Anxiety disorders are one of the most common class of mental disorders, affecting a large percentage of the general population. There are six main types of the disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder,phobias and panic disorder, and they tend to be more prevalent in women than men. Anxiety disorders affect 9.7% or 1.3 million adult Australians, from…Continue reading Let’s Talk about Anxiety
My 2016 Challenge to You: De-Clutter Your Life
I can imagine that this heading may create a fair amount of angst and protest amongst readers: “Are you kidding? Have you seen my cupboards? Have you seen my garage??” or “I will keep my clutter and I will keep lying by the pool!” I hear you. I am not suggesting that you spend all your precious…Continue reading My 2016 Challenge to You: De-Clutter Your Life
Leaving 2015 behind …
It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. Maybe it’s because I am getting older, but it certainly feels like time is not just flying under the normal law of aerodynamics, but at the speed of light. I look at my children – wasn’t it just yesterday that they were running…Continue reading Leaving 2015 behind …
So it is Christmas …
As a child, I loved Christmas. I loved the snow, ice skating on the frozen lake near our home, and the sled rides with my patient grandmother pulling me around our tiny North German village. I loved the smell of roasting almonds, of Stollen baking in the oven, and of spicy mulled wine. I…Continue reading So it is Christmas …
Some Perfectly ‘Normal’ Christmas Traditions from Around the World
Christmas is all about tradition – beliefs and customs that have been handed from one generation to the next, readily adopted without any question or comment. As a child, my family always had a ‘real’ Christmas tree, decorated with ‘real’ candles, that were lit on Christmas Eve so that the smell of pine needles would…Continue reading Some Perfectly ‘Normal’ Christmas Traditions from Around the World
Reflecting on a Year of Adversity
Adversity is the first path to truth. – Lord Byron As the hush of Advent falls on many hearts over the next few weeks, it is a good time to reflect on and remember 2015. To ‘remember’ means to consciously acknowledge the past – an event, a person, or a series of circumstances, for example.…Continue reading Reflecting on a Year of Adversity
The Advent Tradition
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer Our Spirits by Thine Advent here Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. Advent is all about anticipation and preparation. It comes from the Latin word ‘Adventus’, which means ‘coming’. It is a…Continue reading The Advent Tradition
Welcome to the Table
If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with them … the people who give you their food give you their heart. – Cesar Chavez The dining room table is a most significant and symbolic piece of furniture in my life. It invokes childhood memories of joy and…Continue reading Welcome to the Table
A System called Patriarchy
Sometimes we need to stop and question the social structures and norms that we are part of and contribute to. Why? Because society and how it operates becomes so much part of our every day life that we do not even ask ourselves why it exists the way it does or consider alternate possibilities. We…Continue reading A System called Patriarchy
The Sound of Silence
Today I was thinking about a retreat I will be going on in a couple of weeks, and I smiled. I cannot wait to see an old, dear friend of mine. A friend called Silence.I was about to blog about it and then found this post from 2015 … Silence and I have been friends…Continue reading The Sound of Silence