I’ve been wobbly lately. That’s what my best friend calls it. It’s a catch-all phrase for when things are a bit shit and I’m stressed, anxious, depressed or otherwise don’t have great mental health. And I like this term best. I don’t always want to put how I feel in a descriptive box that doesn’t explain all the nuances. So – wobbly it is. Apparently *we don’t write about things until we are through the other side safely. I guess just to make sure we actually do survive and don’t try and dish out advice that led to our demise lol. But I’m not one for following rules so, meh. I’ve decided to ro ..read more

When I first starting reading about minimalism I’ll admit to being overwhelmed. Photos of people living this minimalist lifestyle were trendy. White walls, scandi furniture and not a scatter cushion in sight. As someone who has preferred to buck trends and fads and do my own thing, I struggled to figure out how this lifestyle would benefit me and what I really needed to do in order to become a minimalist. I couldn’t understand people who lived in tiny homes. I like big open spaces. And white everywhere? I prefer moody autumn colors in my spaces, they make me feel warm and safe. Thank ..read more

Dreams and a vision for our future are wonderful things to have. They can inspire us, keep us motivated and help us to do scary things. But what happens when we don’t achieve our dreams? What happens when you wake up in the middle of your life and realize you haven’t done the things you thought or hoped you would? If you had shown me a picture, 15 years ago, of what my life would look like today, you would have had to scrape me off the floor. There would have been disbelief and a whole lot of ugly crying. So I’m glad I didn’t get that memo. But I’m surprisingly okay with the picture of my life ..read more

Embarking on a decluttering and minimizing endeavour can be difficult. In fact, it can be downright scary at times. This is because minimalism isn’t just about your stuff—it’s also about your why. Why you accumulated so much in the first place. And this can be a difficult and emotional journey for anyone. Once upon a time, I was a shopaholic. Uncomfortable in my own skin, I attempted to reclothe myself in whatever the latest fashion was, choosing clothes as a second skin to boost my confidence. In my early twenties, purchasing one or two new items of clothing a week was pretty n ..read more

It’s a common dilemma. There never seems to be enough time. In my twenties and well into my thirties this was a frequent complaint of mine. “I just don’t have enough time”! Or “I will when I find the time.” As if time was playing hide and seek with me and I just needed to keep looking for it. I was obsessed with time. Always wearing a watch, always checking to see where those precious hands were pointing. And scared to waste a mere minute on something trivial or, God forbid, fun. Scheduled to the minute with no breathing room, time was my nemesis. My relationship with time began to change when ..read more

I am often astounded at the energy levels of my two children. They seem to be constantly on the go, sitting still for long periods is definitely a struggle. When I mentioned this to a friend recently, her tongue-in-cheek reply was ‘oh yeah, and whose kids are they?’. And while many young children are like this, I can’t help but wonder if they are biologically wired for doing, just like their mum. And I can’t help but wonder how we stop doing all the things. I am a doer. I struggle to sit and watch television, let alone sit and just be. It’s not in my nature. I get fidgety, particularly wh ..read more

If you are reading this then my guess is that you are interested in slow living or simplifying your life to some degree. This is wonderful because slowing down can be life-changing. But what really want you to know is that you can’t always live slow. At least not in the way the media has portrayed it. I run a blog and sell products designed to help people who want to ditch the ‘crazy-busy’ life and go slower. So obviously I am not about to tell you that you shouldn’t try slow living and or minimalism. I still wholeheartedly believe that these things are worthy of doing. But what I want you to ..read more

I’ve been consciously working towards a slower lifestyle for the past 8 years. It began one gloomy winter night as I lay in bed, pregnant with our second baby, and feeling the weight of everything.  At 35 I was still holding onto the idea that faster, better, and more would help me achieve the life I thought I wanted. Except all that did was leave me battered, bruised and bone-weary. I googled ‘how to live a slower life’ (or something similar), and this lit a fire within me.  I didn’t have to conform to society’s expectations about going faster, doing more and always striving for bet ..read more

I’ve always been a bit of a rebel. I think it’s partly due to my unicorn (enneagram 4) personality. I’d prefer not to fit in. Especially if being asked to fit in with values and ethics that I disagree with. And the older I get the more I am comfortable being a rebel. But not the rebel depicted by James Dean in the 1950s. I’m not a rebel without a cause. And to that end, I’ve created a rebel’s manifesto. It actually feels a bit like a war cry. Note: This is not a how-to post. It’s more of a summation of the state of things in my world. And it’s an invitation for you to make your own rebel’s man ..read more

A couple of years ago, after a big decluttering mission, I managed to whittle my closet down to a mere 54 items. I went from an overflowing closet (one about 4 times that size) to a clean and tidy closet filled with only the things I actually wore. Fast forward and, despite good intentions, that number has slowly crept back up.  My drawers are getting harder to shut, and I’m noticing items that are tucked in the back that haven’t been worn in a long time. It generally doesn’t get to this stage, but for whatever reason, it’s slowly crept back to almost overflowing. And it doesn’t feel good ..read more