Ageing Outrageously - Keeping Focus

 Let's start off with the obvious. A woman goes through many phases as she grows from childhood through to a teenager, an adult and then an older woman. These changes influence & impact upon her life at all those particular points in time and travel with her into the future, sometimes bringing with them emotional reminders, both good and bad. These she either confronts & deals with or carries as baggage.

But for the majority of us all the "seasons" of womanhood are exciting, filled with promise and challenges plus a few pitfalls which we manage to struggle through and rise above when it's difficult but which we mainly sail happily through.

Then one day the face in the mirror that looks back at us, is unrecognisable. Experience, joys, hardship, worry, anxiety, the ups and downs of surviving in a world that may present hurdles and difficulties, show in our face and in our body. Gravity wears away at our looks and figures, and for some reason our mind undergoes a similar change. Not always for the better I might add. Yet it forms the opinion that the person in the mirror no longer deserves to be pampered or bothered about. Even as far as saying that the person no longer deserves respect.

With that decision, many subtle and not so subtle changes become habit. We take less care of our complexions, our hair, our hands and feet. We take less trouble in choosing clothing. Anything that fits (whether it suits us or not) will do! Many women even give up on their favourite past-times or leisure pursuits, including hobbies, and "retire". When I think about it, and I decided not to think about it too often a long time ago, "retire" is such a negative word! It's really not worth my attention, because by definition it means, to sit in a corner and rusticate! Isn't it better to "rest" (rather than "rust") when we need to, and to bustle around doing things when we choose to? As so often happens when a woman "retires" she loses her sense of being important, if not to others, then quite often to herself. Silly, isn't it?

And what happens is that women too often no longer see themselves as intelligent, articulate women deserving of having their opinions heard and respected. We also forget, far TOO often, that we are still sensual beings.

Is it wrong for us to "want" to wear makeup, to dress nicely, do things we want to do, go where we want to go, travel, undertake courses at TAFE or university, even?

Why not buy a new car, leave a failed and/or broken relationship, especially if that relationship has become violent and uncaring? Even, dare I say it, to take a lover?

Don't get me wrong - I have strong principles and ethics that direct my personal standards, but life is short, and it needs to be treated with the utmost respect, humility and affection.

Affection for life? Of course. It's a wonderful and unique thing - life. You can't make it, you can't copy it, you can't replace it. It's a gift to you and I believe, passionately, that because it is a gift, it should be treated with gentleness and total and unconditional love and respect.

To be continued .....

Returning to the fold!

Hello everyone

Now this is going to be a surprise for all those wonderful readers who showed interest in keeping up to date with my writings only to find that in 2017, suddenly there was silence.   

As a growing older woman I fall back on the excuse that "time flies".  And honestly it does.  Yet no doubt it won't be such a surprise to learn that my writings, whether they be via my blogs or my small naîve love stories have been consistent, only not online.   What I neglected to do of course was to allow my readers to know what I was doing so they could keep track of my work, even though infrequent.  That, in retrospect, really didn't allow for me to tell the full story as to why.

And of course, telling the full story would take thousands of words.  So let's put it simply.  

After writing RoseMary's NoteBook© for more than 27 years, I gave myself permission to withdraw from writing my blog and began to concentrate on writing a few short, short stories about my years with my late partner, John.   It was while writing the first couple of short, short stories I realised I had, because of my focus on sharing information with John,  morning, noon and night, that I'd absorbed much more information about the mining industry in Australia during the 1980s/1990s until the final boom years before the mining commodies market collapsed in 2016, than I had previously thought.   So once on the highway of putting as much detailand information (personally known even though at times naîve) I became not only engrossed but obsessed with writing as much and as quickly as I could.

Growing older makes a person realise that it's very cathartic being able to write about one's life;  even  if breaking that life into sections or decades for writing's sake.

So that brings me to the subject of what I'd like to write about now.   I think I've got the answer, and now it's a matter of putting facts, dates, people, information into their respective files and starting the ball rolling.

Keep tuned, because it could be interesting.

Fond regards to all

PS  The unexpected joy however of recapturing my enthusiasm and eagerness to resume my RoseMary's NoteBook© blog, as well, has topped off a great deal of careful thought.    Join me and the team.  You're invited to participate with the NoteBook©s, send in your articles.  

https://rosemarysnotebook.blogspot.com 

It's Spring!

Hello everyone

It's been a long while since I posted here, but things have been moving along slowly and swiftly!  Not so much of a contradiction for as the years go by one feels either in a hurried state or else in such a slow pace that we lost track of what we've done and what we have yet to do.

The "Gift of Aging" has been a wonderful success and I have to thank my lovely adopted daughter for all the work she put in, in helping me publicise and promote this hand-book at the Regis Exposition.  She has just reminded that the next Expo is scheuled for October this year.  How time flies.

I've been doing a bit of personal writing in a general sense of the word.  Just finished a Trilogy about a middle aged business man and a middle aged woman.  Yes, they fall in love, and share a passion that surprises and overwhelms them!

As well, I've just completed a personal love story between myself and my partner John who passed away in 2014 (hence the delay in bringing my posts up to date).  This has been written for my family should they ever wish to read the "true" story.  Many assumptions and wrong conclusions often come about when family members don't bother to listen and don't want to know facts from their imagined fiction.  This endeavour has set out to correct those assumptions.

So what next?   Not quite sure but it may well be a booklet on RoseMary's NoteBook© - 25 years plus!

So keep tuned.

THE LATEST PROJECT

Hi everyone

The latest project under the umbrella of Best Sunday Hat Publications is to be a book on

"The Gift of Aging - 
Growing older - and getting "old"

Now 

at first glance you'd think, quite rightly, that this is a rather long title, and it is. But it explains in precise detail what this booklet is all about. 

It comes in two parts.  The first part deals with the "positive" side of things - how to enjoy every moment and have fun!   Because as we begin growing older, the "fun" part sometimes eludes us.  It behoves us therefore to get and put as much enjoyment and fun unto our life as we possibly can. Part Two covers the "nitty-gritty" things of life and the fears associated with loss of health and mobility as we grow older. There are hints and strategies that we can put into place; there are ideas to take into account for our own personal safety and benefit, and lots of things in between.  This section particularly is of interest to families and friends who take on "carer" responsibilities.  

There are a couple of Appendices outlining important information that could come in handy, to the person growing older and getting "old" as well as their families and friends.

Compiled by Rosemary Parry-Brock, this book provides a feast of information all under one cover.  Rosemary speaks from the perspective of growing older herself combined with information derived from authentic professional agencies. 

If you'd like to put your name down for a copy of this booklet which will be available on CD - then please write and let us know.