Well hello there! Welcome to Contemplation.
I’ve created a new writing feature / challenge and I hope that you can join me. Please feel free to use the image above as our badge.
Since July 17th, 2015, I have been using the Kikki.K A Sentence a Day Journal. This is a beautiful mindfulness journal which provides one prompt per day, but has space on that page for three years worth of responses. I love the idea of having this with me for three years and each year discovering my response from the previous year and seeing whether I’ve grown, moved forward, stayed strong in my convictions, taken a step back or changed my ideas.
Each week, I’ll choose one of the prompts from that week and share both it and my response with you. I invite you to join me and share your response to the prompt as well, linking back to this post so that I can read your response. Use the tag Contemplation and name your post “Contemplation – Week xx”, corresponding to which week it is. I’ll add a link to your post at the bottom of this one.
Ok, let’s kick things off:
What is something important that your parents taught you?
My parents, my brother and I are all very close. We grew up on a farm and always had dinner together every night. We took care of each other, we talked to each other about our lives and our feelings, and above all we were honest with each other.
I went away for school when I was 17 and I was gone for about 8 years, but always going home for holidays and the occasional long weekend. After school, I went back home for a few months before I got my first job as a research scientist in Brisbane, so I moved away again but we always stayed in contact with each other and I found myself seeking their advice when making decisions about my future. They also moved to Brisbane 5 years after I did and we were able to see other all the time.
Last year, I was thinking about making some changes in my life and I waited for a while before speaking to my family. I didn’t want to upset them by telling them I wanted to move away – I was worried about how they’d react and I didn’t want to hurt them. In the end, waiting was silly. All it did was make me build up all sorts of dramatic reactions in my head and worried me even more. When I finally told them, they were sad (and so was I) but they were also super supportive and happy for me and very encouraging. I would never have been able to make the move without their help.
Life is very different without them being just 10 minutes away and I miss them, but we have a strong foundation and when we talk it’s like we were together just the day before.
My parents taught me the power of family, frienship and honesty – and these are still the things that mean the most to me.
Now please visit my wonderful fellow Contemplaters and their responses to the challenge. They have really opened themselves up with some very thoughtful self-reflection.
Lucile de Godoy – Contemplation Week 1
Julie Powell – Contemplation Week 1
Snippets of a Panda Life – Contemplation Week 1
Thank you so much for joining in the challenge, I’m looking forward to next week!
x desleyjane
musingsofafrequentflyingscientist.com 
An inviting challenge, and a lovely badge – featuring pink of course, suitably subdued to match the topic. I love the sense of your close-knit family which I’ve encountered before in other posts.
I probably won’t join in in fact, but I certainly will in spirit and in my head. Today’s prompt is challenge indeed, and as always when I think about my own parents, I wonder how each of my four duly offspring would answer the prompt.
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Why thank you. That’s an interesting thought – what you’ve taught your own kids and how that would compare with what they think they’ve learnt from you….
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Brilliant! Glad you did it 😀 love how close you are to your family and the lessons you learned from being around them.
I’ll post mine up during the week!
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Yay! You found it! Looking forward to yours. And thank you, we are very close, I need to call them actually….
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I am curious about your theme, since I have selected Dyad to use for my new blog when this one fills up. Are you happy with it? Or are you perhaps sorry you chose it and think of changing it again? I saw that post formats are really only two. I guess it’s on us to create variety of content. Anyway, I like the dual feel of it. Thank you for listening.
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I only changed to this theme yesterday and so far I like it. I don’t use any format other than the photography one anyway so I’m ok with it. I like the dual feel too. The photos on opposite sides each time. So far so good. I’d like to change the font size to something between the existing options but that’s all so far. Cheers!
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Oh, I see. 🙂 Thanks for your reply. Enjoy!
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My pleasure.
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I love how close you are with your family. I’d like to join the challenge. I may skip the first one since my parents both subscribe to my blog. Not sure that they are reading it LOL.
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I completely understand! Thanks JillyP 😘
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This is such a great idea! I would definitely love to take you up on this challenge 🙂 It’s so nice hearing about your close relationship with your family. Over the years I have come to appreciate my family for the same! Also love the badge you’ve created. Very fun!
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Thank you!! The badge is the actual book (I’m sure you realised that lol) and I love the matching pen I found. I’m looking forward to reading your response!!
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Reblogged this on lucile de godoy and commented:
My friend Desley started a new writing challenge : Contemplation! Read here how to join.
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It is a great idea for a challenge and the badge is pretty.
You have a beautiful family too. Lovely post.
Let me clean my rusty gray cells to join you.
xx
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Oh thank you my dearest. Looking forward to reading yours! Xx
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You’re most welcome!! Mine is out. Xx
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😊 I just read it, and loved it. X
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😘❤️
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Well hellooooooo! This post was a wonderful start to the contemplation adventure!
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LOL that introduction was just for you. It makes me giggle every time. Will you join us?
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Haha well I loved it! If I do it will be sporadic. I’m going to go with the flow and respond when something sparks.
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Heheheh. Ok cool, I like that.
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Seems like a fun challenge, I shall contemplate joining! I love the relationship you have with your parents! And your blog looks wonderful!
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Would love to have you Terri!! Thanks so much, I only changed themes yesterday and I quite like it.
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A cool writing challenge. But I’m so bogged down, I’m sure I won’t be able to join. But I do like your new theme…very clean, clear, crisp.
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Thank you, I like it too, it’s brand new (to me), thanks for noticing. Would love if you would join, I always enjoy reading you 😊
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cool…but I’m just so …hmmm ….undependable
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Hehehe we won’t hold you to anything, join whenever the mood strikes you. 😊😊
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Beautiful and insightful challenge!
There is nothing like family.
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Thank you so much! I agree.
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Very interesting challenge you have started DJ and I have seen how your family is so supportive to you so it is a lovely way to start off the theme. You have designed a very appropriate badge. At the moment I will just look and like I will be following along in the background and commenting. I’m sure this is going to be a popular challenge.
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Thanks PP. Always happy to have you in whichever capacity. And thank you for your comment on my badge. It’s the book of prompts and the pen that I use in it. I had fun getting back into shooting some product-type things again, I like that style very much.
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