Our son recently returned for a restorative stint at home, bringing with him the latest addition to our family, Sammy the cat, or “The Meister” as we call him. Photo by Polina Kovaleva on Pexels.com He acquired Sammy during one of the COVID lockdowns last year when he was experiencing burnout. He was living alone and at a particularly low ebb because he unable to work at his job in hospitality. Not eating properly or taking his medication, the environment provided the perfect conditions for someone with ADHD to slip back into depression. The idea of a cat didn’t appeal to me Admittedly, when h ..read more

“Being in constant control of everything. The older we get the more we realize how little we actually control. And there’s no good reason to hold yourself down with things you can’t control. Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it. Oftentimes what you never wanted or expected turns out to be what you need.” Photo from Logan Weaver on Unsplash.com The above is a quote from Marc Chernoff’s article, 20 Things That Will Matter A Lot Less To You in Twenty Years. I assume Marc is younger than me and is predicting the wisdom that often comes with someone my age – 50+ – but clea ..read more

2022 is looking as unpredictable as the past two years. Just as we’re getting some handle on COVID – we hope – we are now facing the threate of a global war over Ukraine and the escalating effects of climate change, with little hope of any real improvement from either Australian political party at the next election. COVID has left many of us feeling shell-shocked and a little uncertain about our place in the world On a personal note, we’ve also recently experienced several health crises amongst friends and family. Nothing major, but enough to remind us that life is short and that we need to dr ..read more

I have been sitting on this post for several weeks. Partly because – as you will see further down – I am struggling to write anything worth reading at the moment – and partly because this is not a “things I’m grateful for” post with which to wrap up the year and I think I can leave it to COVID to spoil your Christmas. I don’t think even the most optimistic blogger could reframe 2021 as a great year. Months of lockdown, fears about catching COVID, distance from family and friends, and an overwhelming feeling of helplessness have ensured these past twelve months have been a shit show for many of ..read more

When we came out of lockdown, I broke an Olympic record for the speed with which I booked my colour at my hairdressers, so it was reassuring to see Melbournians bang down the doors of theirs when their Premier released them from one of the longest lockdowns around the world. Ageism has a lot to answer for, proven by a recent study by Australian Seniors that showed the drastic lengths middle-aged women and men go to – from hair colouring to plastic surgery – to remain visible, relevant, and employable. Ageism has a lot to answer for Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash I’m lucky ..read more

“Slow down, you move too fast,” the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel’s Feelin’ Groovy, have struck a note with me lately. As a person who suffers from anxiety, I am conscious of my tendency to rush through life without taking a breath, shortchanging myself of the full benefits of life’s simple pleasures. I’m semi-retired, but most days I still feel like I’m chasing my tail and there aren’t enough hours for everything I want to achieve Photo by Eunice Stahl on Unsplash Admittedly, my inability to say no is a big part of the problem – because I do waste hours of my week on unnecess ..read more

Sometime over the past few years, I lost my spark. I’m not sure whether to blame menopause, the medication I take for my anxiety, or the amount of time my husband and I have spent in lockdown together, but whatever the reason, I was desperate to get it back. Impatience and irrational outbursts of anger had become a big problem, linked (I suspected) to any number of the symptoms of menopause I was experiencing – poor sleep, hormone fuckery, the inability to control my body temperature, and my fear about the life-altering changes that lay ahead. And so, as we approached week 7 of lockdown – and ..read more

In a vain search to reach the level of physical perfection required of middle-aged women, I’m endeavouring to drink more water. My hope is that by upping the volume of water that passes through my body each day, I will drug a niggling kidney stone, transform my sallow complexion to the porcelain finish of my twenties, eat less, and sort out some digestive issues that started in menopause. Basically, I’m expecting a miracle How I expect to look once I retrain my bladder. Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash Apparently, water is the elixir of life, and women should drink around 2L ..read more

A friend of mine admitted to me recently he is not attending social events anymore if some loud-mouthed fuckwit – with whom he has crossed paths before – is on the guest list. Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash I understand. I’m completely behind removing toxic people from my life. But that does gets harder in middle age when many of us – myself included – begin to like the sound of our own voice. While I love a good political debate, but not at the expense of respect In my view, these spats happen more often in middle age for the following reasons: 1. We seem to believe that our age and ..read more

I caught up with an old friend recently and when the conversation turned to the inevitable topic of menopause and weight gain, I was surprised to see her stroke her belly and proudly flaunt it in my direction. She told me she’s embracing the menopause belly. What a brave choice, I thought, in a society that chooses to celebrate youth and beauty over experience and wisdom, the reason so many of us take longer than others to adapt to the mental and physical changes caused by this stage of life. And I’m not talking necessarily about the well-documented symptoms of menopause, like hot flushes and ..read more