Poet of the Fortnight #14: Milly Hayward (Jan 15 - Jan 29, 2018)

Hi Miss Kitty, thank you for your lovely question..
Question: It is clear that your husband has your heart and soul, what would you say is the secret to true love?

You need to...
a) Be friends and love each other
b) Put each others needs first before your own
c) Respect each other
d) Be kind to each other
e) If you cant agree compromise
f) Never speak in anger
g) Cuddling, holding hands and regularly telling each other nice things about each other

By being friends and loving each other the rest is easy. If your each putting each others needs before your own it means that you are dedicated to making each other happy so you don't have time to be self absorbed and only think about what you want. Respecting each other means you respect each others space and differences and thoughts and opinions and you are never unkind to each other. Understanding and accepting that people think differently and your not always gong to agree with each other but then coming to a compromise instead.

If you get angry you walk away until you are calm and then when you are calm explaining what has annoyed you because if you try and discuss things when you are angry you are more likely to say something you will regret.

Praising each other when they've done a good job or if they look nice and saying you love each other etc.

Em, thank you for your question...

Question: 1a: If there was one bit of advice you could give to your younger self from the adult you are now what would it be and why?

There are lots of things that I would advice my younger self but I don't think it would be kind to put those bits of advice out here publically :)
However one of the things would be to start travelling earlier say in my teens and travel to every country in the world living and working from place to place learning about the cultures and be less of a workaholic.

Question 1b: Why? Because I feel like my teens and early twenties were a little bit wasted. They were all about working hard and studying. I think if I had started younger I would have got all the countries in and learned and seen more. If I had been less of a workaholic then I would have had my evenings and weekends free instead of being glued to a laptop and making conference calls at 2am in the morning.

Love all your answers!

Question: If you could ask Stephen King one question, what would it be? Lol

Milky! lol - I must say, reading this thread has made me admire you even more as a person. You have kindness, compassion and wisdom in abundance. You rock!

Questions

1. Plastic pollution is a hot topic at the moment. People seem to be influencing real change and corporations are actually listening and acting. What wise words do you have on this?

2. What is your favourite piece of furniture and why?

3. Favourite herb/ flowers/texture

Hi Mr Darcy :) Thank you for your lovely comments and questions.

Question 1: Plastic pollution is a hot topic at the moment. People seem to be influencing real change and corporations are actually listening and acting. What wise words do you have on this?

As the dominant and arguably the most intelligent species on the planet. We have a responsibility and duty to care for this planet and all other species that share it with us. Yet we as a species continually consume and destroy our environment with little thought or regard for the repercussions that our actions have on our habitat or the other species that we share it with. We are like a virus destroying and consuming everything in its path and when everything is destroyed what do we have left but ourselves to destroy.

Plastic pollution is a small but important step but each and everyone of us needs to work towards this goal of zero plastics. As consumers and responsible people we can ensure that we use fabric shopping bags, insist on paper bags for goods instead of plastics etc. but the biggest most immediate change is to recycle and not to drop litter .

Question 2. What is your favourite piece of furniture and why? My favourite piece of furniture is my leather riser chair. It is practical and comfortable and it is electronically controlled so that it rises and falls to help me get up and out of it. It also has the ability to be a recliner so I can curl up in it and fall asleep. Without it I would struggle to get up out of it without help. It gets lots of use from me and more recently once I go to bed my husband has been using it as a gaming chair :)

Question 3: Favourite Herb - Basil - I often buy Basil plants to sit in my kitchen I love the smell of it and its great as a salad leaf in a sandwich
Favourite Flower - Carnations - they always have been my favourites they are so pretty, lovely texture and beautiful perfume
Favourite Texture - Fluffy - I cant help stroking fluffy things in shops I think because fluffy is so snuggly. I have lots of fluffy throws and jumpers lol

( I just tested my husband and he got all three of my favourites right lol)

Hi Poetess,
Thankyou for your question :)
Question: If you could ask Stephen King one question what would it be?

"Please can you talk me through step by step the creation of a book like Needless themes from inception, planning, plotting, story arc, character development right through to publishing?"

Milly, I'm so sorry I haven't asked more questions yet! Let's give this thread a couple extra days, is that okay?

Question #7: What are some of your favorite smells? (Besides basil! Though I totally agree and have a basil plant in my kitchen too -- great on sandwiches and also for caprese salads!)
Question #8: If you could learn the answer to one question about your future, what would the question be?

Jane, Don't worry its been a very hectic week for everyone and thank you for the extra couple of days :)

Question 7: What are some of your favourite smells? There are some smells that make me stop in my tracks and I have to breath in the aroma and saviour it. Its like a delicious chocolaty experience for the nose.

Dolce & Gabbana - The One perfume (my favourite perfume), The luxury floral French soaps that come in tins (always keep one in my bedside drawer), Freshly cut grass (to me is the smell of Summer) The salty smell of the sea (brings memories of growing up) and Liz Earle body wash for men (much nicer than the smell of men's cologne)

Question 8: If you could learn the answer to one question about your future, what would the question be? I would ask: "Where will my spirit(soul/ inner self) end up when I die?".

Knowing the answer to this question would answer the age old question about whether Heaven and Hell exists and would take away the uncertainty of where we go when we die.

Milly, I think I would ask him that about every book! Lol

Milly,
I've been reading your thread & laughing out loud at times (2 am tent from Walmart - so you don't wake anyone up!) I bet you would be the one to keep everyone in stitches.

1. What skill that you are happy with have you MOST RECENTLY learned?

2. If you were to cook your three favorite things (not necessarily favorite to eat, but to cook) what would they be?

3. Ambitions to publish?

How do you feel about roller coasters?

Hi Larry, Yes I'm afraid I'm the one that generally inspires people to do madcap (but harmless) mischief or to go on daft adventures lol. thank you for your questions :)

Question 1. What skill that you are happy with have you most recently learned? I don't think that I have learned any new skills recently apart from different methods of how to adapt my daily life to best deal with my disabilities and health issues. (I'm guessing these are skills since I didn't need to know these things prior to being ill)

Question 2. If you were to cook your three favourite things (not necessarily to eat but to cook) what would they be? I used to love making chocolate cake or chocolate buns covered with Cadburys chocolate and Smarties. Home made Spaghetti Bolognaise and in Winter Parkin (Yorkshire sticky ginger type cake made with treacle and oats etc)

Question 3. Ambitions to publish? In a dream world where I had the energy and concentration required I would love to have the confidence to publish a book containing my poems and illustrations and see it in Barnes and Nobles :)

Poetess, Thank you for your question :) How Do you feel about roller coasters.

I used to enjoy them in my twenties I have been on some really big ones I found them thrilling but I with age comes wisdom and watching the final destination film and hearing of so many roller coaster accidents over the years has made me more cautious about them. The last one I saw was in Brighton and it looked as if it was ready to fall down, flimsy and rusty and I pretty much decided at that point that they were no longer for me.

Mmm who doesn't love the smell of freshly cut grass or the salty smell of the sea? I think both of these bring happy memories of childhood for me :)

"I would ask: 'Where will my spirit(soul/ inner self) end up when I die?'."

^ Maybe I would ask this too. Though the weight of the answer might terrify me.

Onto the last questions... dun dun dun!

Question #9: If you could instill one moral code in every person, what would it be?
Question #10: What are some of your favorite quotes? Do you try to live by them?

Totally understandable. I love roller coasters, but just the ones that are permanent. Like in bigger amusement parks. Those seasonal carnival or fair rides, I will not get on. Lol

Thank you Jane :) I cant believe the fortnight passed so quickly and that I am on my very last questions.....

Question 9. If you could in still one moral code in every person, what would it be?

We as humans have a duty to take care of the weaker species be they animals or people. So I would say be kind, compassionate considerate and helpful to other people and animals especially those who need us most because but for the grace of God there could we be. If everyone practiced that behaviour we would have a much better world.

Question 10: What are some of your favourite quotes? Do you try to live by them?

These are the quotes that I try to live my life by and have done for years....

1. "For every negative there is a positive if you only look hard enough"
is probably the most important one that I tell myself every time something bad happens and it helps me to have a much more cheerful life because if you can shift the focus from bad thoughts to just one thing that is good, it becomes easier to find more things that are good and before you know it life doesn't seem half so bad.

2. "A friend is the family that you chose"
Friendships to me are one of the most precious things in life that are worth treasuring and sometimes you just get to know and trust each other so well that they feel like they are family.

3. "What you give out into the World.. Comes back tenfold" If you give out into the world kindness and good deeds and try and think of other people before yourself, then for the most you will be at peace with your soul and feel happier with the smaller things of life and when you least expect it nice things happen. If however you are nasty and unkind and angry with everyone then your soul or inner self will be unhappy and you will attract that anger and nastiness back.

This has been a privilege and an exceptionally nice experience. Each question has been interesting and reminded me of so many things that I had forgotten or in some cases challenged me to consider things that I hadn't thought about before. So thank you everyone for your lovely questions all my best wishes Millyx

Your quotes carry profound wisdom, Milly

I love the quotes, especially the one about reshaping your thinking and finding the positive in any situation.

Thank you for being such a great sport, Milly! The last couple of weeks have not been the easiest weeks to be PotF on PnQ, but you have shown tremendous grace and patience. It's been a personal pleasure getting to know you better these last couple of weeks :)

Thank you Larry and Jane :) Its been a real pleasure being able to give something back to P&Q. Thank you both and all of the other Moderators for the tremendous job you do. I think often people forget that you are all volunteers putting in your time and effort so that we can all enjoy this lovely site

All my best wishes Milly x