Category: Resilience

  • Ugly art therapy

    Ugly art therapy

    I’m a big believer in ‘the art of distraction‘ and know from firsthand experience that when we slip into ‘the flow’ of creating something (be it sewing, kiddy craft or a short story) we can forget about time, our surroundings, and most importantly, our pain. I’ve also written in the…

  • “Precious Illusions”

    “Precious Illusions”

    I was a child in the 1970s and 80s. It was quiet. I don’t mean that figuratively, but literally. Our house had a small black and white TV, a radio and a giant piece of furniture that held a mini-record turntable (in the corridor (of all places)). Weekends were spent…

  • When your migraine triggers are a trigger

    When your migraine triggers are a trigger

    “What do you think caused this bad migraine?” my husband kindly asks. “I don’t know,” I honestly reply; “yesterday was very hot, so maybe I got overly dehydrated?” If I’m in a reasonable mood the innocent enquiry will end there. If I’m feeling more paingry, then I’m likely to get…

  • Aliens… alienated

    Aliens… alienated

    When I was growing up, the word ‘alien’ was a shorthand way of conjuring up images of E.T. Phoning Home, eating mashed potato mountains while humming an electronic beep-bop tune, or an assortment of green-hued light beams, metal donuts, and other-worldly secrets deliberately concealed or accidentally revealed… oh, and THAT…

  • Retro-walking backwards

    Retro-walking backwards

    Not long ago I posted about the Walk for Peace. Whilst last year I wrote about how I say the alphabet backwards to help me get to sleep and another about riding a bicycle backwards. Continuing my interest in both walking and backwardness, I recently wrote about Tai Chi Walking,…

  • Be the CEO of your own body

    Be the CEO of your own body

    At the beginning of the year, I mentioned the Australian fashion designer Camilla Franks as one of my role models who was going to mentor me (in my imagination). Camilla and I are very different – she lives the colorful and glamorous life of a socialite / traveler, and she…

  • A monkey called Punch and his ‘Mommy’

    A monkey called Punch and his ‘Mommy’

    Is it normal to cry when you watch YouTube videos? Perhaps not, but the recent story of Punch the Monkey has got me a bit weepy. Thankfully, things seem to be taking a turn for the better for little Punch-kun (as he’s known in his hometown), which is great news……

  • The art of critical ignoring

    The art of critical ignoring

    A short while ago I wrote about how I was choosing to ignore bad news (in a post called “Identity Crisis“). In that post, I referenced a specific strategy that I was trialing: “critical ignoring”. Today’s post explains the idea. In 2022, psychology researchers Stephan Lewandowsky and Ralph Hertwig published a…

  • Prepper-Mindfulness

    Prepper-Mindfulness

    OK, so strange post today. It’s about my New Year’s Revelation. (Sort of.) In Australia, December-to-February is our Summer, and therefore, it’s also our Fire Season. While downloading some data sheets on how best to prepare our property against the threat of a fire, I was pulled up short by…