A few weeks ago, Peter and I stepped out of the crisp Southern Highlands cold and into the historic Robertson Hotel, a place filled with grand Gatsby-era elegance. What waited inside made me stop and take it all in. The hotel seemed to glow around us. Open fires burned in the heritage rooms, Christmas lights…
Tag: joy
Tender Beginnings
Although the day might have seemed like just another day, to me it felt like the world had paused for a moment, holding its breath for something extraordinary. The day felt charged, alive, touched by something beyond the usual routine of life. It was one of those rare moments where I could feel the earth…
Allow
There was a time when I believed life moved in straight lines. If I made careful plans, if I worked hard enough, if I loved well enough, things would unfold as expected. I thought certainty was something you earned. But life, it turns out, has never been interested in our neat expectations. It bends. It…
Skip with me, nanna!
Growing older teaches us that giving between generations was never one-way. We were just walking, hand in hand, the way grandmothers and little granddaughters do. The day was mild, the sky wide and blue, and her tiny fingers wrapped around mine with the kind of trust that softens your soul. “Nanna,” she said, looking up…
To my grandson
We do not always have to know what to say or do to comfort someone; sometimes our presence offers more than we realise. You made me a nanna —from the very first moment your dad placed you gently in my arms,just a minute old, soft and new,you stole my heart completely.And you’ve held it ever…
All I Wanted
A dream can come true and still keep changing shape throughout our lives. When I was a little girl and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never hesitated. I didn’t dream of empires or impressive careers. I simply said, “a mum.” That was all I ever wanted. Not…
Hold on. Hope wins.
The moments that become our favourite stories are often the ones we never planned. On Easter Sunday, there’s a hush in the air that always moves me. The dawn feels quiet and golden, as though the whole world is rising together into the same soft light. Shadows stretch long across the ground, the birds seem…
Completely Alive
Spending time with children can help us see the world with fresh wonder. The night couldn’t be more perfect for a stroll along the beach. The breeze is gentle, and the sea mirrors its stillness. I inhale deeply, letting the scents of the evening fill my senses, the salty mist in the air, the refreshing…
Everyday Joys
What we look forward to, experience and remember can each bring their own kind of joy. What makes me smile? It’s not only the grand occasions. It’s the small things, the fleeting, almost hidden moments that could so easily be missed in the rush of daily life. Simple things. Quiet things. Yet rich with warmth….
Learning to Dance in the Rain
We cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can choose how we live through it. Life is a continuous learning experience. One of the questions I most enjoy asking older people is what life lessons they have learned along the way. It is also a question I return to often in my own…
