Hayley Solich

Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

A promo video that I have created to help promote this wonderful National Magazine.

Have you ever stopped to consider why you might have a unique finger print?  This article considers this from a Christian perspective.

A friend of mine from Twitter reminded me that once upon a time I was a rather clever poet. So I thought I’d share a couple of my poems on here.

Sing Softly To Me
by Hayley Solich

As the moon dips down

to meet the sea,

sing softly to me,

softly, softly.

A lullaby of love,

filled with peace.

Your whispering breath

tease my ear with sweet release.

As the fire builds

within my bones

sing softly to me,

softly, softly.

Let touch be your voice,

your lyrics my skin,

I hear your heart singing

sweet like a violin.

As we meet heaven’s gates

in rapturous embrace

sing softly to me,

softly, softly.

Our merger complete,

two souls now united.

Completely enmeshed,

our desire is requited.

When Danette Hibberd placed a copy of Finally at 40 Life Begins magazine in my hands in 2008, I was immediately drawn to the magazine. I simply loved the concept and it was so closely aligned to the magazine that I founded in Perth and had to walk away from that I felt a huge tug on my heart.

18 months later, I came into contact with the magazine again and this time, instead of ignoring the huge tug on my heart I decided to make a contact and see if they were looking for writers.

At this stage, I had just started a new business, so was very business with websites and design work, however, I wanted to keep my hand in the writing field.

Amanda Gelsi, the editor at the time was very encouraging and welcomed me with open arms, giving me three feature articles to write straight away.

Then when Amanda left after completing the Winter Edition, my connection moved to the Publishing Editor, Jenny Jacob. As Jenny and I shared our stories, we saw the parallels in what was my magazine and what is her magazine. We completely understood each other’s journey and a strong bond was forged.

So today, after two editions, I have been appointed Assistant Editor of national Australian magazine, Finally at 40 Life Begins and I am 90% through editing the Spring Edition. I have loved every second of every hour of effort I have applied. There is so much great information in the magazine and as I am forced to read all the content I am learning so much from the contributors.

I want to let you know that I believe there is a divine element to this connection. When I left Pearls Women’s Magazine in 2007, it was not because I didn’t want to do the magazine anymore, but rather, because it was not going to be financially viable for a few years and my family were putting pressure on me not to give my time and effort to it with so little return from it. So I see this new connection as God’s way of blessing me. On a week when I was in a lull in my business I stopped and stilled myself and asked the question, “What do I do God to get more money in?” The response came, “Sit still and wait.” By the end of the week, I had two new website projects and Jenny had called me to offer me the Assistant Editor’s role with the magazine. Now that is when you know you have made a divine connection and have heard correctly!

I look forward to seeing what the future brings…it’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase all those gorgeous girls that I know and love who have amazing life stories.

When I was Editing Pearls Women’s Magazine in 2007, I had the privilege of interviewing a 72 year old woman who had more energy than most people half her age.

Claire Green, a Balcatta WA mother, grandmother and even great grandmother, is an inspiration to all who know her.

Imagine…an army of grey haired warriors sewing, cooking, running stalls for 9 months of the year, then their fearless leader packing her bags and taking the spoils to a leper colony in Thailand.

You have to read this story to understand the amazing impact one life can have a on a whole community of people.
Click the link to download the Claire Green story.

When my mother was killed whilst I was studying, I found a lot of healing through writing.  I was not always writing about my feelings or about my mother, but I found the pain of her passing inspired me to create pieces that were full of empathy and love.

Beyond Winter was written after I watched a movie about a woman with breast cancer.  It has nothing to do with the story line of the movie I watched…in fact, the only correlation I can see between the two pieces is my understanding of the inner process of the woman.

This piece has been published in Pearls Women’s Magazine in 2007 and received an online Award for Best Short Story in 2006.

Click link to view.   Beyond Winter

In 2002 I went through an horrendous season in my life following the birth of my son.

This article, Out of the Blues,  was featured in Pearls Women’s Magazine published in 2007 in Perth, Western Australia.  It is my story of how I overcame post natal depression.

Download now by clicking here Out of the Blues. PDF 504kb

One of the feature articles I wrote for the most recent edition of Finally at 40 Magazine covered Kath Mazzella OAM‘s story.

Kath is a Perth-based Gynae and Sexual Health Awareness advocate who is herself a Gynae cancer survivor.

To read her story click on the images from left to right.

Special thanks to the crew at Finally at 40 for allowing me to publish the story on my website.

To subscribe to Finally at 40, visit their website now.  It’s a great magazine and very inspirational.

When I was in High School I thought I was the biggest loser because I just felt so rejected.  Truth is, I was mostly rejected by myself because I suffered from “comparison syndrome”.

Looking back I can see that I was definitely an individual personality, with a very gregarious nature.  Most of the teachers seemed to like me, although I did have some social problems due to over-utilised and yet under-developed leadership skills (another way to say I was a bit bossy)! However, I did make a significant wave in the school with my ideas.  For example, when I was in Year 10 I refused to wear the more casual school uniform that had been adopted.  We were allowed to wear corduroy pants or slacks and a white shirt and school jumper, however I just had to be different.  I went to the local op shop and purchased the old box pleat school uniform including tunic, tie and blazer and started to wear that with tights just to be different.  Well you know what happened?  Within a very short time the whole school was copying me.  And this showed me a very clear principle of life – if you are willing to stand out, eventually you will be emulated, because like sheep people will follow the strongest lead.

So I guess my challenge to you is, do you want to be a world changer?  If so, start leading where you are!  Do something that you’d like others to emulate.

I had lots of friends, but I chose to spend my time in endless activity to numb my internal struggle.  I was the captain of the softball team, the secretary of the student council, on the debate team, the lead or support actress for the school musicals.  I was selected to represent the school in various activities, including a state-wide production of Pirates of Penzance in Sydney and performed at the Opera House.   I competed in Eistedfods and often won prizes.  I also won the Miss Schoolgirl of the local show –  yet, with all this success, I still felt rejected.

It wasn’t til many years later when I was working at the college that I later studied dance at that I learned from one of the girls  who enroled who I had gone to school with that she viewed me as her hero.  I had no idea that I was making any significant impact on anyone around me, yet here was the girl that played piano while I sang all those years ago saying that to me.  It was immensely humbling.

If you have been following me on Twitter you will know that my username is @womencan.  I deliberately chose this name because it contains within it a positive message for all women.  I have deliberately created the “You Can Philosophy” because I want people worldwide to be empowered.  These were all conscious decisions on my part and you can consciously choose to make your life a positive imprint as well.

Tonight I went to a party and an old friend came up to me and said, “You are so inspirational. Keep posting your positive messages cause you are my positivity guru.  I read all your stuff and it really lifts me.”  I was flabbergasted.  Firstly because I just do what I do because it’s part of me and just has to find a way out, and secondly because I realised, once again, that people watch and follow a strong lead.  You just never know who you are leading.  Like the saying says, “Lead, follor or get out of the way!”

You can be one of the followers or one of the leaders. There is no shame in either, but if you decide to lead, make sure you are leading people towards something beneficial.  Lead them in the same way that you would want to be lead.

Have a think about what small or large thing you could do today to start a positive wave of action around the globe.  If I can, anyone can!