This First World Life
Through the sunset: disconnect and reconnect
I went to Melbourne recently for an event to promote my books, raise awareness about anxiety and depression and share some of my story. It just so happened to coincide with the start of the Australian Open – what perfect timing. Travel, books, well-being and tennis:...
Wanted: Dependable housekeeper/office manager. Flexible hours. Terms negotiable.
So I’m doing my best to keep a neat and tidy home office that projects just the right blend of creativity and efficiency, a streamlined yet stimulating environment in which to play with words. In reality my organisational skills are less than conventional. My modus...
Sweet dreams
I met this great guy at a party recently. He is a sleep specialist. Why did I not meet him years ago? In the totally platonic sense of course, both of us being mostly happily married. We have so much in common. He is also renovating his house and experiencing ‘tradie...
Days like these
There are days when everyone and everything grates, when the driver of the Qashqai in front of you hogs the right hand lane while maintaining an infuriating speed precisely 3 km/h below the limit; when the frosty receptionist at the medical centre tells you with...
The (not quite) lost art of letter writing
The (not quite) lost art of letter writing Sometimes we forget to look up. We become so weighed down by the clutter of our daily lives, preoccupied with the screens in front of us, or the pressing problems we feel will never be resolved, so ridden with fruitless...
Post Retail Stress Disorder
My choice of therapy has never been of the retail variety. I’m not a shopper. There are many reasons why, some of which include the fact that I’m not good at making decisions (you can read more about that in my book, Changing Lightbulbs), I feel guilty that I have...
A trifecta of unfortunate events: the sequel
So Christmas came and went, and was really very pleasant, despite my huge reservations about the all-consuming consumerism that descends at this time of year. Not really what God had in mind when the angel Gabriel descended methinks. Not much to do with a child born...
Kindred spirits
For those who read my last post, ‘A trifecta of unfortunate events’, there is a sequel, coming soon to a website near you. And it involves shovelling shit. Literally. But that’s not the tale I’m going to tell today. Today, Christmas Day, is a time for joy, love,...
A trifecta of unfortunate events
They say that things, good and bad, and sometimes buses, come in threes. This week the proverbial trifecta of events decided to occur at a time when my stress levels were already through the roof, what with moving house and trying to declutter the impossible tangle of...
Wednesday afternoon
A quiet classroom corridor on a windy afternoon. The students long gone, their school bags packed, off home in Mum’s capacious 4 wheel drive, the latest model equipped with leather seats and bluetooth and all the additional extras, every comfort for the school pick...
A tale of three leaders
Three leaders were appointed this week. Firstly, the announcement of a new headmaster, after a five month search and a no doubt rigorous selection procedure, who will soon be bringing his family from east coast to west, to take up residence on the magnificent school...
Vive la France
It is hard to believe that this weekend marked the 1st anniversary of the unimaginable horror that took place at the Bataclan concert hall in November 2016. One year on, Sting took the stage; there would have been no song more apt than the hauntingly beautiful...
Long Distance Friendship
My friend Julia and I talked on Skype last night. We don’t do it often enough. She lives in London, I am in Perth. We’d locked the time in for 6.30 and I warned the family – “I’m Skyping Julia”. They knew I would be a while. The connection wasn’t good initially, we’d...
Being creative
I was brought up not to ‘blow my own trumpet’, to such an extent that at the ripe old age of 54 I still struggle to believe that anything I do or create is ever any good. But I am changing, gradually and quietly changing into someone who finally believes in their...
Travelling light
A few years ago I was carrying around at least five over sized suitcases of baggage. They came with me everywhere, although plane travel was clearly out of the question. No airport trolley could accommodate my five suitcases, and my excess baggage costs would have far...
