Positivity – Debbie Littlehales

Sylvie is one of my favourite friends and most favourite artist .
We met at an YMCA exercise class when we were both called out of class at the same time because our babies were being disruptive. Those babies are now 25 years old and enjoying success in their respective fields – check out @alecjanssens and @jackdruce.

Sylvies passion and commitment to her art is an inspiration, and I am proud to have many pieces of her work. My favourite is a piece that Sylvie personalised for me, based on our recent trip to the Grand Canyon. Sylvie did a great job of combining some of my images and text into the piece.

Her campaigns have been inspired by issues pertaining to the environment and metal health.

To see Sylvies work, check out http://www.lsclight.net
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This week I participated in my second Fred Hollows Coastrek fundraiser ~ a great event and a great charity to support.

What I learnt:

A motivated group of lycra clad women is a pretty powerful force when working towards something good. It was a really hot day, it was a really long way, but such a positive atmosphere – apart from a very brief hissy by an unnamed team mate at 18km (you know who you are…). I guess women like to do good, and they like to talk and hang out with other women. 9 hours 19 minutes is a pretty good forum to chat. I imagine it would be a pretty different atmosphere if it was a male focused event.
It’s really hard to walk on soft sand. In preparation I did some sand walking , but living here we are blessed with the compacted sand of the north end of 7 Mile Beach, which is really just a nice alternative to the hard road. The soft sand through Dee Why and Curl Curl made me realise that people living on the Northern Beaches must have pretty hearty calf strength, and maybe some achilles tendon issues.
Fred Hollows Foundation has done such a great job of fundraising by breaking down the $25 saves a persons sight. I think this gives people permission to feel comfortable to donate their $25 or multiples of with a clear sense of where their money is going. Congratulations on making $2,520,393.
Sun and heat makes physical stuff really hard! I walked a longer Coastrek in 2014; 50 km rather than 30km. It was really tough work, we walked overnight and the last 10 km was torrential rain. Walking through the heat of the day is a whole different challenge. Kudos to our team mate who made it even thought she had clearly stated ahead of the event that she didn’t like 1. hills 2.soft sand and 3.heat – what a champ!
What an amazing city Sydney is! You can be with in viewing distance of the CBD yet still find hidden beaches that you can only access via a hearty walk, or boat.
Exercise amnesia is a curious thing – I’m now sitting here planning my 50km journey for next year. Yet, only 48 hrs ago, I was totally dehydrated, struggling to move, and ready to knife anyone who ever suggested doing this again…..