If I could wrap up my feelings of the last three months in just one word I would say tumultuous! Upheavals in life can make you or break you and when you place all those events in order by biggest impact on you, the ones that appear at the top include – Death, Divorce and Moving House!
The tumult in my life recently has been Moving House!
After 20 years we have moved from our home and BnB cottage on a 3 acre semi-rural block into a Modern house on a regional suburban block. The impact on both Alex and I has been profound! We have shifted our ‘heart place’ and replaced the old way of life for the new! We have said goodbye to our old homestead and breezed in to a new sanctuary – the start of an exciting adventure into our ‘silver senior years!’
We have not had time to get bored in social isolation, we have been decluttering and downsizing! We have not been overly concerned with fears of contracting Covid-19 as our focus remained firmly on the future!
Starting afresh in a new home means so much to me! I have now carved out a new trajectory – my goals have changed to focus on a new way of being! For years I have been known as Coach Carole in the world of Toastmasters – and I have been privileged to earn my Distinguished Toastmaster Awards for services rendered! For about 18 years I have been defined by Toastmasters – an all consuming passion to lead and support others in their personal objectives! For the last 3 months I have been busy assisting other Toastmasters in Moving and Meetings Online!
Now its time for me!
The new me will spend more time writing – non-fiction ecourses and blog posts that feature my genealogy pursuits – alongside my memoir writing for a reality check, and poetry and fictional stories to satisfy my creative urge! I will have time to connect again with my memoir writing group and to participate in more ecourse creation courses online!
The new me will have more time for patchwork quilting and reading!
On reading: a dear friend asked recently if I will read my books again – the many that I have unpacked in the move – my answer is yes, most definitely! On one shelf sit my books on astrology, i-ching and Tarot; on another shelf sit my books on Celtic mythology; another shelf sit a collection from Felix Dennis (gifts from him for helping with his family history); on another shelf sit the novels that changed me by favourite authors (Dirk Bogarde, Maeve Binchy, Ken Follett, Rosamunde Pilcher, JRR Tolkein, Diana Gabaldon and Fiona Lowe) – and thats just one book case! These I can dip into again as I look for inspiration for my own writing!
On quilting: I uncovered a UFO whilst packing up my stuff last week, this UnFinished Object inspired me to finish it and in doing so to design my sewing space in a spare room at the new house! The quilt top is still in pieces, so the first task is to join the pieces, the next task is to create the borders – more sewing, and then sandwich the quilt top, batting and backing ready for the actual quilting! This quiet creative process will help me to focus on something other than ‘screen work’ – a metaphor for piecIng together my new life.
My heart place is beginning to change my thinking process – I am recharged and ready to ‘unpack my thoughts’ and share more of me with you! My personal task and objective this month has been to maintain a daily journal of my thoughts – I started that in hand written format in one of those small journals with just 40 pages! Writing small amounts frequently seemed to suit my journalling style whilst packing and unpacking – a short relief from using the tape gun to construct the ‘millions’ of cardboard boxes.
Oh but I am not consistent! I started with good intentions then got distracted with the ‘thousand and one’ things that needed doing – the notifications to service providers of change of address – the coordination of the dates and times of ‘uplift’ by removalists – the logistics of itemising and labelling of inventory lists – all those pressing deadlines to ‘get my house in order’! My diary entries became sporadic! It is definitely better for me to set aside ‘journalling time’ – like right now as I write this post at 6:00 am.
I close now with a short list of things that inspired and supported me in the move to my new ‘heart place’:
- the care and support from our real estate agent
- the friendship and assistance from our neighbours
- the advice, financial and legal advice from our solicitors
- the fortitude, patience and diligence of my husband
- the advice and support from my online networks
The vision of 39 Maygar Avenue painted clearly in my minds eye kept spurring me on to achieve our ‘heart place’
Where is your ‘heart place’?
By the time that COVID-19 Pandemic closed our doors for physical meetings, Indigo Speakers were already primed and ready to go with ‘Moving Meetings Online’. The experience has boosted morale and enhanced skills for members who have stepped up to present on the small screen with alacrity; stepped into the timer role with timer’s coloured background colours; volunteered to be the TMoD and others to take on a new aspect of their role as Sergeant-at-Arms.
Often the round trip to attend such events will involve at least one hour’s drive each way. Facilitators often need to travel up the Hume Freeway from Melbourne (4 hours away). One successful strategy we used at the COT event in February was to beam in a presenter from the Southern corner of Victoria via Zoom.
Just one week ago, on Saturday 16 May, I received the highest award from my District; District Toastmaster of the Year. I share this award collaboratively with Darrell Klar, DTM! Congratulations to Darrell Klar, DTM – your award is well deserved. This is the second time that Darrell and Carole have featured in the champion lists together; in 2017 we had both received 9 awards and gained our Triple Crowns triple fold.
As D73 Pathways Coordinator for this year I have been privileged to lead a very talented and generous team to provide guidance and training for many Pathways and Zoom focussed Toastmasters, both near and far. The recent online sessions on 
Recruit capable team
Select a Path and Electives with confidence
A training project called ‘Moving Meetings Online’ was prepared collaboratively with the D73 Team Pathways to help clubs to run their meetings online and learn how to master Zoom. The program consisted of three workshops run over consecutive weekends in April with the following titles:
Lessons Learned:
Light Bulb Moment!
I attended my 
Many months ago Indigo Speakers had already indicated to prospective visitors and guests that our club permitted virtual attendance. That was recorded in Club Central by selecting the Club Demographics and clicking the Online Attendance Accepted option. See above.
As a former member of the 
Leader Michelle used Zoom, of course, and I created Breakout Rooms for the Judges where they could be briefed on the online protocols of casting their votes. Once they were briefed they could return to the Main Room individually. Later they could be called back to the Breakout Room individually to present their results to the Chief Judge and the Counters. Officials could ask Judges to return to Main Room again and then tally the results, sending a Private Message to the Contest Chair when ready.
It was also necessary to create Breakout Room for Contestants, this was especially important for the Evaluation Contest that we were demonstrating. Contestants could be in a private quiet area to prepare their notes supervised by the SAA, and then asked to return to the Main Room through a Broadcast Message from the Zoom Master.
I attended an online meeting with the 
I had offered my service as a Judge for the Division Contest being held online for Central Division in D73. During this event I learned how to be more efficient in the use of Breakout Rooms from Emma the Zoom Master and how to facilitate smoothly as the Contest Chair Kerry. I experienced what it was like as a Judge to be assigned to the Breakout Room seamlessly and prompted on how to return individually. We were briefed on the use of our Ballot forms and how to cast our votes to the Chief Judge and Counter via Private Chat message in Zoom, and our job was done.
The online Toastmasters Meeting called ‘Moving Meetings Online’ was scheduled for D73 and D69 attendees at 7 pm AEDT (UTC +11). We used Zoom of course, and attracted 160+ attendees across the districts. I had setup the Agenda to offer D73 Toastmasters an opportunity to deliver a speech or play a role in the online meeting, sharing it with them as a Google Sheet. (see above)
I had been asked to be the Zoom Master to help with D73 Ranges Division Contests online. They, like many other Divisions needed to act quickly to organise an alternative to running the contest in the usual way. I had not really known what to expect in a hybrid arrangement so I took on the challenge to increase my knowledge and expertise.
This time the organising team decided to have the contestants briefed in a separate Zoom room altogether prior to the contest. I presided over that briefing and helped the five contestants get to know the protocols of competing online. (Each of these contestants had competed online before, so my job was easy.)
Step 1: Discuss with your executive team the benefits of offering some of your meetings online and introduce them to Zoom
Step 8: As the Toastmaster of the Day, access your Zoom space about 30 minutes prior to meeting start time and be ready to meet and greet attendees.
Several weeks have just flown by as we focused on family and things other than Toastmasters. Now its time to get organised again for the TM year.
Are you at a crossroads; do you have roadblocks in your Path; do you need inspiration and motivation? Are things looking a bit 
