Imagination hack attack

September 01, 2015 by Phoebe Maroulis in Creativity, Change, self awareness, Self expression, Parenting, Engagement

Those 5 simple words "my imagination has been hacked" have opened my mind to the knowing that in so many ways we have the education system around the wrong way, perhaps it is the children who are the teachers

Materialism evicted Christmas

December 24, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Choice, community, Creativity, Engagement

My spirit was trying to tell me something was amiss but I wasn't listening. I am grateful that I am now conscious of why I have felt so crap and that I can encourage the focus of tomorrow to be on the things that matter - the sharing, the caring, the unconditional love, the enjoyment of the moments not the things. Tomorrow I look forwarding to giving and receiving the gifts of unconditional love and laughter in abundance.

Which wolf are you choosing to feed?

November 09, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Choice, Communication, community, Engagement, resilience, Self expression

A Cherokee elder was teaching his children about life. He said to them, “A terrible fight is going on inside me. It is a fight between two wolves. One is the wolf of joy, love, hope, kindness and compassion. The other is the wolf of fear, anger, cynicism, indifference and greed. The same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too.” The children thought about it for a moment and then one child asked, “Which wolf will win?” The elder replied, “Whichever one you feed.”

This story is valuable for me at present as I try to consciously redirect a conversation I am currently having with a number of individuals regarding a community development issue.

Which wolf are you choosing to feed through your actions?

Subtlety of connection

July 14, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Communication, community, Engagement

"To warm ones hand by the fire & then to squeeze gently the fingers of another person".

From me to we

July 10, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Choice, community, Communication, Engagement, self awareness

I have so much still to learn and for now am concentrating my efforts on trying to ask the right questions and to keep asking even when I feel like I have the answers but I am relieved to be feeling a beautiful sense of contentment knowing that I have identified the source of potential pain and that I have the will to find ways to overcome it.

That's not funny...

May 09, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Communication, Engagement

It strikes me that knowing and understanding that there are differences in the way we each behave in different situations is important but what is more important is really knowing yourself, really knowing your own preferences for communication style, self awareness of what floats your boat and what gets you fired up. Once you become clear about your own style - humour vs serious - you can then ensure that there is a balance, being open to humour if it is not necessarily your thing, being willing to go deeper if you have a tendency for keeping things light, but also being able to reflect back to others this need for balance. If someone is dominating the conversation with their preferred style it is important to be able to reflect this back to them in a manner that helps achieve balanced conversation - this to me, is where the magic lies.

Entitlement to expression

May 01, 2014 by Phoebe Maroulis in Communication, Engagement

I have been challenged lately by the concept of "entitlement to expression". What factors influence whether someone is able to speak their mind or whether in their doing so they are impacting negatively on others or being destructive to the resolution of the issue at hand?

Obviously there are guidelines for communicating effectively such as wisdom in one's choice of words, appropriate timing, awareness of the environment in which the conversation is taking place etc but I think what fascinates me is something beyond this.