Poetry Corner - 'Hare In Summer"

In the little strip of shade

That a strainer-post has made,

squats a weakly panting hare.

All day he has squatted there.

Only with the shade he shifts.

As I approach, he slowly lifts

his goggling eyes, but will not run,

Fearing me less than the naked sun.

- Flexmore Hudson.

For some reason today, this poem that Mr. Ralph taught us in grade 6 at school came into my head.  Perhaps it's because I wish I had a little strip of shade right now.  My apartment is currently copping a VERY hot afternoon sun and I'm pretty sure I could bake a cake in record time in my living room.  I am taking refuge in the other side of the apartment with a little fan.

Mr. Ralph taught us poetry at school every friday, and had an obvious passion for it.  I think the above poem may have been the first poem he taught us.  As I remember, he didn't tell us what we would be doing as yet.  He simply told us to turn to the first page in our books, to draw line on a particular angle, then several vertical posts coming off that line, then the shade strips coming of the side of the posts, the sun up in the corner, and then the little hare in the shade.  And then he shared the poem with us.  I think maybe it stuck because of the visual image.  If I could work out the equivalent to "paintbrush" on a mac, I'd draw it for you - but alas.

I have to say I quite liked poetry growing up, and used to write it too.  Not really the serious stuff, more silly random stuff.  Like the poem I wrote one morning about Pinoccio having another nose.  There was also "The Treehouse" which I wrote, about a girl and her dad getting a little carried away with plans of a grand treehouse in their backyard.  If I can find it maybe I'll post it on here! 

My poetry has also received international acclaim, including my haiku written in Japan about the Kappa (mythical frog-like creatures famous in areas of Japan such as Tsuyama), not to be confused with the word "happa" meaning leaf.  So my awesome haiku said that because it was autumn, the Kappa were changing colour.  I didn't even know Kappa existed before writing that poem...

Me with a Kappa

Achieving the Impossible. Almost.

So in my last post I mentioned I wrote down six impossible things I believed I could achieve.  Well turns out yesterday I achieved one of them!  Almost.  But I was off by 1 second!! 

At my work, like many work places, a large part of our work is measured by stats.  A big one for us, being a call centre, is Call Handle Time (CHT).  Basically it addresses how long I take on each phone call (or another way to think of it, how long am I making the next caller wait).  So, my CHT is a little bit higher than the group average.  Like....probably more than a bit.  So I was encouraged to try and lower that significantly.  Something I've tried doing for quite some time with some success, but have never achieved the group average.  

So on Sunday night when I was inspired to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast, I wrote one impossible goal: Achieve 2 mins 30 call handle time.  Sometime (preferably before the end of Feb).  Now that I believed impossible things, I have worked very hard to be as efficient, yet professional, as I could.


Well my friends, miracles can happen when you believe.  Yesterday my average call handle time was 2 mins 31.  YES 2 MINS 31 SECONDS.  ONE SECOND OFF THE GOAL.  I don't think I've ever achieved that before.  So heck, I figured that was definitely close enough to be celebrating!  And to make things better, the group average at the moment is 2 mins 32.  I WAS ONE SECOND UNDER THE GROUP AVERAGE. 

WOOHOO!!!

So, my friends.  I have achieved the impossible.  Almost. (2 mins 30 would be nice next time).

Six Impossible Things

You know, sometimes life is hard.  Your goals, hopes, desires and dreams may seem impossible.  

Sometimes it may feel like it's time to give up on them.

And then I remember this great quote from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland:

Alice: "This is impossible."

Mad Hatter: "Only if you believe it is."

Alice: (after some thought...)  "Sometimes, I believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

She then goes on to name six impossible things she believes, ending with the impossible task immediately before her.  Then she goes and does it, achieving the impossible.

As this quote came into my mind last night I decided to create my own list of six impossible things, consisting of the many daunting and impossible tasks before me.  It really does work!  I feel that I can now do impossible things - because I believe them.  This movie always helps me find my "muchness" when I've lost it.

Waiting vs Creating

I had an epiphany about life this week.  I call it “waiting vs creating.”  I realised I do a lot of waiting in life, especially for entertainment or mental stimulation.  What do I mean?  Well another good word could be “checking.”  Check facebook.  Check my emal.   Check my blog.    Check the ABC news website at work between calls.  Check it again in case there’s something new as I’m already bored again. 

But the other day I decided to try something new at work.  A few days earlier I had decided I wanted to write a song with some thoughts and advice to a friend.  So at work I started writing the lyrics between answering calls.  And you know what?  It was awesome!  Not just my song (but really, the lyrics are pretty awesome), but my mind felt renewed, refreshed, entertained and invigorated.

SO with my spare time at home, instead of waiting until dinner or until it's time to go out to whatever event, I could perhaps edit some photography.  Paint a picture.  Learn a song on guitar.  Do a charcoal drawing.  Do some sewing.  Write a letter to someone serving a mission, or to my visiting teaching sisters.  Write some poetry or a song.  Do some more of my cross-stitch.  Plan my future and set some new goals.  Look up a new recipe.  Call a friend.  Things to do with creating something that is not already there.  Things I really want to do “when I have time.” 

So I’m now trying to limit the amount of “checking” or “waiting” when I could do something else.  Something creative.  Something new.

On the subject of creating, here’s a clip I love based on the words of Elder Dieter F. Uchdorf of the quorum of the twelve apostles.  Hope you enjoy and think of ways that you can create.

Book Club - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

This was a book that I had not chosen to read per say, but literally had thrust into my hands several months ago (thanks Elle hehe).  And I'm glad it was, because it was a very good read.  I really liked the writing style of the author (who I've just realised was a man...for some reason as I was reading it I assumed it was a woman? Anyway...ahem), it is written in third person, but as the main character is a young boy the writing style fits the mentality of a young mind.  I like the way the author describes things in a way a child would understand, instead of simply stating it in words like an adult would.  For example, when Bruno was angry, it didn't say "Bruno was really angry," but instead said something along the lines of "Bruno felt his arms go really stiff by his sides and his mouth formed the shape of an 'O'."  Things were described how he saw them.  If he didn't understand a word that was being said then that's all we were told as readers, left to fill in the full picture with our perceptive adult minds.  I found it to be a really easy and pleasant read written in this style.

Even though the book portrays some difficult themes and truths about the way Jews were mistreated in Nazi Germany, I wasn't finding the story too unpleasant, until near the end.  I somehow had an idea of how the story might end, yet it started to happen I still gasped and went "nooooooo!!!" and found the last part of the book really sad and difficult to read.  But I'm really glad I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.  

What are your thoughts?

YSA, The Beach and Perfect Cricket

Some weeks ago I had a couple of light-bulb moments.  Firstly, I’ve discovered I  love the beach.  Not swimming at the beach.  Just being at the beach.  Secondly, I love the YSA (Young Single Adult) program of the church.  It was Saturday, 12^th November, and as part of the YSA Overnighter, we had an activity at 7 Mile Beach in the morning. 

Although the turn-out was somewhat small, I had a great time.  Not because I did anything amazing there.  Basically I went and stood in the water with Erin where we buried our feet in the wet sand while we talked and stood there feeling that cool beach breeze.  After a while we decided to throw a ball around, but this was quite a new experience for me because it was a rugby ball, and I realized – I had no idea how to throw that thing!  I’m used to netball, basketball, tennis, cricket…all ROUND balls.  Pretty simple.  But this thing did not have the same aerodynamics! So I had Erin give me a lesson or two.  Turns out I’ve been missing my life’s calling!  I should have been playing rugby my whole life haha.  Well it was fun anyway.  We tried doing some “legendary” catches with a bit of success (and probably more not-success). 

Next everyone came together for a game of cricket.  Now perhaps I should mention that most people there I probably wouldn’t call my “besties”, yet coming together for this game of cricket I felt we were united as friends.  That is the beauty of the YSA program.  Yes, we may be very different and have varying tastes and backgrounds and recreational preferences.  We may not have picked each other out of a crowd to be our friends.  Yet if we choose to have an inviting and welcoming attitude towards each other, we can be united and have a LOT of fun together!  Being able to have fun with a group of people just because we’re all in YSA is a great thing, I think. 

As I left around midday for my next adventure for the day (where I met Johnno), I realized that it had been one of the best Saturday mornings I’d had in a long time.  And that’s when it all clicked.

Book Club

I've decided to start a new segment of my blog: it's called Book Club.  I've read a few good books lately that I want to write about, and hope this encourages me to keep reading good books and also to consider the themes within them or thoughts I have had from reading them.  Sure, I could join a real book club, but this way I only have to read books I want to ;)

As followers of my blog, you are invited to be part of my Book Club!  If you have read the book I am writing about, or even if you haven't, feel free to comment on the post and share your thoughts as well (please do, this would make me so happy!).

So, The Maz Blog Book Club is officially open!

Happy New Year

That was me attempting to write 2012 with sparklers in the first hour of this year.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

Time to set some goals (like going to bed with a tidy apartment each night), change over the calendar and diary (I went for a floral themed calendar this year with some beautiful photography), and enjoy the public holiday (going to the beach - woohoo!).  

As I heard in talks/lessons at church today, the New Year is a time for looking forward and not looking back.  The apostle Jeffrey R. Holland said a few years back: "As a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives."  Good advice to not live in the past.  The future - the glorious, clear future - is ahead of us!  I really like the comment someone made: Every day is the first day of the rest of your life.

One of my favourite songs is "Unwritten," sung by Natasha Bedingfield.  It includes the lyrics "I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand - ending unplanned."  It's so true that each new day is yet to be lived, it is up to us to write the story of our own lives on the new blank page each day.  I actually remember it best from a scene in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, where the girl is running on the beach.  I think I like that imagery because she is exerting her energy and doing something proactive, and that's exactly what we need to do - take action!  Life is about making choices, so get out there and make the best ones!

Here's to 2012, a fresh new year.