Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

 I used to have an active blog. Started it in 2008, deleted a number of posts, posted more in 2009 and kept going. Posted photos and book reviews, wrote about the stories I was writing at the time, gave my opinion on what was going on in the world... Earlier this year I took the blog offline. Somehow I felt like I needed a change. Needed something different. Needed all parts of my life to be different. A lot has changed in my life in the past two-ish years. I was forced to grow up, if I can use those words even though I've been an adult for quite a few years already. I was forced to change, despite not being ready for change at all. When you don't choose change but are forced to deal with it because that's just the way life works, it can be really hard to accept the changes and the 'new normal'. Sometimes though, when life gives you an opportunity for change, you don't realise how important that opportunity is, how vital it was that you change, until you've ...

After posting a single photo as a preview of this newest Photo Challenge last week , here are some of the other photos. I hope you enjoy the beauty of a misty morning. As is evident, I haven't written a Photo Challenge post every week, haven't written a proper Photo Challenge post for some time now. Yes, creating a Photo Challenge for this blog was meant in part to challenge me to go out there and take photos, however I've just not felt inspired lately. Walking around with a camera, attempting to see the beauty all around, sharing that beauty - All that sounds great in theory, however doesn't always work out in real life. Sometimes you're just too tired or drained. Sometimes you have a period when seeing the beauty is hard. Sometimes you feel let down by others and taking photos takes too much emotional effort. Sometimes you look at what is happening in the world and feel like taking photos of beautiful scenes is pointless. Sometimes you wonder why you even bothe...

A photo posted by Lee Weissman (@abraham_tent) on Aug 20, 2015 at 9:01pm PDT

If only humans thought more like flowers... Errr acted like... Errr wait no, is that what I meant?... "A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms." #quote pic.twitter.com/iWQ2lftpwh — The Quote Today (@TheQuoteToday) June 9, 2015

"Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world. Just start thinking peace, and the message will spread quicker than you think."  ~ Yoko Ono

Very interesting video by The Journey of Purpose (TJOP)

Being grateful. Sometimes it sounds very easy, at other times it sounds quite hard. When life seems to be going well, being grateful feels easy. We love our job, enjoy spending time with friends, attend interesting courses, we're fit and healthy - whatever makes us feel happy, satisfied and content, those are all things to feel grateful for. When life throws you curve balls and making ends meet or staying sane feels impossible, being grateful can seem pointless or futile. Life sucks - why should I be grateful for that? Yet even in the face of disappointment, curve balls, stress, grief, loss or hardship, we are alive and able to think about whatever may be happening in our lives. We are able to examine our lives, to look at what is happening and to find ways to get through whatever it is we're going through. One of the many perks of the way our minds work! Focusing only (or mostly) on negative thoughts, feelings and emotions like Life sucks / I'm a failure / Nobody love...

Wow, another interesting day in The Netherlands. The weather pulled a very Kiwi "Four seasons in one day" (pop-culture reference to the song by Kiwi band Crowded House) stunt today - rain, hail, wind, grey skies, a bit of sun, then blue sky and lovely sunshine - had it all and enjoyed, well, none of it actually. If only the sun had been shining a bit earlier, then my backyard would have been a lovely spot this arvo. Ah well, at least the flowers got watered eh... On a completely unrelated note, I was about to switch the telly off a few minutes ago when I heard an interesting sentence. Due to financial problems in this lovely country the government is trying its best to find ways to save money. One way that has been suggested is the reintroduction of compulsory military service. Whoa hold up WAIT THIS IS INTERESTING  my brain told me, yet the compulsion to log on to Facebook and play some games got to me. Good thing pretty much every newspaper is online today, as it m...