“You’re so brave…”
I don’t know about you, but people—and by people, I generally mean other women—utter the words: You’re so brave! to me quite frequently. In past years, I would be called brave for travelling alone. It’s nothing, I’d say. Plus, if I waited for people to travel with, I’d still be sitting home on the couch, not having
Five travel rules that apply to life
After being in India for a few days shy of a month, I am reminded again how travel is a metaphor for life. This trip was every bit as challenging and rewarding as I thought it would be. I came to India with an open mind. I expected nothing and was richly rewarded. I saw
I wish…
This post was inspired by me saying ‘I wish…’ many times about certain things over the last week. I expanded the reach of my wish list somewhat to include other things, because, who knows? sometimes the universe genie may grant more than three wishes… I wish my daughter and I could live peacefully under the same roof… I
Pacts I’ve made with myself
Hands up all of you who have made New Year resolutions? I have in the past, but I usually don’t because I find it an exercise in futility. I mean, why wait all year to change a behaviour that needs changing, or improve your life if it needs improving? Surely if things needs to be addressed,
Life’s disappointments (Part 2)
I wrote the first part of this post back in March 2014. Thought it was about time I finished it off! My career has been an endless succession of ultimately unsatisfying jobs In the late 1980s, I left a series of bank jobs and temporary employment, and got myself university edumacated at the ripe old
2014: I’m still a work in progress…
Along with sharing my WordPress stats, I have a quaint tradition (self-imposed) of doing a wrap-up of the year. You know, what I’ve learned or discovered about myself, what worked well, what I’d do differently… that sort of thing. I do this primarily to document my progress and growth, and to clarify my thinking and
Time: not long enough…
I was at my work’s social club Christmas drinks on Friday evening just gone. It’s a fun occasion, and one that I had been looking forward to for some time, not least because of the free flow of alcohol and food: for a nominal cost, of course. It’s also an occasion to catch up with
Three things you absolutely, positively must know about yourself
One of the easiest—yet hardest—things you can do to enhance the quality of your life (and in doing so, up your happiness factor by a quotient of at least 10) is to know yourself and know what makes you tick. I say easiest, because it’s much easier to unpack yourself and get to know how
On confidence
I was asked a very interesting question by one of my colleagues recently. The question was: Where do you get your confidence? My colleague went on to say that she had noticed twice— in conversations that I had with her and others—that I was happy to say stuff I was doing was good. Like this
On comfort and stress
A few weeks ago, I left work early* after two unpleasant, consecutive interactions with a couple of people who really should have known better. While my colleagues were very supportive and allowed me space to talk about what happened, I was seething (the irony wasn’t lost on me that talking about what I was feeling
My ten favourite purchases 2.0
This is the second part of My ten favourite purchases, which I started writing waaaaaaay back in the beginning of July. 6. My degrees In 1989, when I was 26, I left full-time employment and enrolled in an Arts degree at The University of Adelaide. Coincidentally, 1989 was when the Australian (Labor) Government decided (in
45 things that make me grumpy
Today I saw red. It was the fourth time this week I had to tell someone how to spell my name. My name is spelled Diane with one “n”. It always has been, despite the increasing incidence of people trying to gift me with two. It’s not that hard to spell, like, for example “deceive”