neXtDRAFT 43. Peace among the eucalypts and tropical headlands

Published: Sat, 10/27/18

Welcome new subscribers. If this is your first neXtDRAFT you'll find poems, stories and pics about my life as an adopted mum (and freelance writer) living between Australia and the Philippines. Every week I also share my best tips for making money as a professional writer and how to navigate your home office workplace while serving clients from all over the world.

Here in the Philippines I support about 20 kids from a rural municipality with food, school supplies and love; while encouraging them to go to school. You'll read their stories here too. And if you are a stamp collector, you'll be the first to see the newest listings in the STAMPS FOR THE VISAYANS eBay store -- where 100% of the proceeds support the kids here.

neXtDRAFT is delivered to your inbox every Sunday(ish) depending of course on the frequent monsoons, powercuts and WIFI outages (which sometimes interfere with my publishing schedule).

Again welcome, I'm so glad to have you part of the neXtDRAFT community. Unsubscribe anytime using the link at the bottom of the page.

Melinda J. Irvine

https://melirvine.com.au/

Hello, happy Sunday, and welcome to neXtDRAFT 43.

Peace among the eucalypts and tropical headlands.

This week neXtDRAFT officially turned 1: my little project to help me develop and sustain a steady writing habit has become such a fundamental part of my life that I truly love the way it inspires me each week to find a new poem, photograph or story. I still find it incredible to have an audience out there reading my stuff.

You.

I'm so grateful that you are still here.

As you read this I am in Townsville (Far-north Queensland) staying with the family of my youngest sister. I expected to spend one night here then head south last Wednesday (to see my parents and Uncle) but a short(ish) trip to Townsville Hospital caused me to miss my flight.

For almost 2 months now I've had a terrible cough which I figured was sourced from all the mould and wet flooding weather inside our house it the Philippines. I thought the 6 week trip to Australia would sort that out quickly. And it is slowly.

But last Wednesday morning (after a series of precautionary TB tests) I fronted up at the hospital with chest pains, an unrelenting cough, and a heavy dose of anxiety. As soon as I mentioned the TB tests and recent exposure (from Jerry) to the nurse assigned in the ER, I was immediately shovelled into quarantine and for the next few hours subjected to endless interrogation and blood tests. Not really helping that anxiety.

Being placed behind glass I became the latest 'specimen' until finally the tests came back clear (but my flight had already flown) and it became obvious that Jerry's paediatrician was right all along, and that children don't spread TB to adults.

sunset

falls to earth

broken leaves reply

But this spiel isn't about a critical whinge about the staff of Townsville Hospital. They were extremely caring and did everything in their power to find out was actually wrong with me -- turns out a fractured rib (probably from all the coughing) came up on the x-ray as the source of all the chest pain. And they concluded (as I had), the coughing and subsequent chest infection was probably from my allergy to mould and living for 2-3 months in a flooded (never dry) house.

What I'm actually searching for here (in my head as much as in this text) is a sense of inner peace that could remain with me no matter what situation I was facing. That instead of losing myself into conflict mode and fighting the people trying to help me, I could remain calm -- let that flight leave and believe that what was happening was in my best interests. It's tough to let that go when conflict seems to be central to the way you live your life (and it's a bitter pill when you actually realise it).

For many years I thought the object of life was to obtain happiness. In fact I made it a bit of a mission many years ago to be 'happy' and have ironically been rather upset that I rarely felt that way. And it's only recently through the readings of scholars and spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh that I am beginning to realise that it is completely unrealistic to expect that you could ever be happy all the time. After all, how could you?

Is it really possible to be euphoric and blissful when you are behind the glass window of the hospital quarantine room, with stickers and beepers stuck to you -- feeling like a complete idiot for going there in the first place? But you could feel peace. You could still be at peace during the whole process, even if you weren't completely happy. And that's what I'm seeking.

Gum blossoms at the Ross River Parkway in Townsville

tangled

river walkway

gum blossom cepheids

So this is where my mind has been at these past months. To retain my inner peace (or even achieve it) no matter what is happening in that moment -- through any flood, any cough, any missed flight, or any telecom-provider-conflict. And to really strive to change the way I engage with others (which hasn't exactly been peaceful if you know me well) and the belief that this could provide more feelings of happiness and a more permanent peaceful state.

This has really become my mission now (and in neXtDRAFT too) to find a personal sense of peace, dive deeper into what that really is, and look for it more in the world around me. Like every week when I look for things to write about I could find something beautiful instead of something terrible -- I think the gum blossoms guiding the Ross River Parkway (Townsville) like little polestars is a far better topic than my latest frustration.

Walking the extensive trails of the Ross River Parkway in Townsville, flanked by river and gum blossom cepheids - like little pole stars.

Peace gets a bit of a bad wrap at times. We are often led to believe that world peace is just an absence of war and violence, and that inner peace is something to strive for during prayer or meditation, but as a permanent state not all that desirable. Apparently it's a bit boring to be peaceful.

Even professional peacebuilders claim that "'peace studies, peace research, peacekeeping and peacemaking are almost universally acclaimed to be laudable activities, but not for 'serious' scholars and clinitians doing their 'day' jobs".

So at risk of being boring and irrelevant I'm presenting to you now a peaceful evolution of neXtDRAFT. To let go of the need for drama and strive for an eZine (and a life) themed around peace (individual quietude, natural beauty, harmony in community, and universal peace) as well as personal engagement with writing, literature, music and other creative arts. I think I'm getting there.

Till next week.

Mel xx

PS: This week Jerry has been staying in a little place called Carles with the family of my friend and helper Emelyn while they celebrate a family wedding. He proudly told me on the phone he was going to catch the bride's 'flowers' (bouquet) until I told him if he did that he would have to get married. Apparently there was no more talk of catching the 'flowers' after that.

Sincerely,

Melinda J. Irvine

[email protected]

shoes back behind
allowing morning
cool contiguous
to toes

1975 Australian Scientific Development 11c 24c 33c 48c Set of 4 MUH

Stamp Corner: Australian developments in science and education

This week Uncle Richard has been busy creating some new listings in the eBay store including the 1945 Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the 1934-48 Airmail 1/6 Hermes, and some variations on the South Australia overprints. But here in the newsletter I am featuring a two sets of stamps that I particularly like -- the celebration of scientific development and education.

Advances in science and education have made our lives so much easier, and all of us have the opportunity to live much longer with greater fitness, dexterity, and personal achievement. I like the idea that the sale of these stamps (even in a small way) will help disadvantaged children have greater access to education and science too.

If they speak to you, check out these excellent stamps today.

PS: Stamps for the Visayans is a project of my Uncle Richard. In 2014 he inherited the family stamp collection which dates back 3 generations. He sells the stamps individually on eBay and sends the proceeds to help me live in the Philippines with Jerry (as well as run small projects for other disadvantaged children). It's incredible how these $5, $10 and $20 stamp sales (plus the odd big one) add up and make our life here possible.

1974 Education 5c 11c 15c 60c Set of 4 MUH

Above the Ocean

cape.
fronded
textures

Top 5 Ways to Teach Organisational Skills to Your Children

This is an article I wrote recently for the team at BodyICE Australia — manufacturers of quality sports and injury recovery packs for adults and children. BodyICE promote wellness and positive parenting and in the blog I share my best tips for teaching organisational skills to kids.

#parenting #BodyICE

I’m a professional writer making my way in the world of business. The WritingBiz section is for anyone wanting to make writing a career (or at the very least make some money writing). Each week I share a few ideas on how to find writing jobs, self-publish your own eBooks, as well as how to setup your writing business and run it profitably.

PROFESSIONAL WRITER TIP #5: Establish Clear Boundaries with Friends and Family

When you have a home office you have to be absolutely strict with the time you allocate to your friends and family. If your friends are shift-workers, on holidays, or retired it can be tempting to impulsively say yes to mid-morning coffee or take a fun phone call leaving your client project, next chapter of your novel, or invoicing for yet another day.

I don’t mean you need to cut yourself off or be rude, just aim for standard work hours and a consistent approach to your friends. If you never answer the phone between 8:00 am and 12 noon chances are your mum will habitually begin to call you later in the day. When working on a project you can set your phone to flight mode or even better use the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature, enabling calls from a few key clients only.

I’d have to say my number one fault in the first few years as a freelancer and independent consultant was wasting time during the day and then spending nights and weekends and holidays plugging away at client projects (or worse the quarterly accounts), ironically declining party invitations that would have been available to me if I’d just been smarter during the day.

Ultimately, if you want to get that novel finished or establish a reputation as a productive and reliable freelance writer you'll need to discipline to stick with the writing no matter who's at the door or on the phone.

Writing a Company Description

When somebody wants to know more about your business (or you), the About Us (or about me) page on your website is one of the first places they’ll look. It’s such a critical part of your website so maximise this opportunity to tell the world exactly who you are, quickly.

Although an About Us page can certainly contain ...

why you started your business
a description of your products and services
your mission and values
who works for you
how you give back to the community

... remember to emphasise how your company helps people and a few reasons why customers might want to do business with you.

Writing a company profile for your ‘About Us’ page

The best About Us pages begin with an elevator pitch (1-2 sentences that describe your business holistically) then present the rest of the text as a story (your story) -- unfolding it in punchy sentences, logical headings and short paragraphs.

Website visitors lose interest very quickly if they see an About Us page with 2 or 3 scrolling screens of solid text. Even worse if it’s written in a small font and big thick paragraphs. You might have the most incredible backstory, but no one know if you don’t make it easy to read.

Google and the major search engines also give emphasis to the text on your About Us page, so you’ll need to use strategic keyword phrases, header tags and back-end meta data to maximise that opportunity.

If you are including a ‘company history’ section, use plenty of images that relate to the text — it will be much more interesting and readable. You can also break it up by including your Company Vision and Mission Statement too.

#companybios #freelancing

Writing from Townsville this week at my sister's house.

More poems and stuff on the blog

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Back Issues of neXtDRAFT

https://melirvine.com.au/nextdraft-back-issues/

From the vault: Oct 2017

The first cover of neXtDRAFT was a set of afternoon shadows striking a granite cliff face in the Blue Mountains.

Happy Birthday neXtDRAFT

As a writer you are constantly fighting the little voice in your head that says you’re a complete fraud and wasting good webspace (or paper). Writing, writing and more writing seems to be the only way to push your way through these niggling thoughts.

So this time last year I decided to create a regular newsletter to help me establish a formal writing practice, fend off the little voice, and push me to publish enough content each week to fill a proper eZine. neXtDRAFT.

Twelve months on (and 43 editions later) I am still here and more committed than ever to presenting better material -- writing better text, taking better photos, and curating better content.

My vision of neXtDRAFT for the future is an eZine themed around peace (individual quietude, natural beauty, harmony in community, and universal peace) as well as personal engagement with writing, literature, music and other creative arts.

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