What a question. I am passionate about life. I know life is unpredictable and doesn’t always pan out how you want it to,but the uncertainly of something totally random happening at any time makes life a surprise package of spontaneity.

In the span of a lifetime we may encounter a balance of amazing, ordinary,sad and terrible events happening that we have no control over. Life for everyone is a journey from birth to death. What happens to us in the period in between is what I am passionate about.

I have been fortunate enough to travel most of my life . I have visited 25 countries and there are still at least another ten on my bucket list. I am an observer, a stranger in these countries but like a sponge I absorb everything around me. I take hundreds of photographs, I keep a journal and years later I can open a journal and relive the experiences.

I have had some hairy experiences in foreign countries and feared for my safety, but after the event it becomes part of the journey through life. The world is a wondrous place but one wrong turn could change your life forever. On any ordinary day you could win the lotto, break a leg,meet the man/woman of your dreams, lose a loved one or get promoted to your dream job. There are billions of scenarios being acted out every single day for someone on the planet. Life and death is happening every second. That is what I am passionate about. The circle of life.

Winter every-time. I live in Australia and if you know anything about Australia and believe in global warming you will know the planet is getting warmer and hot places in the world are getting hotter.

I know global warming is happening all the time,for millions of years the planet is changing. It’s what happens. Like a child can’t stop growing. The planet also cannot stop changing. It’s beyond our control. Australia has definitely over the last decade become hotter. Spring begins from September 1st to November 30th. The temperature is temperate and warming up from the wet and cold winter months. Summer begins December 1st and ends February 28th. This is the hottest season where temperatures of over 40 degrees for days on end cause the population to cool off in swimming pools or air conditioning for relief. It is a dry heat in Western Australia, in Queensland it is a sticky muggy heat and in most of Eastern Australia the heat can cause devastating bush fires. Autumn is pleasant,we still have sunny days with the temperatures in the middle 20’s .These are the days to travel in comfort.

Winter. Oh how I love winter. Winter is our rainy season. We desperately need water after our brutal summers. Depending where you live in Australia winters can be quite different. The East Coast is over 3,000 kms from the West Coast so the temperatures and climate conditions vary. The east coast can have snow,the west coast has rain. Plentiful rain. The temperatures drop to the low 20’s and the whole landscape rejuvenates from a burnt umber to an amazing green. Gardens are full of colour as winter is our flowering season for home gardens and wildflowers. The state in August and September is awash with brilliant colour. Tours to visit the small towns and natural wildflower areas are a must. Rain is our friend. Rain coats the fields and surrounding hills in green,yellows,purples and lush vegetation. Native birds populate the environment and add to the wonder of this amazing state.

On the home front. The fire pits are uncovered and friends come around for dinners of slow cooked lamb shanks and toasted marshmallows. Sitting rugged up telling ghost stories. The libraries are once again the go to place for a good book and the theatres and restaurants are always full of hearty winter dishes. We may not be able to witness the purity of a snow covered mountain or a frozen lake. But we embrace the comfort and home comforts of a rainy evening with a good book or board game. Give me winter anytime.

Now that I have your attention I can answer the question. In my decades of living I have realised what it is not important. What are superficial goals and no matter how hard to try to achieve these goals you are either not healthy,enough,rich enough,stable enough in your employment or relationship or you have set to your goals too high.

I am in a position in life where I know what is important to me. When I was young I had unrealistic expectations driven by my teachers at school, my parents, my peers and especially myself. Being a child of the sixties my expectations were soon overtaken by falling in love and getting married.

This reversed roles I had a good job but it was more important that my husband had a good job,earned good money, so I supported him in whatever advancement he set his sights on. We were happy in our ignorance as we worked together for 20 years only to divorce and have to split everything down the middle. I had to start from scratch as he had the executive job and salary and I had the basic wage. Our marriage broke down not because of money or a third party,it broke down because he had a heart attack. Which he never mentally recovered from.

This brings me to the important things in life. Health is to me the most important. Followed by family and a support group of friends that really look out for each other. You need to know if things fall in a heap you can talk to someone. They may not be able to solve your problem but sharing whatever is bugging you or causing strife in your life can be shared. Plus don’t become a victim, be a survivor. It is easy to say this when I live in a country that is quite solid in its government and we are not at war. Our economy is steady as we have a wealth of minerals to export and we live in a society where we look after our older citizens with free Medicare and pensions. Unfortunately in the 21st century the most life changing events in peoples lives are loneliness,social media, AI and isolation. We cannot trust our own eyes. But if walked every day in the sunshine for an hour,left our iPhones at home when we are out shopping. Giving our brain time to shut out negativity. Maybe little by little our lives would improve.

Now back to sex,yes sex is important too.

Over the years that question has changed many times. As we proceed through the decades it changes from parents to school friends to work associates. We may marry so it our partner or our children through the crucial years of our lives. Children leave home, marry and we may become secondary carers for our grand children. Grandchildren become teenagers so you see less of them. Your parents grow old and end up in a nursing home due to dementia or other infirmities and eventually they leave forever and you are once again just you and your partner.

My partner died nearly four years ago and although we had a full life while together and I still had a full life after he died,my daughter took it into her head I needed company. Enter Miss Winnie the Pooh Beggs, a Cavoodle puppy ,as black as a stick of liquorice.

Was I happy with this tiny black fluffy blob. I was not, as I like to travel,to be independent and did not want the responsibility of an animal.

The first few months she lived up to her name Winnie the Pooh and pooed everywhere but where she supposed to. I enrolled her in puppy school after 8 weeks and realised I was not alone in my frustration of rearing a puppy. After many sleepless nights and nights I would just burst into tears through lack of sleep and toilet accidents,something changed. I read multiple articles on puppy behaviour and suddenly I realised Miss Winnie was doing what all dogs do she was learning and growing up and it had to happen in its own time. Like a child she required time,patience and time to adjust to her new environment.

Two years later I have the perfect companion who is both intelligent and super loving. She has become a brilliant guard dog. Apart from the times I cannot take her out with me because Im out on business< shopping or visiting friends who are not well she is always by my side.

With a dog you are never alone,always loved and you get the best cuddles and dug up bones covered in dirt to share.

My new name would be Pandora Myth. Pandora from Greek character in mythology. And Myth because she is a myth. Pandora was the first human woman created by the god Hephaestus. She was created to bring misfortune on mankind as punishment for another god who gave humans fire. This made the gods angry.

Pandora was given many gifts one of which was a jar of evils. She was instructed not to open the jar at any cost. But being a curious human she opened the jar releasing all the evils on the world. The only thing that remained in the jar was Hope.

Mythology is often written with hidden meanings for humans. In Pandoras case it is that women tend to be curious creatures and in the modern world women are more lightly to stalk another person online,whereas a man will use acts of vandalism or intrusive communication.

Who would guess that mythology is alive and well.