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Word Challenge

Ok, as you know I'm not usually one that subscribes to memes or what everyone else is doing. But I really like this one that I saw over at Vancouver Calling and thought, what the heck! Rules are as follows:

1. You have to come up with 10 words starting with a letter that either you choose yourself or that someone chooses for you.

2. These words must be meaningful to you and you must give an explanation of why each of these words are important to you.

3. If you would like to play the game, leave a message in the comments and I will give you a letter to play with here in the comments section, and then I will link to your blog. Be warned, it's not as easy as it seems.

VV has chosen the letter "C" for me, so here we go!

Children: This word is meaningful to me for two reasons. Firstly, I was told once that I may never have children. Biggest problem with this? The only thing that I definitely knew I wanted to be from early in life, was a mum: I wanted my own children. Of course now I know I could have been a mum without actually giving birth. But at the time it nearly destroyed me. So when Zoe came along, my dream literally came true. I had my own child. I felt complete. I was whole. THIS was my purpose in life. Secondly, children are our future. What we teach them today, they live tomorrow. Children are our most important asset. We need to take better care of them, need to value them as humans, need to protect them until they can do it themselves. A friend recently said that she loved how I interacted with children. Well this is the reason why, they are 'apprentice people' as someone I know once said, and I think they are our most valued resource.

Country: By country I mean 'the country' as opposed to the city. I've spent most of my life living in country or rural areas and it has shaped who I am and what I will become. There is a serenity about the country that calms the soul, allows you to hear yourself think and offers the chance to be introspective in a way that can't be found in the city. I've lived in both so I know the difference! Some are 'city folk', some are 'country folk'. I'm the latter. Plain and simple.

Commitment: This is a very important word to me, particularly at the moment. Some of you know the full story, some don't. But suffice to say that even if you don't you are well aware of the fact that shit is happening in my life. Commitment is about seeing something through to the end, and is something that at times I've struggled with. I've been working on that, and being a parent has shown me a whole new meaning to the word! Its about not running when the going gets tough, or too hard. It's about giving part of yourself to someone or something else simply because they need it as much as you do. It's about following through on what you've offered or freely given in the past. It's many different things to many people, but to me right now it's about love, and friendship, and giving.

Carrajung Sth: Carrajung Sth is a place we lived for around 12 months. They were the most carefree, fun filled and wonderful 12 months of my life. It was a tiny little area, or settlement (town is too heavy a word for what this place was!) between two fairly major rural towns and was simply awesome. We went to a school that had 13 students until we arrived, they loved us cos they got extra staff! We rode horses to school. In fact if it was daylight and we weren't at school, we were riding horses! We were free spirits in an environment that was safe for us to be that way. We hypnotised chooks. We learnt how to crack whips. We has a ghost in the house we lived in. We had the world at our feet. We didn't know it at the time, but things were very tight financially, but we wanted for nothing. We had fresh air and our imaginations and it was all we needed. If you ever see just staring off into space quietly smiling to myself, chances are I'm remembering that time.

Coffee: This blog is called 'spilling the beans'. At one point in time it was called "Just put that coffee straight into my IV please" and if that were possible I'd be all for it! But then it would lose it's essence. Coffee is a part of me, part of my life and something that I'm passionate about. A really nice cup of coffee is similar to a nice glass of wine. I don't drink wine, but there are comparisons to be made here. The growing of the cherry trees that give us our coffee- arabica or robusta varieties - is very similar to the growing of wine grapes and all it's different varieties. Climate, soil, environment altitude etc etc all influence the end result. It's an art form. It was from working in a coffee shop and the people I met through that shop, that I met Zoe's father. And it turns out that excess caffeine can affect the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill. For these reasons, coffee was in part responsible for Zoe's surprise conception!!! Coffee is often mentioned in my feel good Friday posts for a reason - a nice cup of coffee and the appreciation I have for all the steps needed to bring it to that cup - and there are many! - can make my day seem a little brighter.

INTERMISSION It's 10-30 on Saturday night and that line up there where it says this isn't as easy as it looks is sooooo true! So I'm going to sleep on it and finish this off tomorrow. Slack on my part I know, but to be honest, I don't care! Have a good one guys and if you want to do this, just yell out in the comments...seeya tomorrow for part 2 of the 'word challenge'