Dear Reader A Long Anticipated Move For the past two years Neil and I have contemplated what our next home move will be, what parameters will be in play when it happens, and where we will go. One of the things we agreed on is that we love our current home. There is little about the location we don't like. And definitely nothing about our neighbours we don't love either. In fact, both these elements have been at the heart of why it's been so difficult to make the move. We knew our next move...
14 days ago • 4 min read
Dear Reader A Bright, bright, sun-shiny day For the past few weeks Neil and I have both succumbed to this terrible cold that seems to be plaguing half our little community. Then I woke one morning feeling like the clouds were lifting. My cough wasn't so bad. My head, not so achy. I started doing little things around the house - decluttering a shelf, filling some bags for recycling, dusting. Not much, not all at once, but little things that made me feel like the sun was going to shine again....
2 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader Every year around this time ... ... I remember that nineteen years ago I was on a Buddhist pilgrimage with a group from California where I was living at the time. This trip had been planned by the group for years. I was a last minute addition when a place in the trip opened up unexpectedly. I didn't know why at the time, but I soon realised it was one of those events that in hindsight turned my life along a totally different path. At the time I was looking for direction, for a...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Dear Reader Where are you from? Recently my friend reminded me of an exercise we did several years ago titled Where I'm From. The exercise came in the form of a template - fill in the gaps. I modified it a little, as you do, and was pleased that when I read my response today,years later, it still reflects me. The exercise reminds me I am from people, places and experiences - all shaping the person I am today. Where am I from? I am from Hammonds and Dullahides, Digby and Doris, children of...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader A planned event is successful Life is never boring. And life is always open to sharing learning opportunities wherever I look. It gives me joy and pleasure to grow and learn. What is often hardest is how these lessons come. “Always look for the silver lining” – that’s an underlying mantra for living, I think. In Aug 2017, I underwent bilateral eye surgery and it wasn’t pretty for a long time – the surgery accentuated undiagnosed double vision, resulting in the need for prism...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Dear Reader I've shared quite a lot during the past few newsletters about how I've struggled with having lost my sister a few months ago. Today I want to share how something unexpected can bring a ray of hope and sunshine when the clouds gather, literally in our wintery days, and metaphorically. An unexpected prize I love many things about my husband, Neil, and one of his qualities that is precious to me is his generosity. My mother had a saying that been included in my footer to the...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Dear Reader Are you using AI apps? In my writers' communities there's a fear of how writers might be using AI to write their stories. This fear is so prevalent that many decry its use for any part of the writing process. I've lived a long enough life now to have seen several inventions that raised fears of how these might replace genuine effort and creativity. Some inventions made our work easier. During my lifetime, our family has gone from icebox to refrigerator, from washing clothes in a...
5 months ago • 6 min read
Dear Reader Lessons Learned It's not always easy to recognise a mistake we make. I recently had a lesson in the consequences of not paying attention. My oldest daughter and I take the opportunity to spend a few hours together nearly every week. Sometimes we hang out at my place. Sometimes we run errands together. A couple of weeks ago she had an appointment at the optometrist. I had a few errands to run nearby so we parked in the carpark under a small shopping mall where I had a shopping...
5 months ago • 6 min read
Dear Reader Autumn - My favourite time of Year Autumn ends in a few days here in the southern hemisphere. I have a tiny feeling of regret and disappointment that the blue skies, the beautiful colours and the crisp cool days will soon be gone. I've always loved this season above others. To me, Autumn reflects the cycles of my life, reminding me that moving into a different stage has its beauty and grace. Autumn glory in Endeavour Park Soon the trees will be bare. The morning light will come...
6 months ago • 5 min read