Listening

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk. Doug Larson

How good is it when someone listens to us, really gives us their full attention and actually looks as though they are interested in what we are saying. Especially at times when we really need someone to hear us. Times when we may be going through grief - if you know of someone who has lost another person recently, or not even another person, perhaps they have lost an animal that they held dear to them. Then I ask you to take some time and actually listen to their feelings... you don't actually have to DO anything... just let them know that you are there for them by paying attention, and be caring.

It can really shatter a person when they lose someone. I have read once - I think it was Virginnia Satir who said - that our family system can be likened to a mobile... one of those pretty things that hangs above a baby's cot or out on your veranda. Normally the mobile moves around in a balanced way moving in the wind... but if you were to take one of the pieces out... it sort of clunks around and bangs up against itself. Well our lives are like this... if you take one of the pieces out that makes up our lives, we clunk around a lot. Things can take a while to rebalance, to get used to life without a part. What friends and family can do is offer their support, and I don't mean saying to someone, 'here's 40cents ring lifeline tell someone who cares'.

Take time to sit with that person. Take time to listen. Take time to develop some skills in listening... who knows maybe one day you will need someone to listen to you and just maybe that person you took time to listen to will be there for you.

If you would like to learn some listening skills or have a session where you can talk over issues in your life you can do this at Frangipani House Click here

Painting - another way to keep a diary.

Pot with Indigenous Art by A.L Barlin

The pot in the picture above means a lot to me - it is a pot my father painted. My dad spent a lot of time in Darwin and New Guinea during WW2 and during his quiet times painted and sketched. This is the only piece of his art that I have and it is really precious to me. My dad's pot reflects the time he spent at Katherine Gorge. He told many stories of the min min lights and his time with the local people there. This piece of artwork reminds me of those stories. His words of advice when I wanted to start painting was; 'well do it... don't go to art class, just get some paints and paint'. So I did, and in the process have had lots of fun.

There is a quote by Picasso that says 'painting is just another way of keeping a diary'. I know that the artwork that I have painted reflects my journeys in recent years. I think buying artwork is another way of keeping a diary as well - a piece can really speak to our inner selves as we look at it. Even though it may mean something totally different the buyer than what the artist intended. My artwork shows pictures of homes and Hawaiian women, of prayers and food - I am always fascinated when I listen to what others see in it and how it shows me a glimmer of their inner life.

Art is a wonderful means of expressing yourself, and is a way of journalling too. At frangipani house we offer sessions using art to express yourself in a counselling or life coaching session. You don't need to have experience drawing or painting or doing a collage - you just need the desire to create and express yourself.

To find out more about this process click here

Unique Bubbles

As I was talking to my friend Wendy yesterday, I started to draw bubbles - doodling as I talked. We had been discussing ways to make money using the skills she already had. I encouraged Wendy to draw her own bubbles and to write one of the skills she has in each. It started to become clear how unique Wendy's talents were. Then it came home to me that each of us has these unique combination of talents that no one else has. That probably seems as if it goes without saying, but have you ever sat down and actually broken down your skills. If you were to work out your own unique combination you might be surprised at just how many skills you possess, I know Wendy and I were.

Draw a bubble on a page now. Think of one of your skills, and write it in the bubble. Now draw another bubble and write one more of your skills in it. If organisation is one of your skills, as is Wendy's - what makes up the combination that is organisation - break organisation down into parts again. You may use a filing system, or you may organise your home well. How? Think of each skill that you normally perform, break it down and then write it in one of your bubbles. Try putting in some of the qualitites you possess that you show to the world too... like love, fun, patience, faith, kindness.

Bubbles of Uniqueness - there has never been nor will there ever be another person who is unique as you in this world, and there never will be again.

If you would like to have a session to discuss what your special skills are and different ways to share them with the world book a session at Frangipani House...
http://www.frangipanihouse.com.au/counselling.html