• Enneagram Test

    From Eclectic Energies:

    Enneagram Type 5 – The Investigator
    Thinkers who tend to withdraw and observe

    People of this personality type essentially fear that they don’t have enough inner strength to face life, so they tend to withdraw, to retreat into the safety and security of the mind where they can mentally prepare for their emergence into the world. Fives feel comfortable and at home in the realm of thought. They are generally intelligent, well read and thoughtful and they frequently become experts in the areas that capture their interest. While they are sometimes scientifically oriented, especially with the Six wing, just as many Fives are drawn to the humanities and it is not at all uncommon for Fives to have artistic inclinations. Fives are often a bit eccentric; they feel little need to alter their beliefs to accommodate majority opinion, and they refuse to compromise their freedom to think just as they please. The problem for Fives is that while they are comfortable in the realm of thought, they are frequently a good deal less comfortable when it comes to dealing with their emotions, the demands of a relationship, or the need to find a place for themselves in the world. Fives tend to be shy, nonintrusive, independent and reluctant to ask for the help that others might well be happy to extend to them.
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  • Phases of Burnout

    Taken from Wikipedia:

    Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North have theorized that the burnout process can be divided into 12 phases, which are not necessarily followed sequentially, nor necessarily in any sense be relevant or exist other than as an abstract construct.

    1.The Compulsion to Prove Oneself
    Often found at the beginning is excessive ambition. This is one’s desire to prove themselves while at the workplace. This desire turns into determination and compulsion. This leads them to show off to their co-workers, proving that they are doing an amazing job, that they are doing better than all others.
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  • Positive flow

    I get a daily “meditation” in my email inbox each day from Livinglifefully.com and one that arrived recently stuck in my mind as one of the things I’ve learned over the past 12 months. That the more you dwell on your faults, the more wrapped up in them you get, there is less room for the good things, the things that make you happy.

    “By keeping my mind on the positive, though, I attract more positive things to me–more positive people and situations and outcomes. And as my faults matter less and less, they go away, killed by neglect. And I may even find that some of what I thought were faults actually are among my greatest virtues!” (livinglifefully.com)

  • Frangipani

    Our neighbour Jan gave us some Frangipani and Mulberry Tree cuttings from her garden. I put a couple of the Frangipanis into pots and split the other one, so it has to dry out again before I plant them. Did a search on propagating Frangipani, it seems many people get bitten by some sort of bug that makes them want to collect and propagate lots and lots of Frangipanis!

    Tomorrow will have a go at striking some Mulberry cuttings.

  • Cranky Bob

    Had a weird dream the other night. Dreamt I’d sent a message to Rob, our Workplace Health and Safety Officer, about a breach of some kind. Something about the message infuriated Rob and he got stuck into me, called me an idiot. I felt really mindless and stupid.

    Then the other day at work, Ros commented that Bob behaves like an alpha-male, because he dominates the discussion at meetings.

  • A Week in Armidale

    Hit the road with my mum and spent a week in Armidale. Enjoyed the time away in a lovely place, where we did lots of walking. Talking about heading back down there a bit earlier next year, so we can take in the autumn colours of the place, and visit my mum’s sister Pamela again.

    Churches, trees, Dangars Falls, schools, coffee, history, tour bus, wood smoke, walking, wallaby, kookaburra, lolly shop, old buildings, nice chips, aboriginal art, bush tucker, art museum, clean air, book shop, beardy st, cobb and co, gold rush, cathedrals, electric blankets, frosty mornings. See more photos.

    Bell Tower at St Peters, Armidale