Who do we write for? How do we write with kindness and grace yet speak the truth when it isn’t always pretty?
I swear to tell the truth… my truth.
Blood on Your Hands
A poem about the devastating consequences if a child protection expert gets it wrong.
You really don’t know what you have just done
‘Expert’, job description: protect my young son
Beyond the Bottom of a Bottle to find a Bottom Line
Do you count the hours until ‘wine o’clock’? Do you secretly wonder about your drinking habits? I gave up alcohol for 30 days and gained so much.
Up in Smoke! Time to Quit that Nagging Habit
Is your loved one’s habit making you miserable? I’m the worst kind of reformed smoker but only when it’s my partner who’s smoking. Time to quit the nagging!
We’re all gonna die and it’s not your fault!
Death… a taboo subject yet the one certainty we are all born with. We’re all gonna die… When family members brush with death how do you deal with it?
‘Depression’ is not a dirty word
It’s taken me a long time to own the term ‘depression’ because so much guilt and shame is linked to it. To be able to heal, first, you need to own how you are feeling. I believe a series of life events led to my mental breakdown. Let’s talk about depression. It’s not a dirty word!
Our relationship with our possessions – It’s complicated!
Sometimes what frustrates us the most are those things that we most need to learn from.
Helping my ageing aunty – who has a book addiction – to downsize was difficult because she wanted to keep everything. But anger can mask a deeper feeling of sadness. Nobody can turn back the clock.
Trauma, depression, burnout, anxiety or… skiving off work? How mental illness messed with my head
There was a dark time when I had trouble finishing my sentences. Whether it was burnout, depression, anxiety… here are some diary extracts. This is how it felt for me.