I wish I had a time machine so I could go back 11 years ago when I was first diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. I wish I could bump into that 24-year-old version of me who was leaving a rheumatologists office in tears, having just been told she “probably has lupus,” that her immune system was attacking her own body, that there was no known cause and no known cure, that she had bad genes, and that she may end up in a wheelchair, with organ failure, or infertility. I wish I could tell her about this moment right now,... Read full article »

I woke up yesterday and immediately knew something was different. A familiar but unusual feeling came over me. Like kindling a fire, at first it was delicate and tentative, but as I began my morning routine, the feeling grew until it was a roar. That feeling was energy. I was switched on. Alive. Motivated. Before I’d even had my breakfast, three great ideas had popped into my head.   Energy is not something I’ve had in abundance lately. In fact, some days I’ve felt wiped, especially in the early evenings when I’ve been turning into a zombie. So what was... Read full article »

As I write these words I’m sitting in my sunlit kitchen with a freshly brewed cup of warm tea, my seven-week-old son is sleeping in his bassinet… and my next door neighbor is intermittently blasting a low pitched rumble and a high pitched buzz with some kind of mechanized contraption used for cutting timber.   My neighbor is an owner-builder, which in Australia means he has a special license that allows him to carry out his own construction work. He’s been building his house for the last three and a half years – a time frame I’m all-too aware of... Read full article »

The other day I found myself standing on the side of a busy road in front of an empty space where my car had been parked with a hungry, crying baby in my arms. My car had just been towed away because I had parked in a bus zone. As I write these words, I have blood shot eyes, unwashed hair and have yet to make it out of what is now my daily uniform of yoga pants and a t-shirt. I’ve recently had to start writing notes to myself on my phone because my short-term memory is failing me.... Read full article »

There’s a lot happening in the Harvey household at the moment. Between the new book I’ve been writing for the last year and a half, the new film we’ve just received development funding for, the new baby who is due to arrive in late July, working to keep the bills paid, and the general hustle and bustle of every day life, just like many of you reading this post, I’ve got a lot to think about. My head space feels rather full.   At times like this it’s easy to tell myself I’m too busy to cook good food, or... Read full article »

On January 27, 1880, Thomas Edison was granted U.S patent 223,898 for “An electric lamp for giving light by incandescence⁠.” He had invented the world’s first commercially viable light bulb and within a couple of decades every home and business throughout America and Europe was illuminated with artificial light.   As the founder of General Electric he had a vested interest in rebranding the night as the beginning rather than the end of the day used his celebrity status to boast that he needed only four or five hours of sleep each night.  As Alan Derickson writes in his book... Read full article »