Why running is a metaphor for life
Regular readers will know that I took up running at the beginning of 2011 for two reasons. One: I had a problem controlling my weight (I wasn’t huge, but I wasn’t svelte either) and two: to honour my friend Dave Fitzsimons who died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2008. I walked the inaugural Fitzy’s 5 determined
Dear Me: A Letter To My 16 Year Old Self
This post was first published on 19 November, 2011. I am more at peace with the concept of work, and now enjoy it for the benefits it gives me. I turned 50 last year, and I still give away my heart a little too easily to unworthy men – some things never change! Dear Me,
The true story of why I changed my name
Here’s something you wouldn’t know unless you sit near me at work: my surname – Lee – is not my surname. It’s my middle name. I dropped my surname in my mid-thirties in a protest against my family. This is the story of why. My mother has been married and divorced* three times; she left my
What sort of blogger am I?
This post was first published on 4 July 2012. I still like to think of myself as a work in progress, which further validates my reason for changing the name of this blog to The Diane Lee Project late last year. When I tell people that I blog, the first thing they ask is: “What’s
[From the archives] Deal breakers: 5 things worth staying single for
This post was first published on 4 December 2011. Given that I am trying online dating again, this is a timely reminder to self. These deal breakers still stand, but I’m a bit more relaxed about smokers now than I was when I first wrote this post. I was talking on the bus with a
Very Wise Stuff I say (that I pinched from other people) – Part 2
Hopefully, you got something out of Part 1 of Very Wise Stuff I Say (that I pinched from other people). This is Part 2. 11. It’s not your job to teach another adult how to behave. ~ Dr Phil I am notorious fixer. And a lifelong educator. This is a bad combination, because I have
Why I walked 5 kms in a gale
This post was first published on 1 August, 2010. Given that I’ve started my half marathon training, it’s timely to look back and see how far I’ve come. Dave would be looking down, smiling to himself and saying: I can’t believe she’s still running! Dave Fitzsimons died on 7 September 2008, from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Today
2013 blogging review
I love this time of the year because the WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for The Diane Lee Project. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,200 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 53 trips
3 things I learned in 2013
As regular readers know, I turned 50 this year. I have experienced a lot in these 50 years: love, joy, laughter, wonder, passion, sadness, humility, rejection, awe, embarrassment, pain, fear, anger, betrayal. Feeling each of these experiences has taught me something of life: sometimes things go well, sometimes they don’t. To slightly mangle Dr Seuss’s words: I am stronger than I know, weaker than I think. I am also a bundle of contradictions, wrapped in a shroud of complexity. As we all are.
You would think at this age, there isn’t much left to learn. But I am here to tell you there is: every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, and year on this planet teaches me something new. I count my blessings that I live and breathe another day, and that I get to strip back more of the layers that make up me in a life-long quest to find my true essence.
This year is no exception. I have learned things about myself that I’d like to share with you. Things that I intrinsically know, but it’s good to be reminded of.
I need me a game plan…
Last week, and despite recent What’s my type? and It’s not me, it’s you and Very Wise Stuff I Say posts, I broke my own rules and I hooked up with someone* – something I don’t do very often at all. But hell, it was Christmas, I’d had a few drinks and it had been
Merry Christmas!
A short and sweet post from me today. I would like to wish each and every one of my readers a wonderful Christmas. I trust that all your Christmas wishes come true, and that these holidays are spent filled with love and laughter. Diane xo
A Christmas post
This post was originally published on 12 December 2011. Nothing much has changed except we now do breakfast (I go for a run beforehand) and I have replaced wine with Pimm’s. It’s now a day I look forward to, because I do things I enjoy: run, eat, watch Really Good TV, consume alcohol, all without