A missed connection reflection
One’s true personality tends to reveal itself under due stress. As you read this, I am on a flight from Dubai to Europe. I should have been there yesterday. However, our scheduled flight from Sydney was delayed by one hour. I only found out the reason behind the delay from one very vocal and distressed passenger. I was both intrigued and amused, and as I and most of the others were going nowhere fast, I thought and sat back and enjoyed the ‘entertainment’, a private joke between husband and me.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Why I hate ironing.
I’m impatient, the irons too heavy, it’s boring, and why the hell should I?
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
A lucky moment - how hard is it?
I’ve been dappling with the whole idea of luck. Just what is it? Scientifically speaking, luck is a chance encounter, but what about those who appear to have a chance encounter that leads to good fortune? That’s not luck; that’s called persistence and hard work and recognising the core of what luck represents. If luck is a chance encounter, you’re not going to encounter anyone sitting at home doing nothing right? And if I read about how ‘lucky’ someone is, I think I’m going to scream. If you’ve had a fortunate outcome, that’s not luck, honey; that’s payback for the countless hours dedicated to the task.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Praise for the list.
I love writing lists. Seems like so many others do as well. There are Pinterest boards dedicated to correct list writing. Youtube videos demonstrating the ‘write’ way to write a list. Some would say that it’s too rigid, while others claim that life without a list would be chaos.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Moments. In. Time.
Three words to be exact. I’ve read that a great title for a book should be summed up in three words. Your life can also be summed up in three words. Search for Meaning. Life with Purpose. Actions that Matter. Friends for Life. Clean my House. And it was this morning when another three words sprang into mind. Moments in Time. This occurred as I turned the page of a great book I’m reading right now, and when the dog looked at me with those big brown eyes, or when my online shopping was delivered to my veranda at precisely 7:18am, right in the middle of the 6 and 8am intended delivery time. Right. On. Time. It’s these moments where you read a paragraph that makes you laugh out loud, which reminds you of a memory long forgotten. Did I really wear that purple ill-fitting off-the-shoulder ensemble because I had nothing else to wear to the school disco? Or when you know you need to take the dog for a walk, he’s saying ‘Hey lady, it’s time for me to do you-know-what, so get up off your arse and open the front door.’ You laugh at the imaginary speech bubble above his scruffy face and remember the day you bought him home and how he curled up on your lap in a state of complete bliss. Or when the last shopping bag is placed by the door. You now know that you’ve spared two hours of your day not pushing the shopping trolley up and down the supermarket aisles, avoiding that impulse buy, the parking lot, the florescent lighting, wiping down the trolley for any Covid infection, remembering to take your mask. Instead, you’ve gained an insight for reading and looking at the dog, patting the cat or like the sign says, you’ve been able to Take. It. Easy.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
What's the reality of a reality show?
I admit it, there’s nothing more I like than to tune into a reality show to make me laugh out loud. And by that, I mean, I can convince myself I’m the normal one in the comfort of my inner voice (ah, but what constitutes ‘normal’ one would say, ok, I confess I would say that). What I find funny is whose reality are we talking about here? Is it those whose socio-economic wealth-o-metre is more than the debt of a third world nation or those who consider orange spray tan and a ‘bedazzled jewelled gown’ haute couture? Or that you’ll find ‘true love’ on an island, or that botched plastic surgery can be magically repaired by another surgeons knife? And while I cannot subscribe to every reality show, the few that I watch religiously never fail to entertain me at all.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
To have a 'beautiful mind' is not what you see reflected in the mirror.
“Most people can be reasonable and competent, well at what they do but at the same time be rather dull. New ideas are rare because we have been taught analysis and judgement but never creativity.” Edward De Bono.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
12 Good-mornings versus six blanks stares
My observation for this week. Since when have we become a community, where a pleasant ‘good morning’ has been replaced with a curious blank stare? I’m watching Ted Lasso on Apple TV, and I find it hilarious in a Ned Flanders kind-of-way how the main character Ted faces the constant barrage of colourful language while still smiling and extending a cheery hello! I would have told them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, but hey, that’s just me. The thought did linger. I decided to test out the theory that faced with a ‘good morning’ from a stranger would compel you to adhere to social customs to respond, unless you were a psychopath and if that’s the case, run for the hills!
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
What’s the lure of good design?
How does a good cover design influence you to buy?
Receiving a postcard was the best thing that happened to me today
Greetings from lockdown!
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
It started with an 80s mix tape...
…and a Covid project that propelled me to pull out every single photo album and take out each photograph on a lockdown infused Sunday afternoon. The idea is to scan each and every pic so that it’s forever captured digitally. This will probably take years I know, but pausing at images, some I didn’t even remember, tested my long term memory to categorise scenarios into chronological order. Thank goodness for one of my besties. She just looks at an image and knows exactly when it occurred. She is now my official curator of memories!
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
An open letter to my offspring
To the millennials and the something i-generation, I’m (we are all) learning from you.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
'There is nothing unusual about that...'
On a Saturday afternoon, on the grounds of a very nice art gallery in the middle of New South Wales Wine Region, we found a rather large uninhabited spot of grass. It was manicured, soft and had very little contact with anything heavier that a bird, until we arrived.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
A pic in time
My sister and I were in Budapest a few years back and I remember we had to kill time before our scheduled train trip into the countryside. We passed a small convenience store where fresh produce winked from the wooden cart. I bought us a couple of bananas. The streets were empty except for the garbage collectors down the way. The sun was just peeking through the shadows. Apart from fog, cobblestone streets and textured city sidewalks, I also have a fascination with gaudy entrance doors. They tell a different story. If they could talk. Pictured, this door leads down underground. It could be a cellar, it could be an underground record store. I’m not sure. But my sister passed it nonetheless, oblivious that it was there. You wouldn’t have guessed we were on our way to a funeral.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Make every minute count
I was sitting on an open top bus in London January 2020 when I took this photo. At the time I didn’t know what the billboard was advertising, however, the message resonated with me. LIke a call from the universe, we had stopped at a set of traffic lights and it yelled out to take a look. Was it in anticipation of what was about to come? We had heard some reports of a virus spreading in China, but in January, Australia was on fire. Literally. Naturally, our attention was focussed on what was happening back home.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Go on..try not to smile!
Turning 50 equals feeling fabulous
For the first time, I had a party, not just any party, but a house par-tay! I thought if we are still stuck in Covid purgatory and it’s hard to organise anything due to social distancing, then we may as well bring the folk to us. In my last post I talked about attitude and age, my part-ay was testament to that. My lounge room served as a dance floor while the kitchen was the makeshift bar. I was asked how I felt, and my answer rolled off my tongue quite easily… fantastic! We part-ayed better than people half our age. And while phones were present only for the camera use, no one sat in a corner checking their socials. Instead, Great catering, great conversation made way for a great atmosphere. And as my friends and family sang me happy birthday, I felt that 50 is fabulous! I have a voice that is heard, a mind in which to conceptualise and the motivation to be grateful each and every day!
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Let's talk about attitude...not age.
The other day I was driving my youngest to school and we happened to change the radio station, one which I don’t usually listen to, not because I’m not the ‘demographic’, rather, the announcers and their banter just don’t resonate with me. However the selection of tunes is great, my son enjoys it, so I left it on.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Change the mind, you'll change the world.
Before I begin, let me just outline that while I’m not a clinical expert in the field of psychology or an advocate for violence, I do want to point out that dealing with the bully in the 80s was a lot easier than it is now. And I really feel for those kids who have to deal with the issue that seems to be repeated with every generation.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez
Never assume on a daily walk...
As a creature of habit, you will most likely find me taking my daily walk at the same time every weekday. I plan, it’s scheduled in my online diary, friends can catch me on the phone as I am most likely listening to a podcast or song, generally, it’s a green light for any future stalker. Contemplating now, perhaps, is not such a good idea. That being stated, there are others like me, who walk the same path around our area, albeit opposite, which, is another OCD moment on my behalf because I tend to walk the same path at the same time in the same direction.
Published: Sylvia Jimenez