the win is in the bag

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camera bag, competitions, feeling lucky, leather camera bag, online competitions, photography, winning, winning competitions

Over the past year or so I have been taking part in online competitions, maybe one a week if I come across it and always in the hope I’ll win a few Euros. Sadly I haven’t been overly successful as of yet – no spa breaks or big ticket prizes have come my way so far. But I have won a pair of cinema tickets (I was hoping for a trip that time) and enjoyed a night out with a friend and last week I won even bigger: a leather camera bag.

I was hoping to win the €5,000 prize but I am absolutely delighted I won the bag. Now my camera and lenses (it fits just about two) will be nestled in soft luxury while I carry them around with me. I can just about slide my iPad into the back and  the little front pocket is just big enough my purse, my glasses a pen and notebook. Now I can’t wait to go on a little trip and try my new camera bag out so maybe I’ll board a train sometime this month and go on an adventure.

But now I’ve bagged a win I definitely won’t be giving up those competitions anytime soon – and hopefully I’ll win a  trip or a few Euros if I keep trying.

 

a beautiful leather camera bag

game night and wine

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game night, games, neighbours, Phase Ten Masters, playing, wine, winning

A while ago my neighbour and I had talked about having game nights – we both enjoy a good trow of the dice or and a shuffle of cards ever now and then. So last night I wandered down a few meters of the road and knocked at my neighbours door, a  bottle of dark red Primitivo in my hand and the game Phase Ten Masters tucked under my arm.

After some cleaning (how is it that I am still finding Christmas tree needles even though I have cleaned a few times between now and taking down the tree?), doing some washing and trying to get some work done in advance, sitting down for a good chinwag, a glass of vino and playing cards was the perfect ending to a long Sunday.

An added benefit was that I won! Not only the whole game but most of the rounds, even-though my neighbour did cheat (I have no idea what and how she was adding up). There truly is something very satisfying about ending the week with a win and an empty bottle of wine.

a parcel of books

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books, Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, christmas, parcel of books, reading, Rick O'Shea, Rick O'Shea's Book Club, Sara Baume, spill simmer falter wither, spill simmer falter wither by Sara Baume, Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Book Selection, winning

A few weeks ago – nearly a month now – I entered a competition, and as luck would have it I even won. It was run by the wonderful Rick O’Shea  from RTE and his Book Club in conjunction with the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, so the prize was a parcel of books and it arrived yesterday in the post.

It was such a lovely surprise and I had no idea what the selection would be –  there were different categories and each winner of each category got a different one. I won the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year, so all the books in the parcel are from new Irish writers, and what a wonderful selection it is.

spill simmer falter wither by Sara Baume won the prize in the end, but I have heard lots of good about all the other nominees. And an added bonus – I haven’t read  a single one of them yet.

So, by the looks of it that is my Christmas sorted, hours dipping in and out of foreign worlds in front of the fire looking up at the tree sounds like the perfect way to spend this Christmas Season.

Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Book Selection

losing it

Tags

gaming, gmaes, losing, miscellaneous, photography, psychology, quotes, random, sibling rivalry, thoughts, winning

I am not a very competitive person in general, although I think my sister would argue that that is not strictly true when it comes to board, card or dice games. And when I think back to the little blond me in pigtails, I do seem to recall several incidents of tantrums when I had lost yet again, there could have even been trowing things involved.

But when it comes to sports, career and even love I just don’t seem to have the urge to compete. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy success as much as the next person and I do want to do well in things I set out to do, but direct competition doesn’t give me the drive to do so. But it is a quality I admire and at times I wish I had more of an urge to win, especially when I see others around me take such great inspiration from it.

However while I was flicking through a magazine yesterday I read an article that claimed “The drive to compete is a basic human instinct – we are programmed to win.” This struck me a s somewhat presumptuous but it grabbed my attention and I did read the article. What surprised me however is that a distinction was made between obvious and hidden competitiveness, sports, career and sibling rivalry was obvious, checking out someones handbag, clothes, weight and even boyfriend is less so.

This got me wondering about what drives me and who am I competing with and I came to the conclusion “myself”, or at least the me I’d like to be. So while others seem to run after each other or strive to beat someone else, I keep looking at myself and aspire be a me I wasn’t yesterday. I am not sure why this is or how it came to be, maybe I just don’t think I can be as good as others, maybe I want to be better than what they think is good, or maybe no one expects quite as much from me as I do, possibly a combination of all three. But either way it is quite clear that I always lose as my goals are unrealistically high and always beyond my reach.

But instead of seeing this as failure maybe I should embrace the fact that I am not reveling in the power winning gives you but am losing only  to myself. Maybe I should see “losing it“, whatever it may be, as a possibility to keep trying and relive the hope for success and excellence again and again, enjoying the sensation of the possible. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said  so well:

I don’t want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again