In recent days, very recent days, there has been a shift. A mood of eerie surrealism and a sense of being unmoored from reality. Of being emotionally unravelled by our social media feeds, our inboxes and the silence in the streets. At 8am this morning I go for coffee, I locked eyes with a stranger,…
A friendship manifesto (the revised edition)
Quite a few years ago I wrote a friendship manifesto. I had been thinking of friendships a bit at the time and had just gone to my 30 year school reunion and so I was reflecting on life long friendships and those that I had that were more recent and those that had evolved. Today…
An open letter to the new school mums,
Talking to a friend last week, she has her first child starting school this year, we were discussing all the emotional realities and logistical challenges that starting school presents. For example, she was genuinely concerned how she would get her sock hating 5-year-old to conform to sock wearing. My advice of course, being something to do with bribery…
Assume we are all doing the best we can
It all started with a disposable coffee cup. Waiting in line for my coffee, there were two women in front of me. They seemed to know each other, their interactions polite, not overtly but in a reserved manner. A bit like knowing of someone but not really knowing them. They ordered coffees, with one of them…
Why work life balance doesn’t work
Netflix’s sitcom Working Moms first debuted in 2017 so I’m a bit late to the hype surrounding the series but I’ve recently been binge watching my way through each season and I loved it. The show explores the minefield that is parenting, work, relationships, friendships and all the glorious and grimy bits in between. It’s comical and…
Consent and the six year old
It was Charlie’s birthday party, there were 20 something mini Ninjas in our backyard. Loud and free they are screaming, jumping and laughing. So much wild laughter and the sound is like balm to the soul. Children’s laughter is pure joy and comes as a gentle reminder that innocence is not always lost. There were tears…