Cauldrons and Cupcakes

Celebrating Life, Spirituality, Creativity and Kindness!

Category: Philosophy

Tenderness

Tenderness in action – and lessons in love. That’s what today’s post is all about.

The Benefits Of Our Little Road Trip

  I have never believed that vacations are luxuries. They are our necessities–just like shelter, clothes, and food. They make us feel like humans and not like animals that care only for survival. ~ Alexander Babinets Hey, Lovelies! As most of you probably know, Ben and I headed off for a short road trip adventure […]

Clarity

Isn’t it funny how everything is a mess one minute, and then suddenly it all falls together!

When You Know Something’s Wrong

  Intuition is a combination of historical (empirical) data, deep and heightened observation, and an ability to cut through the thickness of surface reality. Intuition is like a slow motion machine that captures data instantaneously and hits you like a ton of bricks. Intuition is a knowing, a sensing that is beyond the conscious understanding […]

#AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe – Australia Day

“The land is my mother. Like a human mother, the land gives us protection, enjoyment, and provides our needs – economic, social, and religious. We have a human relationship with the land: Mother, daughter, son. When the land is taken from us or destroyed, we feel hurt because we belong to the land, and we […]

The Old Boyfriend

  Reunions are the first day of school all over again. Time casts away familiarity and replaces it with warm confusion. Seeing how the years have frayed the friends of our youth reminds us that we too have irrevocably changed and can never return to a state of innocence again. ― Stewart Stafford Hey, Lovelies. I’ve […]

Worrying. Not Worrying.

  If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever. ― Dalai Lama XIV Hey, Lovelies. The good old Dalai Lama is usually […]

Come Join Me For A Free Webinar!

Ready to find your flow in 2023? Come join me for a special free webinar where I will be explaining the energies of the year ahead and how to make the best of them. Details in post.

If You Are Feeling Flat Or Exhausted Right Now, Read This

  It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools – friendships, prayer, […]

Are You Still Waiting For Someone Else To Meet Your Needs?

  With every act of self-care your authentic self gets stronger, and the critical, fearful mind gets weaker. Every act of self-care is a powerful declaration: I am on my side, I am on my side, each day I am more and more on my own side. Susan Weiss Berry Hey, Lovelies. It’s so easy […]

Do You Need To Be Self-Centred This Christmas?

  Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give the care it requires, we do it not only for ourselves, but for the many others whose […]

Heroes and Vulnerability

Name one hero who was happy. ~ Madeline Miller Hey, Lovelies. As some of you know I am slogging through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) right now, creating a new beginning, a new sub-thread and an ending for the novel I began writing in NaNoWriMo 2021. My hero is Dave. I know – not a […]

Watching Your Thoughts And Choosing To Change

Change your thoughts, change your life. ―Jeanette Coron Hey, Lovelies. As we are moving through the tail end of this energetic shift I have a little advice for you. Watch your thoughts. Then pause. Don’t act. Don’t do anything! Just pause for a second. Ask yourself if these thoughts serve you, and if they are […]

Shadow Work

  The shadow is needed now more than ever. We heal the world when we heal ourselves, and hope shines brightest when it illuminates the dark. ― Sasha Graham Hey, Lovelies. November is a wonderful month for Shadow Work. Have you heard of this before? Shadow Work is any work that helps you to see the […]

Life Lessons From A Deathbed

Dying? I’m quite looking forward to it. ~ Annie D. Hey, Lovelies. A friend of mine died. I couldn’t write about it yesterday – after she passed on Tuesday night – I was still too choked with emotion. But she wanted me to write about it, so, here it is. My friend Annie died the […]

Milestones

  My path has not been determined. I shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones. ~ Agnetha Faltskog Hey, Lovelies. It’s been a pretty crappy 14 months healthwise, between late stage Lyme, a misbehaving heart, an intractable UTI superbug and a myxedema crisis – but I am delighted to say that I am […]

The Backup Plan

  Even when God is your co-pilot, it pays to pack a parachute. ― Dean Koontz Hey, Lovelies. I am feeling proud of myself this morning. A while ago I decided to get someone to help me on a project, and we made a start. But communication wasn’t good, there were always excuses, and as the […]

Peaks and Troughs

  Life is just a series of peaks and troughs, and you don’t know whether you’re in a trough until you’re climbing out, or on a peak until you’re coming down. And that’s it you know, you never know what’s round the corner. But it’s all good.  ~ Ricky Gervais Hey, Lovelies. In chronic illness, […]

Universal Right Timing

  Coincidences link us to the unknown and weave us into it. ― Doug Dillon Hey, Lovelies. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? Yesterday, after a rough night, I needed to get myself to an early-morning hairdressing appointment about 30 minutes from my home. I got Ben to drive me there, because I wasn’t up to it, […]

What it means to sit with a big question

  Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke Hey, Lovelies. One of the most important gifts you can give yourself is the patience and care to sit with something that forms a big or […]

The Soul-Sucking Reality Of Chronic Illness

  Having a chronic illness, Molly thought, was like being invaded. Her grandmother back in Michigan used to tell about the day one of their cows got loose and wandered into the parlor, and the awful time they had getting her out. That was exactly what Molly’s arthritis was like: as if some big old […]

I always said I was no good at art

  Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. – Pablo Picasso Hey, Lovelies. Yesterday I made art. This is something very new for me. I have always considered myself no good at art. Childhood experiences left me terrified to even make marks on a page. But recently I put together some […]

The Usefulness Of Tears

  Tears are words that need to be written. ~ Paulo Coelho Hey, Lovelies. I’ve had an unexpected companion these past few months. Tears. They sit just below the surface most days, and digging deeper rarely helps me see a cause. At first I had thought they might be illness related, but now? Now I […]

Getting to know my other neighbours

  I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light. ― Lynn Thomson Hey, Lovelies. One of the best things about living in the […]

The Slow Climb Back

  I think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive. ~ Frida Kahlo Hey, Lovelies. I have missed you. Also, I have missed myself. These past two weeks have been hard. (Don’t know what happened? Go here.) It has taken time to get my new medication right, and we’re […]

Well, That Was Unexpected…

  She looked as if she were about to burst into tears, but she was wonderful at catching the ball of her own mood in mid-air. ~ Rebecca West Hey, Lovelies. Well, this has certainly been the year. As you know, I live with a complex bucketful of dodgy genes, autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, post-viral […]

Owning Our HeART Space

  …and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough? ~ Vincent Willem van Gogh Hey, Lovelies. Yesterday, art happened. Ever since we moved to the treehouse, our walls have been mostly bare. We own art, but it was not on the walls. We wanted to […]

Not Everyone Peaks Early

  So called ‘late-bloomers’ get a bad rap. Sometimes the people with the greatest potential often take the longest to find their path because their sensitivity is a double edged sword- it lives at the heart of their brilliance, but it also makes them more susceptible to life’s pains. Good thing we aren’t being penalized […]

This Quiet Moment – A Way To Cope Better With Life

“Feel your emotions, Live true your passions, Keep still your mind.” ~ Geoffrey M. Gluckman Hey, Lovelies. One of the skills I have honed (by necessity) over many years is coping. Yep. Coping. Here’s the definition according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology: coping n. the use of cognitive and behavioral strategies to manage the […]

Pantser vs Plotter

  The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. ~ Dr. Seuss Hey, Lovelies! In preparation for my first session with my writing coach tomorrow, they have sent me notes on the manuscript excerpt and synopsis I recently submitted to them. The […]

Is It Really Too Late?

  You say it’s too late. In my opinion, only a thimbleful of situations in life are that dire. Death begins and ends that list. Everything else is simply an obstacle that must be dealt with. ~ Kathleen Baldwin Hey, Lovelies! I had some strong responses to my post yesterday. Most of them were people […]

You Never Know…

  So have adventures. Go exploring. Drive around at midnight. Feel the wind running through your hair. Life is so short, my darling. And there’s no day like today. ~ Morgan Matson Hey Lovelies, Life is a precious gift, and one that can be all too brief. Before you came to this life, you had […]

Embracing Being A Beginner

  The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. ~ Stephen McCranie Hey, Lovelies. I had a beautiful session with a new client yesterday. She is approaching an exciting time in her life – the end of one career with glimpses of something new in the wings, something creative and heart-felt […]

Your Unrealised Creative Dream – What If It’s All About Timing?

  There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness. ~ Shannon L. Alder Hey, Lovelies. Have you got a dream that just isn’t happening? A problem that just isn’t fixing? A situation that just isn’t resolving? Or an idea you just can’t stop thinking about? There’s something in the air right now, with the […]

Laughing, and eating sugar!

If you don’t laugh you’ll cry. ~ everyone’s Nana, Pop or wise mentor at some stage Hey, Lovelies. I had one of those work days yesterday. I started really early. I finished really late, and we managed to jam a number of emergencies into the small gaps in my day – because so many people […]

Don’t Be Too Quick To Judge A Messed-Up Life

  I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of […]

To Find Your Flow You Need To Rest

Have you lost your mojo, or your connection to your intuition or creativity? I have a solution that’s easy to apply in daily life, and which works very effectively as a first step back to flow…

Things To Be Grateful For When Life Is Sh*tty And Hard

  In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer Hey, Lovelies. I was speaking with a friend yesterday who is going through a very rough, very dark patch in her life. She has […]

Deuteronomy, Demons, Anxiety and Yoga Barbie

  When you meditate, you may clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress. The emotional and physical benefits of meditation can include: Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations Building skills to manage your stress Increasing self-awareness Focusing on the present Reducing negative emotions Increasing imagination and […]

Mental Health Breaks And Why You Need Them

  I needed some space to lay myself out, so that I could decide which pieces I wanted to pick up. ~ Fennel Hudson Hey, Lovelies! I was scrolling through my social media feed yesterday and came upon a post from one of my favourite creatives. She was posting to let us know that she […]

The Things We Talk About In Book Club

  I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. ― Jorge Luis Borges Hey, Lovelies. We are discussing the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer in our Inner Circle Book Club right now. It’s a beautiful book that blends science, botany, Native American mythology, ancestral wisdom and natural history. In between […]

Why are you so awkward about your Spiritual Practice?

  The things that matter stay with you, seep into your skin. ~Christina Baker Kline Hey, Lovelies. I want to have a quiet chat with you today. I want to reassure you. Your spiritual practice matters. I know, you feel self-conscious about it at times. You can feel awkward and unsure, and a bit silly. […]

When It Finally Felt Like Home

  The home should be the treasure chest of living. ~ Le Corbusier Hey, Lovelies. Something shifted for me in the past two weeks. Finally, the treehouse feels like home. It’s hard to define, but the shift is so strong. I am settled here. Peaceful in a way I haven’t been since early childhood. Perhaps […]

What To Do When It Just Feels ‘Off’

  When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don’t wait for the second time before you address it or cut them off. Many survivors are used to the “wait and see” tactic which only leaves them vulnerable to a second attack. As your boundaries get stronger, the wait time gets shorter. You […]

How to find Inner Peace

  Peace of mind is not a goal I need achieve.  It’s a place inside I never want to leave.  I close my eyes, I still my thoughts and then I say ‘I will choose to live in peace today’. ~ Robert Alan Hey, Lovelies. Most of us live bombarded by situations, workplaces, devices and […]

The Source Of Today’s Happiness

  Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~ Marcel Proust Hey, Lovelies. Something wonderful happened yesterday! My social media feed and my inbox were filled with examples of the things you have chosen or done for yourself this week in […]

It’s Not A Crime To Say NO!

  “When you say yes to others, make sure you are not saying no to yourself.” ~ Paulo Coelho Hey, Lovelies. This is a quick but important reminder. It’s okay to say no. It’s also okay to only say no. By which I mean that you don’t need to add a justification, an excuse, a reason […]

Friday Night Drinks

  “One should never, but never, pass by an opportunity to celebrate.” ~ j d malouf Hey, Lovelies. Ben and I had a quiet celebration last night. I made gin and tonics, we ordered in food from our favourite Indian restaurant, and sat on cushions on the floor around a coffee table in the lounge […]

3 Affirmations To Support You In Difficult Times

“Sometimes, little things make a big difference…” ~ Nino Varsimashvili Hey, Lovelies. Every morning when I wake up, before I get out of bed, before I pray or meditate, before I do anything else at all, I say a little affirmation. In fact, sometimes I will chant it like a mantra. In my head, or […]

Making Space In Your Life

  “Find a moment of stillness, give your heart a chance to tell you where you really need to be.” ~ Dodinsky Hey, Lovelies! Today, I want to remind you about the importance of making space. When we create space in our lives, and then sit quietly with the emptiness we have created, magic can […]

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