I stood in the room full of people, chanting, panting to have a go, I kept seeing Hitler and the masses chanting his name. As I was saying along with those beside me, "1, 2, all the way through" I was watching the older women bang their hands on a piece of wood, one, two, three, four times before they broke through it. And inside my heart there was a stirring of unease because I could tell that it was hurting them a lot.

Yet when I came to the front of the queue, like Mel Gibson in the Braveheart clip we'd just seen, I marched up to that chopping block intent on smashing it through with everything that was in me. What had I named as my fear? The fear of not being good enough. The fear of being rejected. Of being found wanting. And as I brought my hand down with everything in me, it collided with the off-centre part of the wood, the strongest part, and I felt the pain rip through my wrist. Yet I lined myself up again and slammed it down in the centre, breaking it in two.

The strange thing was, as I bent to gather the pieces of wood, which incidentally I had been told to write what I wanted on so that I would be able to focus on the breakthrough I was seeking, I felt like I had just smashed apart something inside me. Why had I done that to my hand, my right hand, my income hand, my creative hand, my doing hand? Why had I smashed my desires in two? For I had not overcome a fear...I had surrendered completely to it. For I had not felt completely comfortable with participating...internally something was screaming at me that this whole process was not right for me, yet I had ignored that voice.

Then afterwards as I embraced a friend I started to cry...not from the throbbing pain in my wrist, but at the thought that I was letting go to something that had been a part of me for a long time. And immediately that friend distanced themselves, looked at me and demanded "Those are happy tears..." and I obediently reassured her that they were, knowing full well that I was letting her believe what she wanted. For they were really tears of grief.

As I left the building with my arms bulging with books, bags, pieces of broken wood, a roll of paper for me to do a vision board on, I felt confused, angry and sad. Why had I not listened to the inner voice of wisdom that was telling me not to participate, that something was not right for me. Why didn't I risk not fitting in, not being thought worthy enough, actually breaking my fear of rejection instead of just surrendering to it and doing something so destructive to myself?

There were so many life lessons that came out of that one destructive decision I made and I am grateful for those. Every time I wince with pain when I go to grab something or I have to type with my left hand or struggle to sweep the floor one-handed, I am reminded of what I learnt.

When they asked everyone why did you come today, my answer was simple, I said a friend kicked my butt and told me to come because it would be good for me. My decision had been made on a desire to better understand them and what they knew, rather than to have a great learning experience for myself. Would I do this again? No. Will I listen more to my own voice within? Yes. Was the lessons learned valuable? Yes.

I am writing all this to encourage each of you not to be swayed by public opinion, not to bow your knee to the demands of charismatic leadership and to listen to your inner voice. You know what is right for you, what is good for you, what will keep you safe. Listen to that voice. I wish I had and if my sharing my own failure to honour myself more helps you, then the pain will have been worth it.

Be true to yourself. Others will respect you more for it.

Exciting news re my DJ'ing on 89.7FM Radio Program

I am broadcasting live on 89.7FM radio and in discussions with the management about giving me my very own ALL THINGS WOMEN segment!

In preparation, I have been asked to pull together a list of possible topics and range of speakers for my program. So I though it would be great to get some feedback from all the women that pop by my blog. Please post your ideas and/or pop me an email to let me know what you are interested in.

I'm thinking about doing a monthly focus on a broad topic, eg health, family, career, money, business, creativity etc. Who would you like to hear interviewed? What topics would you like discussed?

89.7FM broadcasts via the airways but can also be listened to live online. You can request your favourite song or just send a cheerio. Simply go online and fill in the form.

Post your comments or go online and give me some feedback please.

Community Weight Loss Challenge

Exciting news!

Today I started the Community Weight Loss Challenge where I have a goal of losing 15 kilos in 12 weeks.

There were a wild group of women gathered who are determined to overcome their weight issues. With personal coaches on hand to weigh them in and get them fired up and motivated, the morning got off to a great start.

A few quick pics of the morning...

The Art Studio - A day with Heartwork Heather

Our lives are layered, just like a photoshopped Fine Art Composite

You probably do not realise it but each of these pictures is a collage of more than three images layered to create one. Like our lives, each layer adds some depth, some colour or some texture to the overall effect. Without even one of the layers the image would not be the same.

How many situations in life do we go through that are dark? These are our contrasting moments, our opportunities to grow, to learn and to expand our understanding. Without them our vision of life would not be the same. So too, the light areas are our bright lights that lift us off the page and highlight our characteristics, our thoughts and our ideals.

What is the image of your life looking like right now? Is it like one of my pieces where I had many of the layers in place but it just didn't feel finished because it was missing a layer or two?

Whatever place you are at just know that today you are building a complex composite of your life. Today is the accumulation of a thousand yesterdays. You are all of those yesterdays. They are what defines you, what makes you special. They are your story! They are the image of your life.

The beauty is that you have a role to play in what the next layers are that will be layed upon your life. You can choose their opacity, their colour and their placement. Build wisely the image of your life that you will be able to view with pleasure, just as I view these and sigh in satisfaction.

The Challenge is on...

Finding your passion is one of the greatest journeys in life.  For some, they have a very strong sense of what that is as a child.  For others, it is something that becomes clearer with time as life is experienced. For me, I have been passionate about so many things through the years but most have been within the realm of the creative.  I don't know why, I just love to create.  Be it, music, song, photography, graphic arts or poetry, I just love being able to get a picture or an impression of life and to transform that into something that others can admire and consider.

So it is with delight that I was referred to RedBubble.com, a site for artists.  And on that site I found so much to inspire me in my photography and my artwork, that I have been on a bit of a creative bender to work out how others have achieved what they have achieved.The colours, the images, the textures...all of these layers of creating are important and to see them clearly is just an amazing journey.

And I liken this experience to life.  If we examine life, layer by layer, identifying the things that are important in our daily interactions - our heart, our spirit, our body and how it connects with the world - and we start to connect what we see to wisdom, then this is where the joy of learning evolves.

I just wanted to encourage you to not be a spectator of life, but a participant.  Study it by all means but make sure that you also connect with it.  It is far too easy to be in the judgment seat, reviewing both yourself and those around you.  Live in the moment.  Breathe in the richness that every breath affords you.  Laugh lots.  Love lots.  Enjoy all, because you are not guaranteed a long life.

This texture image is one that I have been given in a challenge to create a fine art composite.  It will be just one layer that I have chosen to use.  I'll post my final product here soon, so check back in a week to see how I transformed one, ordinary image, into something extraordinary.  Just as God is transforming this ordinary life, into something extraordinary.

There's no place like home

When I arrived home last night after a six hour drive from Albany, I had the strangest feeling. Firstly my house was clean - a miracle. Oh, yeah, that's right. That's how I left it for my guests who were doing a house swap with me. Then I noticed just how large it was. After staying in a beach cottage (3 bedroom home that overlooked a beautiful bay), the house just seemed so huge!

It kind of took me back to when I went home for the first time after growing up and moving away. Although this time it was in reverse. When I left this house it seemed so small and crowded, yet when I returned it felt so huge and spacious after being in the more cosy cottage. I guess it showed me that perspective is everything.

Suffice to say, I'm back home. I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to see so many amazing things while I was away. Hundreds of photos later...

Just so you get a little glimpse into what I'm talking about, on our last day in Albany I took my four children on a tour of Frenchman's Bay. We stopped off at the Natural Bridge and the Gap, which are on the edge of the Antarctic Ocean. Probably one of the most beautiful scenes you'll ever get to see. I don't feel I did it justice, but here's a taste of my last day in Albany...



I'll be posting more pictures of the trip on my website, http://thefocusshop.com in the coming days.

The Big Albany Adventure

The thought of traveling for five or more hours, on my own, to Albany was daunting to say the least, especially given that I was to have four young children in the car with me. Memories of the time I had set out on a similar journey to collect my mother from our home town of Wellington in New South Wales came rushing back. I fell asleep on the freeway in Sydney near Blacktown and rolled my car. Although I walked away with just a small scratch on my foot, it had really shaken me up. I was just a green 23 year old who had never driven a long trip before.

I can appreciate my husband's anxiety, as he knew that I hadn't been sleeping well. I'd been on a creative bender - so inspired that I couldn't rest. All I wanted to do was create art pieces. I don't know how many times he asked me the week before I left, "Have you been sleeping? When did you last get a good night's sleep." He even threatened to disable my car!! So you can imagine how that lack of trust was working on my subconscious.

Then there was the memories of my mother's fatal car accident to contend with. Each car we passed was a potential deadly weapon. She'd done nothing wrong, but was hit head on by someone who did.

So knowing all that about me, I'm sure you can appreciate that I felt a little anxiety myself, very well suppressed mind you, as I reassured him that I was perfectly capable of going the distance and that if I felt at all like I might go to sleep at the wheel I would pull into the nearest town and find a bed for the night.

And as I started out on the adventure of a lifetime, knowing that I couldn't back out because I'd arranged a house swap and my visitors were arriving as I was heading out of town, all I could wonder was do I really have it in me to drive all that way on my own? Don't I need someone stronger than me to be with me and hold my hand?

The funny thing is this is just another realm of my coming to know myself. Coming to know that I am a capable woman, that I can make choices and that they can be good choices.

Suffice to say, I arrived safely in Albany. The sky didn't cave in. In fact, apart from a quick stop off at Mt Barker Hospital to check if my daughter would survive taking too many travel sickness tablets (she'd been popping them every time she felt sick without my knowledge!) we had a very uneventful trip. The roads were very sparsely traversed by others, so we almost had the whole countryside to ourselves.

Stopping when there was a scene I just didn't want to miss capturing, the twin screen portable DVD player I purchased was a real Godsend. It kept my children focused and I only got one or two "Are we there yets?" from my youngest daughter.

And now we are here, the adventure continues. Having miscalculated on the funds side of things, we are having to live very meagerly, but there is so much you can do that costs nothing when you are on holiday and we have been so blessed with our accommodation. I don't know where I have ever had access to a better range of "girly" DVD's, board games and the good old computer and computer games! We definitely got the better deal in the house exchange!

Here is the view out of our front yard...

And a view of the beach where we went swimming yesterday...

And here is Catherine and I at the beach. I met Catherine through the Women Can International site on Ning.com and she's also a member on this site. It was great to meet her in the flesh as she lives in Albany.

"My Knight" Fine Art Print by Hayley Solich - RedBubble [2392302]

"My Knight" Fine Art Print by Hayley Solich - RedBubble [2392302]

I entered a competition to create a piece that reminds you of happy days. I chose to use my wedding as the theme of my piece. This photo is my husband, Andrew and his two groomsmen. I've layered it over my wedding album cover.

I've so enjoyed experimenting with Photoshop and photography. It made me think about the All Things Women blog and to want to put up an encouragement to women everywhere to try new things. You just never know when you might find that you have a talent in a different area than you have been used to operating in your life.

I had a dream about four months ago and in that dream the Director of the Creative Arts school that I attended picked me out of a crowd and said to me, "I am appointing you an Ambassador to the Creative Arts". In the dream I thought to myself, "Creative Arts??? But I'm into Performing Arts, not Creative Arts. Creative Arts is the Fine Arts and I can't paint or draw for nuts!" I then was looking for other reasons why he may have chosen me. I looked down and I was wearing a red shirt. I thought to myself, 'Maybe he chose me because of my red shirt?"

The symbolism in this dream to me was the red shirt represented passion. I am definitely a passionate person and give 110% to everything I do.

The Creative Arts is as I thought, the Fine Arts and that is what this piece above is a composite or Fine Art piece.

Sometimes we have a limited view of who we can be because we have not yet encountered the person that is hidden within us. But when the time is right and if we are open to change, all things are possible!

I'd love to know what you think of this piece. Please leave a comment.

Wow!

I am so excited because my fine art piece, Heart Talk - Expectations has been featured on the Live, Love, Dream group on RedBubble.com. This is a peer evaluated review.


"Heart Talk - Expectations" Fine Art Print by Hayley Solich - RedBubble [2371077]


Also, my piece, "Field of Pink" has been accepted on the Australian Photo Review website.

Considering that I have only just joined these sites, it was a real privilege. There is something very powerful about having your creations validated by your peers. Pop by and leave a comment.

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"Heart Talk" Fine Art Print by Hayley Solich - RedBubble [2367919]

"Heart Talk" Fine Art Print by Hayley Solich - RedBubble [2367919]


Once in a lifetime you do something that creates a new sparkle in you. Something that is like this candle that has laid dormant for your entire life and you suddenly strike a match to it and your world is alive and wonderful.

This is what happened to me when I created Heart Talk. For years I have looked at other's artwork and thought how magnificent they were and longed to be able to create something that so resonates with my own soul that I immediately love it. Heart Talk is such a piece.

It is a collection of things I love - my daughter's eyes, my girlfriend's eyes, textures I love and my favourite font style. These pieces tied together with my favourite colour cause the picture to come into focus for me.

I truly hope that the world enjoys this piece as much as I have as it will be the first of many in my Heart Talk series.

They say that the eyes are a window to the soul...Let these eyes heart talk with you.

Enjoy and please comment.

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Praise is soooooo addictive!

A girlfriend suggested to me that I might like to add my photographs to a website called RedBubble. Basically, RedBubble is a community of artists who upload their works in the hope that someone will see something and like it and purchase it.

In theory it sounds great. The problem is, there are so many wonderful artists in there, all vying for their own space and I think that it may be a bit competitive for my level of expertise. However, in uploading my images, I have become quite hooked on commenting on other's work and receiving some praise for my own and it takes me back to the time when I was addicted to Poetry.com in 2005, then Helium.com in 2007. Is RedBubble.com my next big love addiction and do I really have the time to spare?

It does bring me to pondering about the human condition and how some of us are so geared towards praise that when we find someone willing to say nice things about us, we immediately want to chain ourselves to that person and suck them dry!

I guess I'll have to temper this new addiction with self-control. After all, I do have four children on school holidays to contend with. :) No wonder I'm still up at 1:39am writing this...

The Focus Shop - Finally uploaded!!!

Photos...photos...photos... This past 48 hours I feel like I have been sucked in the vacuum that is the world of photography, processing, watermarking, and uploading images to my new photographic gallery, TheFocusShop.com.

I have been amazed that as I have sifted through the 7000 plus images on my computer, I have been able to pull a sizeable gallery of decent photos together. Further, it has spurred me on to capture more photos, with even more interesting content.

From nature scenes to children, dogs to ducks, motorbikes to helicopters... I love capturing life in it's many aspects, especially people and the many emotions we experience.

A sample of a couple of my recent photos are...





Come and check out the photos and leave me some comments. I love hearing people's reactions to my photography, which I hope brings a new expression of life.

Photos...photos...photos - Check out The Focus Shop.com

It is with great excitement that I announce the opening of my photographic gallery, The Focus Shop.

The Focus Shop has an exhibition of my best photos taken over the past 12 months since I upgraded my camera and developed a real passion for photography arranged in galleries under topis such as nature, people, places, transport, my favourite things and beaches.

Please feel free to browse the galleries and to leave comments about the images. Some images are for sale, so if you like something, pop me an email with the name of the photo and I'll let you know if if it is for sale.

Enjoy!!!

Here is a sample to wet your appetite...

Was this a spiritual visitation? Can you explain it to me?

For my New Year's Eve, I arranged a progressive dinner for some of the girls from Women Can International Inc. The night turned out to be the best New Year's Eve I've ever had. We started out by spending time with three beautiful labradors down on Yanchep beach. While they were fetching stick, we sat and had our gorgeous picnic and I snapped off heaps of photos.

Then we went to a friend's house and had a lovely meal, sitting out the back in the candlelight and discussing philosophy. It was such a precious time.

Then we sped off to another friend's house, determined to be in her spa with a glass of champagne and a slice of the most goregous cheese cake I've ever tasted. It was just a slice of heaven. This stint lasted three hours and eventually we decided we should shelve our discussions and make our way home.

It was then that we decided to upload the photos onto one of the girls computers to see what they looked like. Apart from capturing the most gorgeous beach shots, we were very surprised to see that on about 10 of the shots there were light orbs. These are simply unexplainable. We didn't see them at the beach. It couldn't have been something on the lens as they are not in the same position. There is even a motion blur on one of them, indicating to me it was something moving. The only explanation I can find for them is that they are spiritual beings.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

They were on the viewer in the camera and initially I thought perhaps they were a tennis ball we were throwing, but then I saw there were so many of them and in different places.

For example, the sun was setting so it's not the sun on the horizon. There was a moon and a star above it but they were quite high up in the sky. There just simply is no other explanation for them.

I'd love it if someone else could come up with a plausible explanation, so please post your comments.

I guess this little mystery adds something special to what was a wonderfully, warm and thoroughly enjoyable evening with girlfriends.