No better time to promote, than right now…
A few years ago my husband and I spent some time living in Penang, Malaysia. There I met the most beautiful man, who to this day is a very close friend. We share similar concerns about the environment, about materialism, and the lack of care for the planet. The galloping and frightening pace of change from where we were less than three generations ago, to where we are today, we discussed at great length.
When I first struck up a conversation with him I asked about why the tides around the island…
And through that, being born again…
There’s no interview. The position is challenging and fierce. It comes with no salary. It leaves you absolutely exhausted every day, deprives you of sleep, and the free time you once enjoyed, but you wouldn’t trade it even for free access to the biggest bank in the world.
Welcome to the World of Motherhood, where love begins and ends. Welcome also to the longest and most fulfilling chapter in your life.
‘It might be physically impossible to count the ways a mother expresses her love. Where loving warmth meets a teachable moment, that’s where you’ll find a mother, confidently wielding…
Celebrating the birth of a friend’s little boy…
The inspiration comes from the poem, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ It’s all about seizing opportunity, and being open to adventure.
Dearest William,
CONGRATULATIONS!
Today is your day,
You’ve landed on earth
And now you must stay.
Today‘s your ‘birth’ day!
And you’re perfect, we think.
But we know that the years
Will fly by in a blink.
So from feasting on milk,
Over which you now drool,
Soon you’ll be shopping
For clothes fit for school!
Oh the things there you’ll do,
Oh the people you’ll see,
The teachers you’ll have,
And the student you’ll be.
The friends that…
To look in a mirror and like what they see…
It was a Friday night. Late opening in our city, a night when it is de rigueur to shop after work, and then enjoy a simple meal out.
My husband needed some business clothes, and we went down to the basement of a large store in the men’s section. It was a store where he always found clothes that he liked, so we spent a fair bit of time looking. Our daughter, quite young at the time, perhaps three or four, was with us.
She was always a good little girl, well-behaved, and patient for the most part.
We duly…
And ways to consume or use them as the food they are…
I have a confession to make. There was a time when I would have avoided eggs completely, give or take a boiled egg maybe once a month. Such was the fear placed on us about cholesterol and health, way back in the nineties!
What a bleak time that must have been! I cringe when I think about what I actually fed my family. After all, the humble egg is probably the most versatile source of protein!
But these days I am older and wiser, and the internet has allowed access to credible (sometimes incredible) literature, such that I no longer…
Dear Parents series…
So your child didn’t get one? How was that for you?
Awards — love them or loathe them, they exist in most schools, and teachers try endlessly to find reasons for all students to get at least one award within the academic year.
For reasons you will learn, they have a duty to find something to praise a student about, yes, even the student who constantly gets under their skin.
All young students know that their turn will come, at some stage, for whatever nebulous reason the teacher can come up with, but is that worth much?
This is saying that it’s a struggle for fairness on a teacher’s part, yet…
There can be no greater legacy than giving young people the tools they need to save our planet.
Here’s a serious question for you.
Is it reasonable to ask our kids, the future adult generation, to care for something they know so little of?
I’m talking about caring for our planet. In posing this question I am very much aware that, unlike in my childhood where we were free as birds to roam and explore, we now live in the age of fear where we protect our kids at all costs.
It’s the reason we taxi kids to school, and pick them up.
Its the reason we don’t allow them to go down by the river.
We’re not…
Giving birth to stories is about as onerous as giving birth. Ask any writer…
Success as a writer is all about the number of lives you have touched. It’s not about money, though that would be a nice measure. It’s not about fame, though that too has its place.
So how do we measure success? Who knows? Not everyone who reads your stories will get back to you with feedback, sadly. And yet, when we are all happily resting in the hereafter, there is every chance that someone will read your work and be inspired. …
Engaging with, and developing true friendships with readers and writers alike…
Recently I wrote this story. It’s much to do with the miracle of birth, the wonder and awe in two people producing a perfect human being.
For me this miracle came after years of not carrying my babies to term, and the heartache therein.
I wrote about how, when we hold our babies for the first time, the future has no place in the wonder we feel. It’s all about the absolute present, the moment, the feeling that is like no other, and the determination to be the best mother.
But as time goes on and we integrate with other…
Maria Rattray
Changing the world one word at a time. Find me at: http://amazon.com/author/mariarattray or: https://ponmyword.com
