Bicentennial Park

These photos were taken during a Mosman Camera Club presentation.

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 

Mike goes Tiger Fishing on the Zambezi

Thanks for the photos, Mike!

Berry Island

My daily walk now includes Berry Island which is five minutes from home.  A very beautiful place.  Tranquil, and most of the walk is through gorgeous bushland.  It's great to get into nature so close from home.

  

Wisdom Trove (2012 - )

Introduction

• This is an enormous project I have been working on since 2012. It is a quotations site that is due to launch in 2020.  The site, a work in progress, can be seen here:  www.wisdomtrove.com

Purpose

• Wisdom Trove lovingly curates quotes about life to distill profound truths and practical wisdom on the art of living.
• Inspiring readers to live more fully with greater outer effectiveness and inner tranquility.
• Distilling big ideas (essence)
• Deep spiritual truths introduced to a general audience.
• Inspires appreciation and celebration for life.
• Raising consciousness
• Makes the internet a better place.

Vision

• Wisdom Trove aspires to be the most meaningful quotations and wisdom site on the Internet by curating quotes on the art of living into a deeply insightful and integrated whole that is worth much more than the sum of its parts.
• A timeless reference work and a work of art
• Owns the quote and wisdom category. The Wikipedia of Wisdom.
• My own bible for living. Delighting myself first.
• Tao Te Ching for the modern age
• Abundance to pay others to contribute
• A life of Wisdom Trove, cafe collaborations, retreats and workshops, and travel and nature
• A timeless reference work immortalised in digital records
• Inspired by Presence and balance (time away).
• A unique and trusted voice.
• A revolutionary new way (system) for exploring, distilling and sharing wisdom.
• Collaboration with a dedicated team of conscious, expert curators.

Guiding principles

• Profound truth, practical wisdom for living, insight, revelation
• Exploring big ideas
• Distilled essence, substance
• Curiosity, openness, exploration, discovery
• Integrated, whole, inter-related, context
• Big picture and detail, zoom in and out
• Excellence, attention to detail, quality, consistency
• Mastery, work of art, genius
• Uplifting, consciousness raising
• Curatorship not aggregation, selective, quality not quantity
• Collaboration, sharing
• Best practice, guidelines
• Living, breathing, updated, growing, deepening
• Streamlined, user friendly, hand made and automated
• Timeless, timely, fresh, cutting edge
• Celebration and promotion of authors
• Wisdom of the head and heart
• Visual and verbal wisdom

Timing

• June 2012 - current

Summary

Walk at Dee Why

I went for a lovely walk with D at Dee Why along the beach to Long Reef.  The weather this weekend was amazing, felt like we were back in the middle of summer.

Balls Head daily walk

My daily ritual at the moment is to walk to Ball's Head.  It's a beautiful walk right on my doorstep with amazing views of the Sydney skyline.  I'm so lucky to live where I do.

Photos taken with iPhone.

Letters

July 2012

Dear Dani

It's been wonderful getting to know you over the past few months.   I feel very blessed that your journey has criss- crossed with mine. You're amazing, a veritable ray of sunshine, beautiful all the way through.  And the fact you have a gorgeous butt in jeans doesn't hurt either!!!  Anyway, here for the record, are some of the things that I have come to dig and appreciate about you.

• your all round gorgeousness including your stunning, blue eyes 
• the ease with which you laugh
• your love of hiking
• your amazing hair and how delicious it always smells 
• your openness 
• your down to earthness
• the fact you saw the humour in being sprayed with fermented apple juice!
• your ability to park in a tight spot
• your love of doing adventurous and different things
• your love of hugging - you're so very huggable
• the fact that you're so physically affectionate
• your drop dead gorgeous smile
• your boots!!!
• your Australianisms
• the fact you still have your soft toys
• The way I feel when I'm with you
• your passion for whales and the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about them
• your love of movies
• your zest for paddling and being on the water - your form of meditation
• the way you always ask me about my day
• how amazingly easy you are to talk to and be open with
• your positive energy
• your delicious Belgian waffles and amazing Tiramisu
• the soft little murmers you sometimes make as you fall asleep
• your passion for Mocha
• the fact you are so comfortable to be yourself
• your delicious derriere
• the fact you've lived in so many places and loved them all
• the fact you were willing to go rollerblading without brakes!
• How proud you are of being a fair dinkum Aussie.
• your ability to procrastinate (tax!!) - I can so relate!
• the way you make people feel so comfortable 
• the fact Mack immediately loved you to bits
• your love of couch surfing after a hectic day
• your patience with my navigation fopauxes
• the way you kiss
• the way you confide in me about your ups and downs at work
• your happy, happy, joy, joy booty shaking victory dance!
• your sportiness
• the fact you own a frisbee!
• your love of Thai and discovering Pad See Ew (Yum!)
• your enthusiasm for sustainability and making a difference at work
• the balanced way you see life
• the fact your parents own a Macadamian nut farm and your nut stash - what a bonus!
• how down to earth you are
• watching you put on your work clothes
• your practical minded approach to things
• your ticklishness
• your natural friendliness
• your sense of fun
• your warmth

September 2012

Dear Graeme

Well, it's been quite a few months now since we met in that little place in Kirribilli and I've really enjoyed getting to know you.  Now that you're off to South Africa for 6 weeks, I'm finding that I'm going to miss you not just a little bit, but a lot.  So here are some of the things about you that I dig and I'm going to miss (in no particular order).

• how sweet and considerate you are
• your cute Saffa accent
• your cheeky sense of humour
• how thoughtful you are
• how you celebrate the little things
• you always make me feel beautiful
• how tall you are
• how much you love Mack
• your rollerblading powers
• your encyclopaedic knowledge of films and uncanny talent as a script writer
• that you're not afraid to say how you feel and show your emotions
• how you cry in movies - more than me!
• your gorgeous eyes
• your twitching tendencies and passion for birds
• your booty shaking G-Force dance - you know what I'm talkin' about!
• that you're not afraid to go outside your comfort zone
• that you wear your heart on your sleeve and are not afraid to put yourself out there on your blog.
• your sweet tooth
• your perfect teeth
• your enjoyment of the great outdoors, hiking and the ocean
• your addiction to lists
• your love of hugging
• your enduring positivity
• your enjoyment of discovering Sydney's hidden gems
• your passion for teaching
• your love of photography and eye for detail
• that you are always supportive and listen to my work dramas
• that you are writing a book
• that you're really a big softie (don't worry, I won't tell anyone.)
• your interest in meditation and in exploring your spiritual self
• your reliance on Sheila
• that you're a very good listener
• that you enjoy travelling in off the beaten track places
• that you bring me flowers unexpectedly for no reason
• that you're easy to talk to
• your G-liciousness!

Better stop before I run out of runway, but the list could go on for a while yet!  See you when you get back from South Africa and I'll be cashing in on all those stored up hugs.

Dani xx


May 2013

Dear Dani

Thank you so much for the past year - for the collage of wonderful, fun, special moments we have gotten to share.

As you know, I love lists, so here are just some of the golden moments that I treasure.

• Seeing you for the first time in a little pub in Kirribilli and being so smitten by your gorgeousness, I forgot to pay for your drink!
• The moment the apple juice exploded in the car, and the way you saw the humour in it.
• Putting my arm around you for the 1st time - the joys of sharing an umbrella in the rain!
• Holding your hand for the first time - while rollerblading, and then for the 2nd time at Govinda's.
• Going to the Sydney Olympic park to watch The Footie - and our first sleep over.
• Lazy Sunday morning sleep ins with a mocha and the paper.
• Your amazing Tiramisu - and those delicious Dutch pancakes.
• Lazing on your couch, all spread out, watching many a movie and munching chili chocolate!
• Ice skating with you - it felt very romantic.
• Getting to see you all dressed up for the theatre (Chorus Line)
• Your excitement when we saw dolphins so close on our whale cruise.
• Our cosey cabin in the Blue Mountains - and our struggle to get into it in the dark!
• Some great hikes and walks.
• Your wonderful letter when I went to South Africa
• Getting to have hair at your 40th birthday party - how great you looked in fluoro!
• Going into the Opera House for the first time to see the amazing Matthias Klum - what an inspired gift that was!
• Our photographic expedition around your folk's farm - and sitting on their porch swing.
• Frolicking in the surf with you - at Scott's Head and Port Shepstone - total exhileration.
• Our super road trip along Waterfall Way and sharing a tent with you at Cathedral Rock
• Cycling around Dubbo zoo, photographing cheeky meerkats and other critters.
• Great movies at the Orpheum (like Beasts of The Southern Wild and Argo) - no other cinema comes close!  
• Introducing me to the exhileration of The Banff festival and The Ocean Film Festival
• Watching you outmanoeuvre and triumph over that crafty Mark! 
• The joys of Thai take-away and introducing me to the deliciousness of pad see ew
• Watching you play games with Sally.
• Dessert heaven in the Hunter's Valley - and that mocha of all mochas (yum!)
• Browsing the Saturday markets and browsing the shops 
• Some lazy picnics in the park
• Experiencing dragon boat racing with you - and coming 2nd!!
• Tasting wine in Mudgee and Hunter Valley
• Sailing and kayaking on the harbour - what a beautiful city we live in!
• Showering together in the mornings - what a beautiful sight to start the day!
• Sampling some of our local restaurants
• Our crack cocaine addiction to Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad
• Showing me your baby photos - your cuteness was evident right from the start!
• Doing my little dance for you before bed - and your complimentary ooh la lah's if I'm wearing sexy underwear!
• Snorkeling at Shelley Beach - with you in your pink bikini!!!
• Your great Xmas gift of a slow cooker - and how it inspired me to get cooking.
• Getting to try your Honu - even if I did capsize!
• Delicious roasts cooked in your oven.
• Mack doing everything possible to get onto your lap - how he adores you!

What wonderful moments and memories - and what a treasure you are.  Thank you for such special times.  Thank you for being you.

Love,
G

Two Creeks Hike

A lovely hike with Dani along a creek through beautiful bushland, feeling very smitten and in love.  This is one of my favourite hikes, close to home.  After the hike, we went to a nice Mexican restaurant.

Swans verse The Giants

Here are Dani and I, all decked out in red, supporting The Swans.

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