Life, Love and the Everyday

On Saturday morning I received a call from *Victoria asking me what my plans were for the day.  I looked around at the mess that I had committed myself to cleaning up before a party took place at Alan's and my home for a friend. "Cleaning. What about you?" I asked cheerfully. "I'm heading to the Flower Market and was wondering if you wanted to join me." *Victoria replied.  It took me a nano-second to make up my mind. "What time do you need me ready?" I asked her.  "About half an hour?" She answered and that sealed the deal. Rather than sorting the clutter I had spread about on the dining room table, rather than wash the mountain of dishes in the sink and vaccum the floor I would be going to the flower market with my sister.  I embraced the distraction happily, the chores would still be there when I got home anyway.  I dressed pretty and comfortably in a pair of black trousers and a grey long-sleeved shirt with vibrant-coloured

Inspired by 'The Courage to Be Creative" by Doreen Virtue, I finally set out to do what I had been procrastinating for eight months. I made the decision to quit my Childcare Diploma course to begin my journey towards a career in writing. I marked the occasion with a meal at a new Taiwanese restaurant near where I live, I ordered a beef brisket noodle soup with an amazing peach iced tea which was deliciously salivating. While consuming this meal, I wrote an email to my new trainer from the course stating the reason why I was dropping out.  There was no self-loathing or guilt, just the peace that comes with making the right decision.  (Then again, I had wrestled with the doubt of this choice last year while writing The Truth 1&2) For eight months I inwardly weighed the pro's against the cons, I told myself not to quit the course for all the practical reasons under the sun and also the personal.  'I'm not a quitter.' 'There are people out there w

Words are so powerful. They can be used as salvation or weapons, for healing or for harm, for light and darkness. They can also be used as curses. In Disney movies characters are cursed by being turned into frogs, ogres and Snow White died from a poisonous apple and was brought back to life with true love's kiss. The Prince in Sleeping Beauty released Aurora from a spell by killing Maleficent with a sword through her heart but he still had to kiss Aurora to wake her up from an eternal sleep. But for us humans, curses are a little harder to break, particularly in regards to slander, labels, stereotyping and physical illnesses, or in my case: a learning disability. My parents were told that I would not amount to much in life, I would not have a career, husband or children because it was decreed by respectable medical professionals that I would not have the mental capacity or brains for any of those three blessings. I didn't know those medical professionals by name, let

I find the promise of adventure difficult to resist. After getting comfortable with my usual forest trails, I felt it was time to set myself a bigger challenge and I chose Wilcox Park in Tarragindi. In my impatience to breathe in the sweet smell of wood and rain I trampled through a thicket of trees from the road to the trail (not the best idea I've had) but I just couldn't wait to be surrounded by natural beauty. Every time I step into the forest I feel like I am walking on sacred ground, it's a quiet and peaceful place where I don't think about the things that make me worried or anxious, there's just the wildwood and I have to be present in that moment. While I was walking down the trail, I saw off-beaten paths that I wanted to explore and I had a revelation about my fascination with them and its because I do that in my own life. I sometimes make decisions that distract me from the path I originally decided on, mostly whe

  The first hardest thing I have ever told someone is. "Sarah, I love you."  The second hardest thing I ever said to anyone was "Sarah, you're beautiful." The third hardest thing was "Sarah, I'm proud of you."  The fourth. "Sarah, you deserve more." The fifth..."Sarah, I'm sorry..." "I'm sorry for the times I said, 'I hate you' in the mirror, I'm sorry for the times I called you ugly, I'm sorry for the times I made you hang out with people who put you down and made you feel less than what you are. I'm sorry for not being brave enough to defend you and I'm sorry that it's only just now that I have learnt to see the beauty in me that is you."  And that inner voice replied. "It's all right, I know that you loved me - you have kept me alive these past 29 years, even when you felt ugly you still went out and did life, when those people put you down you show