Ah, elusive ‘JOY’, sometimes I wonder why it is so hard to find joy in our daily lives. As a mum to four beautiful humans, sometimes life just gets heavy and feels weighed down and hard. Joy is light and uplifting. We know that joy comes from gratitude (definitely read The Book of Joy for more on this). Mental and physical rest definitely help us to find gratitude, although if you look at the Dalai Lama or Nelson Mandela as examples, gratitude can be cultivated in the most trying times. Sometimes no matter which direction we go something pops up and it feels like we are never going to get that ..read more

Women’s Circles. Eccentric would have been my immediate response two years ago. I would have pictured purple crushed velvet, silver dragon ornaments and some moon dancing. Not that I’m against any of those things, I mean go your hardest I say…but definitely not my style. My opinion now? Absolutely essential for the new wave of feminism that is about embracing our femininity and finding balance with the masculine. We are experiencing a global shift in how business is done. We are seeing a shift, where women are competing less (with men and each other) and bringing the feminine into business, li ..read more

Encouraging our children to be eco warriors, wildlife protectors and future nature lovers. “Children are born with a sense of wonder and an affinity for nature. Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy, and eventually into sustainable patterns of living.” Zenobia barlow I remember reading this quote years ago, when my eldest was very small, and thinking about how to cultivate in him that desire to protect our earth and all that lives on it. He is now just shy of 13 and pushing every boundary. He’s one of those kids who is DESPERATE to grow up faster and frustrated ..read more

We are programmed to believe that walking away equals failure, inconsistency and weakness. Sometimes this is accurate but in many cases walking away from something is about being brave and stepping into the unknown. Letting go of limiting beliefs. Letting go of conditioning that doesn’t fit anymore. There have been a few times in my life when walking away has been really hard but ultimately empowering and also scary. We all grow up holding onto beliefs from all sorts of places, parents, schooling, siblings, experiences. What is interesting is often these beliefs don’t actually fit our values ..read more

I have never been so sick that I am stuck in bed for an extended period of time. The longest had been when I had an emergency caesarean with my 4th and was stuck in bed for a few days afterwards. Even then I didn’t do bed rest well! Anyway, I was blessed with meningitis during August, and although absolutely shitful, there was a certain amount of silver lining. Forced rest and contemplation. I wasn’t able to read, watch TV or really sit up much at all for 7 days and I was pretty much stuck in bed for 14 days. Now, anyone who knows me would know how challenging I found it. Wow. A whole lotta ti ..read more

Age. What a weird thing it is. Counting the years as they pass. How many years on this earth? My age has never bothered me, but turning 40 made me realise that the only reason I wasn’t worried was because I wasn’t 40 yet, ha ha seriously! Turning 40 feels so weird to me. It sounds so different to being in your 30’s. I have felt like I was 20 for the past 20 years! I remember my Mum turning 40, it was the first time I had ever taken notice of her age. For some reason is feels like a turning point in how I viewed her, I would have been ten at the time. Anyway, it is an interesting time, I suppos ..read more

Well! What a crazy month I have had. I am just coming up to breathe. I believe that is the longest gap I have had in writing for such a long time. It is so good to be back. The last few weeks have seen me drowning in study, squeezing in a holiday and coming back to a world of face masks and restrictions. What an insane time we are living in. Our little getaway was just what we needed, we went to Forrest in the Otway Rangers, not even an hour from home but it felt like we were miles away. We had no internet or phone service, we took our mountain bikes, as it is the place to go for riding in the ..read more

It is winter school holidays here in Australia and it is raining for the next few days. My kids love to be outside and it can be a little challenging with all four inside. One thing I am so grateful for is their love of reading. I thought I would share some of our kids favourite chapter books in 30 Great Holiday Reads for Kids. Most of them are for 7-12 years old but some are suitable for a little older and younger as well, depending on reading level. I think one of the main things to remember when fostering a love of reading in your kids is to let them read what they want, don’t make it hard ..read more

I know I say (or write) it all the time but I just love looking around me and seeing all these amazing women in the world. The strength and power women have inside them blows my mind. That is why I want to write and celebrate them and why Superwomen was born. This particular Superwoman, Renee Treml, is a dear friend of mine, whom I admire for so many reasons. Aside from loving talking all things books and writing with her, Renee has also beaten breast cancer, changed careers in a big way, moved countries and is an amazing mother, creative and friend. She is brave and courageous and as humble a ..read more

I am so glad it is Friday! Yay weekend vibes! I don’t know about you guys but it has been a busy couple of weeks getting everyone back into the school and work routine. Some of you are still unfortunately in ISO and I hope it returns to normal for you soon. For us it was like we were little butterflies coming out of cocoons after a much needed rest and reset. We are keeping things as low-key as possible and really enjoying not too much going on. So here are some little bits from around the traps to have a look at and checkout over the weekend: If you haven’t watched Normal People on Stan yet ..read more