Siting around on New Year’s Day discussing the previous year, one of the group said, ‘It’s been a terrible year’ and rattled off all the celebrities who have died in 2016 and all the things that will change the world, Brexit, Trump, Trump, did I say Trump? When my husband said, ‘Well it wasn’t as bad as 1665.’ (more…)
A Year of Tenderness
It’s a beautiful, hot Queensland summer day at the beach; the water is clear, see-through green. Calm. I look down at my toes, digging into yellow sand. My friend and I are bobbing around in the soft waves; hats perched on our heads, sunglasses shielding our eyes from the glare of the mid-morning sun.
We talk about work, children, food, Chinese New Year and the year of the Rooster, then the mood shifts and my friend asks, ‘Have you two always been good together?’ She looks towards the beach umbrella where my husband is laying back in a chair reading his Christmas book.
Intimacy Is An Inside Job
I was talking about intimacy with a friend this morning. She was mourning the lack of intimacy in her relationship with her partner. I asked her how she rated the intimacy she has with herself; being tender, kind, forgiving, loving and gentle with herself. (more…)
Hope For Twenty Bucks
I walked past the coffee shop and saw her looking intently into the face of a pretty young girl as she held her hand. The girl was listening carefully to her every word. (more…)
Stuck Together With Glue And Love
Recently I was asked to speak with a small group of people about starting their memory books. Glenys wants to put together a pictorial story of her husband’s life. Colin wants to update his memory book to include a brother and sister who he has just discovered. Therese wants to trace her memories back to Ireland and add them to the Australian branch. Libby has just finished compiling a memory book of her parent’s farm and would like to extend it to include her family. Mary wants to write her personal story. (more…)
KINDNESS
I don’t always remember to be kind. Sometimes I am on a treadmill, my brain too full to notice the wonderful things around me. Sometimes the compassion needed to express kindness is hidden under a block of busyness and is not easy to access. Worry, problems, time constraints, selfishness, not being in the moment; all bury kindness somewhere inside me. (more…)