Shock, shŏk, noun: (1) a sudden or violent mental or emotional disturbance — On a colourless late-August morning, just shy of turning twenty-one, my eldest son places the last of his belongings into his car. From the kitchen window I watch as he takes one final glance back toward the house that carries within it his catalogue of childhood memories. He tucks the…

Are we all just trying to mother ourselves? — There is a calmness to the morning as I tie my laces and venture onto the well-worn rubble track. Autumn fog lies still upon the flats, unflustered by the pace of which I undertake the day — hurried, as always, in an attempt to keep my self-imposed, work-from-home schedule intact…

Because let’s face it, how many of us are really here for the history lesson? — It’s Tuesday night and the lights go down in the Lyric Theatre at QPAC in Brisbane and if it’s not a full house, it’s close. The hushed whispers of the audience fade to silence; the air thick with anticipation inside the theatre as it is with humidity outside. …

after Lucille Clifton I am running into a new year and I am not looking behind at the places and people and the way we both knew this year was the start of your leaving the quiet quitting the ebb of you I have grown tired of searching for the meaning in your…

Please keep your bras on for just a minute and allow me to debunk some myths. — Confession. I’m one of those people who watch Love Actually every Christmas. I’m also one of those people who advocate for the rights of women; specifically, the elimination of sexualisation and objectification of women. These days, it would seem the two are mutually exclusive. Call me naive, but until recently…

The verdict is in: I suck at this new game. — Growing up, my family moved house many times — five different schools in the first seven years of my schooling journey. It didn’t make for establishing lifelong friendships. …

How going away brought me back to myself — This week I finished reading Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and found myself captured by this paragraph toward the end: “Sometimes Kya walked alone to the beach, and as the sunset streaked the sky, she felt the waves pounding her heart. She’d reach down and touch the sand…

“You may feel behind but it’s because you were doing your best to survive.” — “The people in your age group who did not experience life-altering trauma absolutely had an advantage over you, our brain was focused on survival and they were free to grow and develop. You may feel behind but it’s because you were doing your best to survive.” ~ Zoey Anne @shaktirevival I didn’t have a childhood where I was free to grow and develop.

Lack of safety is not strength, it is trauma. — I’ve seen these words come up a few times on my social media lately. Every time I read them I have a visceral reaction where I have to stop and catch my breath. For most of my life I have repeated the mantra we get taught to say as trauma…