Christmas overwhelm is a real thing. Ever found yourself hiding the bathroom for a moment’s peace? Or pretended to slip outside to take a phone call just so you could escape for a while? It’s okay to want to escape, to need time on your own. It’s normal to need this and you don’t have to feel guilty about it. Since learning I have ADHD, I found the words to understand and express this to myself and others. A blog about emotional self-regulation and managing your energy during the busy Christmas holiday festive season.
Read moreHow to slow down time!
It feels like summer time is flying by, the days slip away like sand grains from between my fingers. I can’t quite seem to catch it and hold onto this precious time as it eludes my grasp. Here are some of my latest blog ideas on how to slow down time, to savour the summer.
Read moreA New York Minute Memory on Valentine's Day
I am reminded it is Valentines Day by the eye-catching red cards in shiny plastic wrapping at the local Lidl. I avert my gaze to my shopping list that guides me down the aisle to the safety of the green beans. I have neither made nor hoped for a fuss on February 14th of any given year, yet it’s often left me feeling disappointed. And perhaps this year, I am feeling a little more prickly about it. Love is not easily defined nor confined to the realms of romance. It’s the warm glow between old friends who know unspoken things that no one else knows. Love is in the effortless resumption of a conversation, as though time nor distance has not passed between. Today it is this love I nurture and share with you.
Read moreJourney to the Heartwood - my story of buying my first home
Journey to the Heartwood
2022 was the year I bought my first home.
This is a tale of my journey to find a place I could call Home. And it’s evolved into a solo journey, because we chose not to buy a house together as a couple for reasons as tangled as a delicate gold chain tucked away for safe keeping at the bottom of a jewellery box. Precious enough to keep, too intricate and complicated to unravel at the time. That single, silver, jagged key to the front door finally rested in the palm of my hand some two years later than planned, but at exactly the right time.
Read moreWhy I don't set New Year's resolutions
Why I don't set new year's resolutions! Research has shown that people quit their resolutions for the year by the second Friday of January, Friday the 13th this year! It’s even being called Quitter’s Day. I don’t really commit to mine until February as I find my energy is low in January and prefer to hibernate a bit longer until Spring. But in case you are bursting with January enthusiasm here are some of the top ways to maintain, achieve and reach your 2023 new year’s resolution goals & dreams.
Read moreMy 2022 reflections and into a new year
Perhaps it’s this sense of comfort and openness or the wide expanse of countryside and the wild, rugged coastline of Co. Clare that has given me the headspace to finally sit and pen a few words about 2022, my reflections on the year that was. I feel like I did nothing! My reflections on the year that was in 2022 and the magnitude of buying my first home. My battles with not feeling enough and the ups and downs of self-employment, the pain of loss and heart break. I share my highlights and look ahead to goal setting for 2023 and how I believe January is not a time for new year's resolutions.
Read more'Twas the night before Christmas...
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through my little white house, not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. The room is lit only by firelight. Beside the Christmas Tree, I sink deeper into the softness of my armchair, my body relaxes and my mind begins to play a reel like an old picture house, of Christmas eves gone by… A memoir blog post about some of the Christmas Eves in my life and how they have changed over the decades.
Read moreMy Favourite Winter Books, Poems & Podcasts
Image credit: Manon
Reading is such a wintertime activity, and adapting to that energy is what seasonal living is all about! Rather than fight it, flow with it and get cozy! To help you pass the languid days over the festive holiday season, I’ve gathered my favourite Winter books, poems, reflections and podcasts to share with you. Perfect books for Christmas, a gift or to treat yourself as a little act of self-care this Winter. I hope they help you feel very hygge!
Read moreLove & Gluhwein
The smell of cinnamon, star anise and cloves cast spells in the air as passersby clutched steaming mugs of mulled wine or gluhwein in their mittened hands. It was hot, spiced and potent! It was a magical time of hope, love and gluhwein. And though I could never recreate the same magic that sparkled around us in Salzberg, I recreated gluhwein many times since. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Read moreThe Good Witch Escape
I’m learning to find solace in my own company again, to be at ease with myself once more. Ive had to learn to look forward to coming back to my quiet home on moonless, inky black nights after work, how to entertain myself when it’s dark early. Relearn how to comfort myself when I need a hug and there’s no one here to wrap up in. Alongside all the deep & meaningful stuff I’m doing for myself, I’ve also found huge comfort in something frivolous. When I need to check out mentally for a while, it’s given me great comfort during the darker nights - escapism in the form of…..The Good Witch. A blog about a season of personal wintering, self-care and escapism in the form of The Good Witch TV show!
Read moreBirthday Reflections on an ordinary life
Honestly though, my biggest achievement in my 40th year was just getting through some really hard shit that wont ever make it into a public blog. The ups & downs of real life - relationships, family, business. And Im still here, perhaps a little bit more bruised, but stronger, wiser and with better boundaries. A clearer view of how to live a value led life.
Then typically, I was thinking hmmmm is that it?! Anything more? It turns out, to my knowledge, nothing wild, ground - breaking or earth shattering happened. No big things I hadnt recalled. I lived an ordinary life, doing ordinary things.
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