It's at this time of the year when we'd usually be talking about New Year's resolutions like losing weight, but everything else seems so unimportant now, as our nation burns. Like many Australians, … [Read more...]
How do you feel about Hot Cross Buns being sold months before Easter?
Lovers of Hot Cross Buns rejoice! Australian supermarkets started selling Hot Cross Buns on Boxing Day 2019! However, not everyone is pleased to see these tasty treats on display in January... As … [Read more...]
Opinion: President of Blue Knot Foundation on Sexual Assault Awareness Month
by Cathy Kezelman AM, President of the Blue Knot Foundation April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, a month in which we focus on the needs of victims of sexual violence of all ages. While all … [Read more...]
Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Woman Holding a Light
Since I entered the tech start-up space, I’ve become increasingly more aware of the impact being a woman has on how business leaders perceive and treat you. My start-up Vollie has a 50% gender … [Read more...]
Are You Prepared For Your “Now What”
If you have lost your job, seen your friends lose their job, or are frantically holding on to your seat the two words “now what” may be staring you right in the face. Furthermore with each day of … [Read more...]
A Place for Women in the Tech World
Are you aware of the tragedy that trillions of dollars of work in household done by women for centuries are not taken into account and it is true even now? Do you know India's GDP will double if we … [Read more...]
My Chronic Lower Back Pain
With politicians like Tony Abbott trivialising chronic conditions like back pain and depression, is it any wonder that sufferers of chronic pain are being stigmatised in the community? It's National … [Read more...]
7 Types of Busy? Untangle yourself from doing too much
Frantic? Can't possibly take anything out of your schedule? Modern life is flat out, and that's that. Or is it? Have a look through the following 'types' of busy (adapted from Soul Sisters … [Read more...]
Naked on stage and loving it By Emma Grey
I spoke at something this week without the parachute of speaking notes. When I began public speaking as part of my work a few years ago, I’d be sick with nerves from the moment I booked the talk into … [Read more...]
Struggling with motivation? You could always burn your boat by Emma Grey
Legend has it that ancient Greeks (I promise this won’t be a history lesson), having arrived on foreign shores for battle, torched their boats on the beaches behind them. With no possibility of … [Read more...]
When fear of failure holds you back
My literary agent has been waiting for the synopsis of my teen trilogy now for a week-ish. Er, make that a fortnight. At least. This is the same trilogy that I started writing approximately four … [Read more...]
Europe with twin babies? Why not! by Emma Grey
What is it about mums of multiples and their bring-it-on! attitude? All the twin-mummies that I know embrace life with a gung-go fervour. A few years ago, my best friend took her then 10-month-old … [Read more...]
Taxes by Kerri Sackville
If you could just let me know your writing income and any deductions and I can get this finished. The email from my accountant was very helpful, and couldn’t have made things more straightforward. … [Read more...]
What matters most? by Emma Grey
I write this at the end of a long, emotional day. One friend is fighting for the life of her baby girl – born too early, with a severe, congenital heart defect and other complications. Another is … [Read more...]
Hair Nightmares in Australian Salons
Three years ago, our family returned from four years in China where we were treated to the best hair salon experiences I've ever had in my life. No one cuts and styles like the Chinese. No one. They … [Read more...]
The Cleaning Lady Did It by Kerri Sackville
About three weeks ago I bought myself some hair conditioner. Not your standard, supermarket shelf hair conditioner; no, this was the real deal. A boutique brand hair ‘masque’ in a tub, bought for a … [Read more...]
What if the ball was always in your court? By Emma Grey
I was chatting with someone recently who was bemoaning the fact that she’d joined a women’s group and everyone at it was condescending. No one spoke to her. No one smiled. When I asked if she’d … [Read more...]
Day One by Kerri Sackville
My son started high school yesterday. And it was fine. Just fine. Okay, so I sat in the car afterwards and wept, but that’s not a big deal. I weep all the time these days. Transitions are hard, and … [Read more...]
Overwhelmed? How old are you? By Emma Grey
With a thirteen-year-old heading into Year Eight this week, I’m reminded that many of us first learn how to ‘do overwhelm’ when we’re confronted with a higher workload than we’re used to, at high … [Read more...]
“Falling In Dior. Okay, Not Dior” by Kerri Sackville
There is a classic scene in the final episode of Sex And The City in which Carrie falls on her face in Dior (the store, not the clothes, though it is possible she is wearing Dior, too). She is in … [Read more...]
When something isn’t right… by Emma Grey
Call it gut instinct, intuition, a ‘funny feeling’ or a hunch - but there are times when we all get the sense that ‘something isn’t right’. I’m fascinated by the possibility that we can ‘know’ … [Read more...]
Unfinished business: clearing mental clutter by Emma Grey
I found out today that my friend’s husband has been diagnosed with cancer. She is pregnant with their first child. It’s an awful, awful thing - and she will be kept awake with this, at a time when … [Read more...]
(Don’t) Do It Yourself Part 2 by Kerri Sackville
Last week I related an unfortunate episode involving me, a pair of kitchen scissors, a Bad Hair Day, and the mistaken belief that I had hairdressing skills. Happily, a hairdresser quickly rectified … [Read more...]
Find the right lever, move your world… By Emma Grey
One of the women in my mums’ group began a 1500-piece jigsaw puzzle at the start of summer. Together with her step-daughter, she’s been plugging away at it each night after the baby is in bed and, … [Read more...]
The Games We Play by Kerri Sackville
"Is P-H-I-J-O-R-N a word?" my son asks. "Yes," I tell him. "P-H-I-J-O-R-N is definitely a word. It means 'to attempt to cheat at Scrabble'". It is the Christmas holidays and there is a faint hint of … [Read more...]
Resolve to be grateful by Emma Grey
I have a friend who has a fear of flying and, when I suggested that, in order to stave off that fear, she spend the first part of a long-haul flight to the US making a list of 50 things she’s grateful … [Read more...]
(Don’t) Do It Yourself by Kerri Sackville
Here’s some advice for you: Do not attempt to cut your own hair. Unless you are an ambidextrous hairdresser with eyes in the back of your head, do not do it. Nothing good will ever come from it. Of … [Read more...]
Can’t live with ’em, can’t hurl ’em out the window by Kerri Sackville
My feelings for my laptop are much like my feelings for my husband. Sometimes I love it madly and want to shower it with affection. And sometimes I hate it with a passion, and want to hurl it against … [Read more...]
The Sleeping Mother Fails Again by Kerri Sackville
I like sleeping, and I do not much like waking up. At least, I do not much like waking up after anything less than a full eight* hours sleep. This would not be a problem, except that I have a four … [Read more...]
How to Throw a Party by Kerri Sackville
It is never easy being a mother. It is even less easy being a mother when you’re unwell and it’s your daughter’s fourth birthday party and you’ve had to invite the entire class of 20 kids because your … [Read more...]
The Stranger by Kerri Sackville
A few weeks ago I took off my clothes in front of a handsome stranger. I’d like to report that it was in an expensive hotel suite for the purposes of a steamy extra-marital dalliance, but in fact it … [Read more...]
Losing My Mind by Kerri Sackville
The other day, I phoned a friend from my land line. Just as I was calling her, my mobile phone started to ring. I hung up the landline and picked up the mobile, but at that exact moment the call … [Read more...]
The Deficit by Kerri Sackville
Last Monday I handed in the manuscript for my second book. It has been a crazy few months since I was given my November 1st deadline and I am thrilled that I have made it. And forget the ‘I Don’t Know … [Read more...]
Thank You by Kerri Sackville
Last week, a close of friend of mine had a rough few days. She’d received some unexpected news, had to make a difficult decision, and was struggling with the best path to take. She didn’t announce her … [Read more...]
What I Don’t Know by Kerri Sackville
I am not a very knowledgeable person. Now, before you start thinking, 'Oh, she's just putting herself down to be humble', let me set you straight. I'm not. I have detailed knowledge about a very few … [Read more...]
Forty Three by Kerri Sackville
Today is my birthday. I’m forty three. My family have showered me with love and I’ve received some lovely presents, including a slow cooker, and a pair of microwavable slippers to keep my feet warm. … [Read more...]
The Sound of Silence: Speaking Out About Miscarriage
The loss of a child is arguably the most crushing form of loss for any human being … least of all the mother who remains central to the life force of each child she bears. Losing a child through … [Read more...]
10,000 Hours Isn’t Always Enough by Kerri Sackville
According to Malcolm Gladwell, a writer and philosopher, the key to success is 10,000 hours – you become a master at a skill once you’ve practiced it for 10,000 hours. According to that theory, I … [Read more...]
A Room Of My Own by Kerri Sackville
Since I moved in with my husband, I have longed to have a Room Of My Own. Other people long for fancy cars, or pieces of jewellery, or a home in Paris; I just yearned for an office space with four … [Read more...]
The Conversation by Kerri Sackville
It’s nine pm on a Tuesday evening and I am absolutely shattered after a long, hard day. I’ve only just got the eldest of my three kids to bed, I still have school lunches to make, and all I can think … [Read more...]