The Old Caravan In The Bush.

26/02/2023 ~ neilwjsmith ~ Leave a comment

That was my home for 5 years.

The blue tarp was to stop the roof from leaking.

A metaphor for my life.

Like a reset.

The old caravan was like a womb and the Wombat Forest was the rest of the world.

What if I could start again.

The typical Mid-Life Crisis.

Is this the chance we all have to reset, to start again?

In the midst of what we already have?

We’ve tested the waters of our chosen career.

Maybe we’ve proved we can do it.

Or not.

Our soul is crying out to be heard.

What are we here for?

What is our true destiny?

Do you have a destiny wanting to speak?

Your caravan in the bush?

I had no choice.

My one-man freelance business went bankrupt.

I lost everything.

I had no choice but to start again.

I had to let go.

There’s a wisdom saying, Buddhist I think . . .

What you let go of, which is truly yours, shall be returned to you tenfold.

It was true for me.

I had to let go.

The Universe is there to support you.

It did me.

May the Force be with you.

I had untold adventures.

Other countries to visit.

Books to write.

Of my stories.

They’re all here.

Your destiny awaits.

Your story.

Waiting to be told.

You’ll need to have it first.

Starting from where you are,

Start and everything else will follow.

It’s my secret.

Love and peace.

Neil the Smith

How To Get Noticed At The Age Of 10.

25/09/202228/09/2022 ~ neilwjsmith ~ Leave a comment

I guess that was my first taste of success.

I was just a school kid in Grade Five.

What started as an innocent gesture turned into getting me noticed for the rest of my school life.

And beyond.

And my secret?

Used stamps.

Postage stamps off envelopes.

In those days they could have value as cancelled postage stamps.

Not any more.

Many years ago they were collected by the Save The Children Fund and resold as ‘Mission Stamps’.

The packets of used postage stamps were like a mystery bag where you’d never know what you might find.

Ahh, the good old days.

Those mystery bags were, allegedly, unsorted, and a mixture of countries and values.

Who knows what treasure one might find.

The proceeds would be added to the charity funds that, even today, help the care and suffering of innocent children around the world.

Orphaned, injured in war, suffering disease, malnourished.

Still the case, of course, and still my favoured charity.

I was collecting these used stamps from my friends and neighbours when I decided to ask the Class of Year Five at the East Ivanhoe Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, if they would also save their used stamps for me.

My teacher found out.

She got behind me.

And asked me to start a Stamp Club in activities time every week.

So suddenly the whole school knew.

I had my own school Stamp Club.

Without even trying.

My Stamp Club attracted the attention of the Principal.

Which is how, without even trying, I got noticed in Year Five.

The moral of the story is, a small act of kindness and compassion can lead to greater things.

Which it did.

In my school career.

And beyond.

I’ll tell you how next time.

To follow my unpredictable life experience stories follow my blog (scroll down to find Follow window) –

Neil

PS, You can enjoy my life stories in my two autobiographical books here –

Romancing Your Life & Changing the World

The Great Regency Cover-Up

The Adventure Is Written In Everyone’s Destiny. Go Find Yours.

26/08/202226/08/2022 ~ neilwjsmith ~ Leave a comment

It’s the hidden treasure hinted at in so many great stories.

And you have the treasure map.

Now go find it.

You don’t need to travel or go anywhere to have the adventure.

It’s waiting for you.

Just go with the flow and it will come to you.

As it did for me.

I’m a writer.

My first job was as an advertising copywriter with one of the most creative ad agencies in the world.

Yet I never left my home city – Melbourne.

I started my writing career with a blast.

Because I was in the right place at the right time.

By co-incidence?

Or serendipity?

I’ve written the book about it.

And three others.

About having adventures without looking for them.

The thing is, we’re all at just the right place at the right time.

It’s called serendipity.

Try it.

You can buy the full set of FOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL BOOKS now.

Read how I went through an 80 year old life always following what called me.

And, hey, I have survived.

I’ve lived a life full of ups and downs, twists and turns, successes and failures.

By going nowhere.

Buy my full set of 4 autobiographical books –

‘WHAT THEY DIDN’T TELL US ABOUT LIFE’ (104 pages)

‘THE STORY OF FAIRY HILLS & EAGLE MOUNTAIN’ (55 pages0

‘MY SEARCH FOR TRUTH IN THE BIG CITY’ (45 pages)

‘THE GREAT REGENCY COVER-UP’ (236 pages)

Place your order here.

I hope you enjoy the journey.

Love and Peace.

Neil

You Never Know What You’ll Find In A Ship’s Log

08/03/201930/03/2019 ~ neilwjsmith ~ Leave a comment

When you’re a storyteller, you often find all kinds of fabulous human interest stories in sources like a ship’s log previously overlooked by official historians looking for only the bare facts.

As I learned when I researched the original log books of the ‘Lady Nelson’.

“The logbooks of the Lady Nelson bear witness to the leading part played by one small British ship in the discovery of a great continent,” says author Ida Lee in the introduction to her book which preserves the ship’s original log books. “They show how closely, from the date of her first coming to Sydney in 1800 until her capture by pirates off the island of Baba in 1825, this little brig was identified with the colonisation and development of Australia.”

-Capture by pirates?

-The violent end to ‘The Lady Nelson’ and the discovery of her charred remains.

-The heartwarming story of a crew member falling in love with a New Zealand Maori Chief’s daughter, separated by a well-meaning ship’s captain and their eventual happy reunion.

-Confrontation with the hostile Maori Chief Ti-Pahi.

-Building of the first house to be constructed in New Zealand by the crew of ‘The Lady Nelson’.

-The rescue of an early settlement that failed to find the site where Melbourne was founded 30 years later.

-A vivid account of losses overboard during wild seas where, in 1998, six lives were lost from rather more sophisticated craft in the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

-A tense stand-off with the Spanish ship ‘Estramina’ and her subsequent surrender.

-How I uncovered an unsung hero from the days of sailing ships and adventures on the High seas who, at just 24 or 25, took command of ‘The Lady Nelson’.

-The part played by the ship in Australia’s only military coup involving William Bligh of ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ fame – another mutiny if you like.

These are just a few of the many dramatic stories I found in the logs books of the tiny brig HMS ‘Lady Nelson’.

They are only a small part of my bigger story, as Writer’s Digest said, “You have discerned an amazing story” and “the readers will truly love this material.”

This is an easy to read, hard to put down non-fiction book that reads like fiction. Order your copy now and read for yourself these amazing stories within a bigger even more amazing story.

If you enjoy reading real short stories in a bigger true mystery CLICK HERE (publisher) or CLICK HERE (Amazon)

Happy reading

Neil

Reference: ‘The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson’ by Ida Lee, published by Grafton & Co, London, 1915.

A book of true stories that’s not a book of true stories

14/02/201918/02/2019 ~ neilwjsmith ~ Leave a comment

How many books have you read that could claim to fit no less than 10 of Amazon’s 33 book categories?

This one can.

It’s really one big fun true mystery adventure story that contains many smaller stories about real people.

But essentially it’s one big story, as Writer’s Digest* said, “You have discerned an amazing story.”

There’s the story of an unsung hero, a British naval lieutenant who played a major role in the early British settlement of southern Australia and New Zealand, the story of Australia’s only military coup, the heartwarming story of a British sailor who fell in love with a New Zealand Maori Chief’s daughter, the story of my own survival after bankruptcy, my own romantic story living for 6 months in New York with a beautiful school teacher, the discovery that a granny was really a ghost with a message, the story of a ‘Wild White Man’ who lived for 30 years with an aboriginal tribe as their Chief (illustrated above), my story of living with an Italian nurse for 4 months in romantic Italy, and many more.

Again, Writer’s Digest* claimed, “It’s got everything it needs to be a blockbuster, romance, history, the paranormal, and the story of a narrator finding his way in the world. Big stories like this are difficult to tell.”

So ‘Back to the Wall’ is one big important true story while, at the same time, it’s many small cameos of real people living extraordinary personal stories.