I've heard it said that in life we often have to choose between being and doing. Being as the pursuit of personhood and virtue, doing as productivity and achievement. As I look back across my life I am struck that I haven't "done" much. I've often found myself thinking about the potential I had as a teenager and young adult and wondering how I came to "do" so little. I wish I had climbed the corporate ladder more, chased more awards, studied further and traveled more. What ha

For as long as I can remember Christmas has been a loud and busy affair. My mum's extended family, all my aunts, uncles, cousins and their children numbering about forty people in total, would gather at Mum & Dad's for a trestle table laden feast. About two years ago we had our first "small" Christmas. It was just my parents, my sister and my family. Everyone else loved small Christmas; less noise, less outlay, less cleaning up, less strained conversations, less social niceti

40 hit me like a freight train. As it approached and for many months afterwards it felt like my life was undergoing an entire tear down and rebuild like a car engine. I questioned everything in my life all while not wanting to let on to anyone. I am a capable, sensible person and I certainly wasn't prepared to entertain the thought that I was teetering on the edge of a midlife crisis. Still the questions persisted: Had I wasted my early career in a role that was less than I w

I enjoy journaling. Gratitude journalling in particular seems to be having a moment right now. There's even proven mental health benefits...

I have endometriosis. Lots of women do. Most people don't know that I have endometriosis. When they find out, they're usually shocked. They say things like "I would never have known". When I explain my state the next thing that follows is usually, earnestly, "Really? How do you do it?!" If they are a good friend I will tell them it's like going on.a bear hunt; you can't go over it, you can't go over it, you have to go through it. Otherwise, I'll spare them the literary detour

I recently turned 40. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I certainly have a sense that I'm no longer part of the "it" crowd, the beautiful people. It's not people my age that feature in make up ads or even nappy ads. Television is limited to 40 year olds caught in a comedy of errors about aging. I begin to feel like maybe once you hit forty you become a bit invisible. A midlife wallflower. Professionally, women in their 40s tend to be left to their own devices. Sometimes

The saying goes "You can't make old friends". What sits behind this saying is the assurance that there is something qualitatively...