And the world changes...

Hi everyone,
If you have been following us over at the Facebook page, you would know that some big stuff is going on in my world. It has been a while since I wrote last but I have not forgotten about you.

First of all, my hair was lopped off again recently. I have raised over $950 for Variety as well as donating my hair to them to be made into wigs.

 

You can still donate here if you would like to contribute to the cause. I am also loving the new Hair cut. Who knew it would take such small amounts of shampoo? And would dry super fast too? well... short haired people I guess!

But my BIG news is... I am moving far, far, far away from my home in Perth, Australia. 



You see, 10 years ago I moved to the UK to do the last four units of my undergraduate degree. I lived in Hull, England for a whole 5 months, then spent a bit of time travelling around Europe before returning home to Australia. Since then I have had a deep love of Europe and particularly the UK. I've even been back there several times since I returned to Australia. I have some amazing friends in England, Wales, Ireland, Germany... just to name a few.

For the Last few months I have been planning, preparing and organising my life so that I can move back to the UK. A few weeks ago I got my confirmation that I have a 5 year visa to live and work over there. Which is just so exciting and mildly terrifying at the same time. My family are super supportive, because they know this is my dream. However I Know they will miss me greatly.

My mum, whom I have cared for, for the last almost-decade, is safe and will be lovingly cared for. My sister and brother in law will have a room again to house passing visitors and unexpected guests (or Guests when I stop in for a visit). My niece and nephew are both devastated that I will miss the day to day stuff.  my niece beautifully told me today that she "didn't want me to leave, but she didn't want me to come back either" because she wants me to "live my dream". I thought that it was such a beautiful thing that she told me... I think she is also hoping to come visit me and see snow... but I will stick to her very adult perspective for a 10 year old. 

Part of the reason I want to go to the UK is because of the work opportunities there. I have trained to be an Archaeologist and even have my masters degree in the field but I have chosen that my mum and her health were more important at the time to leave to pursue my dreams of archaeology and adventure. For archaeologists, I know that the job is not all lost ruins, crystal skulls, and whole pots. I know it is not all adventure, it can be painful, cold and hard work. But for me ... I have never felt happier than being covered in mud in a trench on the English/Welsh boarder.

So what does that mean for now? I have no idea. I will be a little disconnected from my family and friends in Australia but only physically. There are so many types of technology that I am sure I can make keep friendships up. I have no solid plans for where in the UK I will end up yet. I haven't secured a job in the field, but as it is coming to summer I hope to find something soon.

What does that mean for 365 days of Kindness? Not much really. I will still write here when I can (sporadically at best) and my sister Vandra will help me manage the Facebook page as usual. I am hoping to add a few more Kindness Lovers/sharers to the Facebook page in the future so that we can all share our favourite kindness stories there.

I am still continuing with my kindness everyday. I will miss sharing with the family every night what kind deed they do everyday. However it has meant that we are all doing a version of 365days of kindness. I love that I am not alone in doing it.

However, you may notice my posts have a more travel orientated vibe or even a more a "British" slant to them, even though the Facebook Page will still have many Australian stories in it, it will continue to be a global acknowledgement of kindness.

So next time I write that is where I will be. Somewhere in the UK, celebrating kindness and living my dream. I want to thank everyone who has been encouraging me, supporting me, motivating me, pushing me even, to reach my dreams no matter the cost. 

I hope that I can live the dream and continue to live my life as an example of kindness and love. 

Love you to you all, 

Daena xx

Those things I promised... FINALLY HERE!!!

Hello my beautiful people,

Wow... the last few months have been a whirlwind and are showing no signs of slowing down. The Kindness a day i have been doing for years now has become almost second nature. I have stopped recording the kindnesses everyday (mainly because I have not been journaling for a while now). I have NOT given up on my kind acts. Sometimes it can be as simple as inviting a neighbour in for a cuppa, leaving your boss a block of chocolate (for while you are away and he will need it - i did that today!), and or Sending a message on Facebook to someone having a hard time.

I apologise again for not sharing the following images with you sooner. It was a pain in my buttocks that the App on my phone didn't work for those blog posts (two that I had posted - one in April, one in May (whilst I was gallivanting around Europe). So here is my attempt to resend them. Or basically start from scratch... again! :S Oh well...

As many of you know in April I cut all my hair off and donated it to charity (Pantene Beautiful Lengths Campain) and then dyed it for another charity (Worlds Greatest Shave).  I have been PROMISING photos from it for a couple months ... okay... more than a couple now. So let the showing begin!

This was my hair to start with!

 I had a video to share... And of course I cant find it now on my computer. Eeepp! Sorry guys! I think it is on the Facebook Page if you want to have a look?! If not I will try edit this post later with the video in it (assuming I can find it this time).

My kneck was naked! NAKED I SAY!!!

My new 'do' from the side. SO SHORT!!!

JUST A LITTLE EXCITED!!!

 I went immediately and posted my hair off to the people at Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Campaign. [insert photo of me with my hair in a bag ready to post - yes this photo is MIA too].  I had a hilarious conversation with the guy at the post office. When I explained what I was posting, to whom and why he showed all his fellow staff and some of the customers too. He was such a sweet guy. I was pretty happy that I had brought awareness to these project, some people had never heard of the donating hair idea before.

THe little money box you get in the pack given to you from World Greatest Shave! :)

The Hair colour for Worlds Greatest Shave.

Even Better I reached WELL over my goal! :) Awesome huh? 

I was so pleased that I could support two FANTASTIC organisations who make such a difference to people with Cancer.

A few weeks after I sent my hair in to Pantene I got a beautiful letter in the mail thanking me for the donation of my luscious locks. I felt very appreciated and was also super glad I didn't send it to the wrong place. talk about an awkward misdirect if that happened. i can just imagine it now... "honey, there was a package in the mail... i think its human hair! OMG!!! WHYYYYY?" (maybe I just have an over active imagination! hehehe).

I have to admit that my hair is growing back pretty fast. I measured it before it was cut off and discovered it grew at about 1.5cm a month. Seeing as its been a few months since I posted I am back to having medium length hair. And i can finally tie it back wihtout having to pin it a hundred places.

So what else have I forgotten to share? Lets not beat around the bush, it was quite probably a lot!

I went to Wales, UK for a friends wedding and while I was in Europe I managed to also visit friends in Germany. Plus I went to France and England. So lovely, these places are.

Then I had my 30th Birthday party. Sheesh I'm starting to feel old! hehehe.

On the work front I did a crazy work week (on top of my usual work week) when the people I work for had a National Triennial Conference that was last held in Perth ... 20 years ago. I have never worked so hard in my whole life. And it took me about 3 weeks to recover.

I also went to the CWA (Country Women's Association) State Conference. I was a delegate. I had no idea what I was doing. I WAS, however, under the watchful eye of some of the long standing members of the branch, so I couldn't get up to too much mischief. Sadly. At the conference Mum was installed as the new CWA of WA State Community Co-ordinator, of which I am very proud of her. I have spent a bit of time helping mum with this role. Taking mum and her stuff to and from CWA House in the city and bringing things home again. Helping her pack shelves. Being her chauffeur. I have made a whole lot of "Thank you" cards for her to give to all those who have donated time, money and 'things' to CWA since she started the role in June. And if you think I make only a couple, I made a dozen to start with and she has already used almost all of them. So time to get back to making thank you cards for her to pass on, I think.

I have been rather unwell. Suffering from extremely painful Endometriosis and pelvic adhesions. I have recently spent a LOT of time in bed or in front of the heater with a heat pack on and under large doses of pain relieving medication.

The next exciting thing is that I am going to Sydney, NSW, for a conference ... TONIGHT!!! Squeeee! Excited! :) I will be gone for 10 whole days. So my life is a little rushed at the moment.

I have been putting together some things for Sustainable September too. So forgive me if they are very short. I am working on them before the conference starts.

I hope this finds you all well.
Much love,
Daena 

Another type of kindness...

Hey everyone. 

I need your help. 

I've signed up to the worlds greatest shave for next week. I'm NOT going to shave my head but cut off most of my long locks to give to wig makers for cancer sufferers AND then colour what's left of my hair for the Worlds Greatest Shave for people with leukemia. 

I need your help to raise the $500+ I've signed up to raise. I was sick last week so didn't get a chance to share my plans with you. You can donate online at www.worldsgreatestshave.com  

You just have to type in Daena Guest in the "sponsor" section. I'm an 'individual' not a group or team This is my first time volunteering to do this! 

My hair grows super fast, to the frustration of some, but I thought I would actually use that awesome super power for good & hit two birds with one stone*. So please help me to raise money to keep a family together whilst one of them is receiving treatment for blood cancer. 

Cancer is a big deal in my family, breast cancer being the worst and affecting almost all of the women in my family (most of them on my mums side - including my mum). And the wigs make a difference to women who loose their hair due I cancer treatments. So if you or someone you know would also like to donate hair to make wigs Pantene Beautiful Lengths is one way to do it! http://www.beautifullengths.com.au/?gclid=CMXw8LCHt8MCFQYAvAodnj4AOQ 

Thank you so much for helping me out. So far it looks like this will all happen on Friday 13th March (this coming Friday). I really appreciate your help raising money to help out others in need. 

Thanks again, 

love Daena 

*no actual birds were hurt in the making of this post!