Posts

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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Do you ever feel a bit depressed as you open your clothes cupboard to dress each morning? Do you look at a vast array of items yet struggle to work out what to wear? Is it ever an effort to close overstuffed, disorganized drawers? Or do many of your clothes seem to permanently reside on the floor? Creating order out of chaos is one of the great psychological tasks of life. And it starts in the home. A tidy house evokes feelings of bliss. Would you like to expel shavasana-like sighs as you open organised drawers - everything in its place and easily visible? Would you like to see celestial beams erupt and hear a heavenly chorus each time you open your wardrobe? Feel euphoric on entering your own bedroom nirvana? Read on my friend. This blog is for you. The answer to your cluttered bedroom dilemma might surprise you. You might actually need less stuff but have it better organised. You may need to "Marie Kondo" the hell out of the place. In case you’ve been living on a des...

Slower and more "Simpler-ish"

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I think we’re all looking for it - that illusive work-life balance. We see carefully curated social media feeds and wonder how on earth people do it. But social media is not real life. In truth most of us struggle. I am not writing this series on Slow and Simple living as an expert. Perhaps I should have called it “Slower and more Simpler-ish.” It is something I want to have more conversation about. More honesty and more putting our heads together to come up with solutions. Today I delve into personal grooming. So pardon, guys, this is going to come from the feminine perspective. Feel free to share your hints in the comments below.  For me what has worked best is keeping my hair really short or long. I have not found the middle path (little Buddhist/yogic humour there) helpful when it comes to hair length. Ultra-short is quick and cheap to wash, cut and style although if you are considering this alternative spare a thought for bed head.  Short hair left in its virgi...

The Tenuous Link between Grey Hair, Decision Fatigue and Loneliness.

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So I did it. Went grey. For years I spent a small fortune on hair colours terrified of what I might look like a la naturale. Patient hairdressers laboriously rolled back the clock on my tresses while battling my increasingly irritated, painful scalp even when using supposedly “organic” hair colours.  If colouring your hair is something you do because you think your job requires it I get that. The sad truth is that in our youth and beauty obsessed culture it probably does! If you love experimenting with colour good for you. If you enjoy the quarterly appointments, monthly touch-ups, cuppa and conversation as a self-care ritual more power to you. I never did. Always found it tedious. Don’t get me wrong. I think hairdressers are fabulous people. Part therapist, part chemist, part artist. But life is short and colours cost. Sure there are home colours. But I’ve been there, tried that and lacked the patience. There are just other things I would like to do with my time. Going grey...

Slow and Simple Series (1)

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"Sharpening the Saw" There once was a carpenter who couldn’t keep up with his workload. Every day he toiled late into the evening to get it all done. A friend dropped by, and taking pity on his exhausted mate offered to give him a hand. But when this helpful friend went to use the carpenter’s saw he was startled to find it very blunt. “No wonder you struggle to get your work done mate, your saw needs sharpening,” said the friend. “Ahh,” replied the carpenter sadly, “If only I had the time to sharpen it. But as you can see I am too busy.” The point of this tale is that sometimes in life we have to take time to make time. This has been my experience. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing useful life hacks and resources related to organizing yourself, your home, social life, finances, social media, children, garden, voluntary activities, cooking, shopping, gift giving and holidays. I’ll share how I changed myself (externally), my domestic environment and then my...