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The Spark of Joy

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The look, of love......⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ( And now you have your ear worm for the evening! )⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Who needs a husband when you've got this wee face looking up at you?! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She doesn't leave the toilet seat up⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She doesn't leave wet towels on the floor⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She doesn't leave dirty dishes behind⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She makes a warm spot on my bed each night then gets up out of it when I get in⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She knows when I'm about to hit PMS (before I do) and gives me cuddles ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She's a great wee heat pack for cramps, NEVER gets cold and never complains about it⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She doesn't change the channel on the TV or pass comments about my viewing choices⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - She doesn't steal my chocolate⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sometimes, the single life really is as awesome as people think! hahahaaaa⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #mydogsaremorephotogenicthanme #justchillin #doggymummy #bordercollielove #redbordercollies #bordercolliesofinstagram #dogsdontleavethetoiletseatup⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #singlelife #singleover35 #thesingletruth #puppylove #dogstagram #dogoftheday #madrarua #womansbestfriend #whoneedsahusband #endowarriors

Well isn't that a close up and a half!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When I started this account, less than a year ago, I would not have been able to take a picture like this, let alone post it for all the world to see.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Confidence is a funny thing, and if you've caught @melwiggins this past week she's been talking about how there's no such thing as confidence. Definitely go check out her blog post on it!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We tell ourselves stories, we listen to other people's stories about us, and we believe them. But that's all they are: stories. Stories that are rooted in fear.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Once we start to identify the stories we tell ourselves, where they come from, what (and who's) fear is behind them, they start to loose their power over us and we can overcome them, replace them with new more positive stories that are rooted in love and strength.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Then the whole world changes.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I've been doing a lot of work on my own stories this year, particularly around being a single woman in her mid-late thirties without children.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I've been to many countries in this wonderful world of ours, but I definitely find that here, in NI, there are a LOT of cultural stories around marriage and parenthood for women. Most of them are quite toxic, dressed up in 'polite' small talk, and serve only 1 purpose - to make us feel less-than if we don't fit some arbitrary picture of what's "proper" - and you can even tag on the end of that "...for a woman of your age"⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So let me take this opportunity then to tell you, you are #morethan your marital or parental status.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Where are you from? Have you experienced this where you are? Let's chat in the comments, I'd love to hear your experiences and perspectives.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #introspection #onlinedating #singlelife #singleover35 #thesinglereality #selfaware #selfimprovement #nibloggers #belfastbloggers #irishbloggers #closeup #realitycheck #datenight #loveyourself #growthminset #personalgrowth #progress #confidence #awareness #emotionalintelligence #emotionalfitness

So the wonderful @melwiggins over at @assemblycommunity set a 5 days of visibility challenge a few weeks back and I had all the great intentions of doing it, but then, dogs happened and I got distracted and forgot and didn't do it.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Whaaaaat? The dogs are cute and do fun and silly things and then I procrastinate and decide that there are much more exciting (ok, you should really read that as 'less scary' things) to be doing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So here I am. #assemblyvisibility day 1.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I feel most alive when...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When I read this, my first instinct was to try and think of something witty and pithy like, “I feel most alive when I’ve got stinking awful period pains, because I’m in pain so I know I’m definitely alive”. But then I remembered, I'm only witty and pithy in my head and it NEVER works out when I release it into the world. People may laugh, and may even call me funny, but the laughter is definitely at me not with me, and the funny is more on the side of strange, not so much ha-ha.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Well it sparked a major thought, everything I came up with wasn't quite right. I thought about all the things I find fulfilling and rewarding, challenging and physically demanding like the #toughmudder event where this picture was taken, things that get my heart rate up and adrenaline rushing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I thought I knew exactly what I was going to say, and I had it written, then realised, that's not what makes me feel alive. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Have you ever experienced that simple question that just stumps you and leaves you stopped in your tracks?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I've actually got quite a big blog post now about it. So thanks Mel for the prompt, for the poke, and for the spark of creativity!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Check out part 1 on the blog, in the links up in the bio and leave me a wee comment.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What makes you #FeelAlive?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #joy #adrenaline #challenged #makingmyheadhurt #thinkingtoomuch #loveachallenge #inspired #creativesatwork #calledtobecreative #niblogger #nibloggers #irishblogger #irishbloggers #belfastblogger #belfastbloggers #thesparkofjoy

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