At the risk of sounding like I’m whining about my #firstworld problems; this morning was nothing short of crappy. With thanks to two small children who had broken my sleep throughout the night, I woke up feeling crappy. With thanks to a freezing house not suited to Sydney’s mid-winter weather, I got out of bed feeling crappy. With thanks to my late start to the morning, I wrestled my monumentally resistant children out the door, feeling crappy.As my morning continued, so did the crappiness. The crappiness of an overflowing Inbox. The crappiness of another film-grant rejection. The crappiness of a... Read full article »

The other day I was standing in my kitchen deep in thought and on the verge of solving a challenging work conundrum when my husband walked in and asked me what was wrong. “Nothing,” I said. “I’m just thinking.” My caring husband had seen my stern looking face and thought that something was up. But there wasn’t anything wrong. I was just thinking deeply and wearing a face expression that, with thanks to media observations of Hilary Clinton and other women in the public spotlight, has become known as “resting bitch face.”This seemingly harmless and minor interaction got me thinking... Read full article »

I was recently browsing the health section of my favourite book store, looking for a good book for a friend who recently discovered that she has a serious chronic disease and faces a lengthy period of medical treatments. I wanted to find something that would inspire and uplift her, something with credible and useful information, and something that wasn’t too taxing for her to read. To be honest, I was shocked by what I saw. There was just so much nonsense on the shelves – Books written by people who are marketed as experts simply because they are famous, books... Read full article »

The other day I was stunned when a good friend of mine revealed that he’s been struggling with depression. I’ve always thought of him as one of the most upbeat, funny, and joyful people I know and to learn that he’s been in a very dark place was a real shock. Given that research shows that most people don’t get support until ten years after their first depressive episode, I was relieved to learn that my friend was looking for help. He was interested in meditation as a coping tool and wanted to know what kind of meditation I practice.... Read full article »

There’s a particular person in my life who is always unhappy. No matter what good things come their way, they always find a reason to be negative. As a person who tends towards the sunny side of life I often feel frustrated when I’m around this person. I want them to be different. I want them see the good in the world. I want them to appreciate what they do have instead of focusing on what they don’t have. Lately, I’ve found myself avoiding them because no matter what I do or say, they won’t change. This got me thinking... Read full article »

It was Monday morning. I was stuck in a hot car park with my husband and 18-month-old son. We were an hour out of Sydney. Our car was broken down. My email inbox was chock-a-block, there were a bunch of voicemails on my phone and I had a ‘To Do’ list as long as my arm.   We’d just spent the weekend on the Hawkesbury River at a holiday house only accessible by boat and after successfully transferring our luggage from the boat to the car with relatively little fuss from my son, we discovered the car had a flat... Read full article »