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
Musings of a Frequent Flying Scientist 
I’d love to hear from you!