Putting our own stamp on things

Every time we adapt something to suit our needs, or do something our way, we are putting our own stamp on things. This can help us to feel creative, pleased, contented and fulfilled. It is something we can often do in the workplace and many times we may have done it without even realising. Those of us who work in rural environments are constantly adapting tools and resources to be more appropriate for a rural context.

What does it mean?

 Putting our own stamp on things is about doing things our way, not the way others think we should do them. It means being true to ourselves, acting according to our core values and being an individual, and it may mean having the courage to stand out from the crowd. It may also mean standing out form the ordinary and mediocre and choosing to be different to others without disrespecting them. It definitely means doing things in ways that support our growth as human beings.

The things we can put our own stamps onto

Some of the things that we can do our way include:

• Choosing how we dress, what we eat and how we live our lives
• Tweaking programs to fit our needs and the needs of those with whom we are working
• Choosing the tools, resources and style of working with our clients
• Choosing between options and how we choose to use advice from others
• How we deal with challenges
• How we choose to react to situations and the perspectives we choose to take
• How we carry out required tasks and the order in which we do these
• Daily routines
• The kinds of movies and programs we watch, the books we read and how we use our relaxation/ leisure time
• Putting our own spin on creative activities

Ways of encouraging ourselves to remember

Sometimes we need to work on believing in ourselves and building up our confidence and we can do this by reminding ourselves that we are allowed to do things our way, listening to our inner nurturing voices rather than the unhelpful voices of others and putting ourselves in the “driver’s seat” of our own life journey “cars” so that we can choose the direction and where our “car” is going to take us.

An exercise in putting our own stamp on things

In the Women’s Support Group that I used to facilitate we would regularly take a base recipe and brainstorm ways that we could vary it to suit our own needs. This was a practical way of encouraging the women to put their own stamp onto something.

Quiche

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees (Centigrade)
2. Beat together 4 eggs and ½ cup milk (low fat is healthier) and add any flavouring herbs (dried coriander is nice)
3. Line a pie plate with pastry (or leave this out and grease the plate to make frittata instead)
4. Fill the pastry shell/ pie plate with a mixture of any of the following:

• Tuna or salmon and dill
• Left-overs from main meals
• Left over Chinese (including rice)
• Chopped up hard boiled eggs
• Tomato and basil
• Any chopped vegetables e.g. carrots, peas, beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower etc.
• Capsicum
• Spaghetti/ noodles
• Onion or garlic
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Ham, bacon or salami or chopped sausages
• Cooked chicken or left-over meat (chopped)

What else could be added?

5. Top with grated cheese and/ or paprika
6. Bake for 50 mins or until set

A smaller version could be made by halving the quantities

In the words of Fanny Brice: Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later if you are posing, you will forget the pose and then where are you?