Cauldrons and Cupcakes

Celebrating Life, Spirituality, Creativity and Kindness!

Category: Writing

A Question For You About Stories

Good things take time. Great things take a little longer. ~ Some wise anonymous person Hey, Lovelies. As you know, I had a crazy and slightly disturbing dream yesterday, the echoes of which are still rattling around in my head. I had planned to share that dream with you today, and I began writing it, […]

How to Interpret Dreams

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. ~ William Shakespeare Hey, Lovelies! Are you one of those people experiencing vivid dreams lately? And if you are, have you been wondering what they might mean? Your dreams are yours alone. We all interpret dreams differently, […]

Cracking the Code

I had written down an important piece of information. But where? I needed to find it because I knew it was the info I needed to crack the code!

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 […]

Dripping words onto the page…

  The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important […]

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 […]

I Can’t Blog Today Because…

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” ~ Jane Austen Hey, Lovelies. I started reading a book last night, and […]

Can You Spare Ten Minutes?

It is so important to take time for yourself and find clarity. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. Diane Von Furstenberg Hey, Lovelies. Do you have a regular spiritual practice? I know, many of you have told me that you want to, but that you’re already so busy, so tired, […]

Getting Ready For A Mystical New Year’s Eve

A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And, by participating in the ritual, you are participating in the myth. And since myth is a projection of the depth wisdom of the psyche, by participating in a ritual, participating in the myth, you are being, as it were, put in accord with that wisdom, which […]

The Hunt For The Christmas Tree

Things are never lost to you; you are lost to them. If ever in need of a Thing that has lost you, simply stop hiding from it. Shannon Hale Hey, Lovelies. Today is the day. Today is dedicated to packing and shipping orders and to the Spirit of Christmas. I’m working all day tomorrow, doing […]

I Don’t Have Time To Blog Today!

Don’t forget to cheer for yourself, when you reach the finish line  Charmaine J Forde Hey, Lovelies. 2854. That’s how many words I need to write this morning to meet my 50 000 word target for NaNoWriMo on this last day of November. I can’t quite believe it. In the midst of being so busy […]

The Best Thing About Unpacking Boxes

People tend to find books when they are ready for them. Neil Gaiman Hey, Lovelies. So, it’s started. The big unpacking and putting away process that will be my new writing room (I refuse to call it an office!), and the rest of our belongings that need to find a place in our new home. […]

What I hate about writing memoir

Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.  Neil Gaiman Hey, Lovelies. I’m deep in what I hope will be the final edit of my memoir – the first one, anyway. The one where I find myself in […]

Do you really need a Grand Gesture to get started?

You just have to keep on doing what you do. It’s the lesson I get from my husband; he just says, Keep going. Start by starting.  Meryl Streep Hey, Lovelies. Is there something you really want to do? Is there a dream or a goal, a vision you hold for the future? Maybe you want […]

No, you don’t need Facebook to join my Free Challenge!

Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager. Susan Sontag Hey, Lovelies! We’ve had a rush of emails from folks who want to join me free […]

Midnight Visitor

Have you ever Stared into the owl’s eyes? They blink slow, then burn: Burn gold in the dark inner core of the snow-shrouded cedar.” Robert Penn Warren Hey, Lovelies. I had kind of a crap day yesterday. Unexpectedly, late in the day, I received bad news. The kind you can’t shrug off or ignore. The […]

When The Universe Gives You Messages…

A real love letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion. Otherwise it’s not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world. Thich Nhat Hanh Hey, Lovelies! I’ve been so tired with all of this moving that I have been having lots of […]

Quiet Time As A Coping Tool

You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s […]

Feeling Brave? I Have A Question For You

Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life. Shannon L. Alder Hello, Lovelies! There is a powerful question I ask myself at least once a year. It’s a confronting question, if you are truly honest with yourself. […]

The Tree House In The Forest

Old Person: What are you going to do when you grow up?Nicole, Aged 5: Live in a treehouse and write stories. Nicole Cody Hey, Lovelies! Yesterday was a big day for us. In the strangest and most unexpected of ways we have found ourselves affected by a series of synchronicities which has led us to […]

New Moon Manifesting Ritual For December 2020

All journeys meet crossroads. Where the river ends, the ocean begins. We must have the courage to embark on these journeys, to choose our paths, and to let go of the boat once we are across the river. Thomas Lloyd Qualls Hey, Lovelies!Today we are under the influence of the New Moon in Sagittarius and […]

Simplify and Remember to Breathe – Monday Oracle 30 November 2020

You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass. Timber Hawkeye Hello, Lovelies, November energies bring renewed optimism, connection and flow. It’s a month for spiritual pilgrimages, soul work and opportunity. But December is almost here, and with that comes an urge to have more […]

The Journeymaker’s Planner 2021 Is Here!

“Perhaps we only leave So we may once again arrive, To get a bird’s eye view Of what it means to be alive. For there is beauty in returning, Oh how wonderful, how strange, To see that everything is different But know it’s only you who’s changed.” Erin Hanson Hello, Lovelies. I’m delighted to announce The […]

No Time For Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, […]

Are You Overcomplicating The Act Of Getting Started?

Don’t let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started. Marilu Henner Hey, Lovelies! Is there something you really want to do? Is there a dream, a goal, a vision you hold for the future? Maybe you want to be a published writer. Maybe you want to be a healer, or an architect, or a […]

Sometimes It Doesn’t Make Sense But You Need To Say Yes Anyway

The day you realize you don’t have to make sense to anyone is the day you start to make sense to you. Greg Behrendt Hey, Lovelies. Over the past decade I have participated in a wonderful event known as NaNoWriMo (which stands for National Novel Writing Month). It happens every November, and is a month […]

Want To Join My Platform Mastermind?

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Helen Keller Hey, Lovelies! Do you consider yourself a heart-centered or spiritually-aware entrepreneur? (Or you’d love to be!) Do you have a message you want to share with the world in a way that supports you financially as you work to support and […]

Celebrating Just A Little!

“Celebrate when you’re half done, And the finish won’t be half as fun.” Lemony Snicket Hey, Lovelies! We’re having a quiet celebration here today, as we reach a major milestone in our 2020 calendar. Our Journeymaker’s Planner 2021 has gone to press, and very soon it will be printed and bound, ready to be your […]

Are You Having Problems Getting Stuff Done?

“Your future is being created through the actions you take today.” Clyde Lee Dennis Hey, Lovelies. Are you having problems getting stuff done? Maybe you’re stuck and you can’t choose a direction. Maybe you feel uninspired and flat and everything seems too hard. Maybe you’ve got a plan or a project but you can’t seem […]

It was because of Sedona

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” Terry Pratchett Hey, Lovelies, I know. So […]

I am Steel

If I can’t write, if I don’t have words, then I don’t know who I am anymore. Nicole Cody Hey, Lovelies.It was a rough day, yesterday. And like on so may other rough days, I cried in the shower, and as I cried words came. When I got out of the shower I hurried to […]

The Big Sky Above Me, and my Aboriginal Aunties in my Heart

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.” ~ Victor Hugo Hello, Lovelies. I’m in Arizona right now. This morning I left my hotel room and went for a long walk in the early morning sunlight. It’s […]

How to Manage Change, Self-Care, Spiritual Growth and Opportunity in 2020

“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” ~ Thomas Edison Hello, Lovelies. The new year is almost here, and I have the perfect tool for you. It’s spiritual and intuitive mentoring, disguised as a diary. It’s personal development and goal setting and self-care prioritisation, and gratitude practice and money management all contained within […]

What We’ve Been Toiling Away On Behind The Scenes

Passion is the driving element of purpose. When one is possessed with it, labor is not perceived as toil – it is revealed as love. T.F. Hodge Hello, Lovelies!All year my team and I have been working on major projects. The kinds of projects that have kept me at my desk for days on ends, […]

The Rash That Broke The Camel’s Back

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt It wasn’t even my rash. It was the rashes in my inbox and an offhand comment my husband said to me. One of the weirder occupational hazards of […]

Why You Should Join My YOM Community

“Let your community be your testimony.” ~ Jaco Strydom I’m busy creating an online Learning Academy for next year. Why? I’m so darn passionate about helping you to connect to your inner wisdom, intuition and psychic abilities. And you can get access as a Foundation Member now by joining my YOM Community. (Ready to jump in? Click […]

I’m Not Ashamed

When I was first diagnosed with neurological incontinence (which comes and goes in me – I last had an attack a few years ago!) I looked everywhere for information and found almost none. It’s something no-one talks about.

Shush! Writing!!!

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ~ Rumi It’s too late to back away from this memoir now. I’ve started this final rewrite. I’ve peeled apart my old drafts and stuck sticky notes all over them. I’ve crossed out whole sections, entire chapters. On some pages I’ve simply […]

Humble Thank-Yous

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ~ Elbert Hubbard Hey, Lovelies. I just wanted to thank you for the outpouring of support and love that you showed me yesterday when I updated you on why I’ve been so stuck with my memoir. Not long after I posted my […]

The Peace And Quiet Of Broken Social Media

“Being connected to everything has disconnected us from ourselves and the preciousness of this present moment.” ~ L.M. Browning Hello, Lovelies! I had a wonderful day yesterday, although apparently I should have been in melt-down. 😊 Facebook was down for most of the day for many business users, or at least most of the functionality was, […]

Monday Oracle – 11 March 2019

“ Necessity may be the mother of invention, but ingenuity is the bombshell of success” ~ Phillip Gary Smith Hello, Lovelies! March is a month of creativity and inspiration that will propel us forward in new directions and where we can make major progress towards existing goals. Keep that in mind as we look at […]

A New Online Course For You! Craft A Visionary Talisman

“This is what rituals are for. We do spiritual ceremonies as human beings in order to create a safe resting place for our most complicated feelings of joy or trauma, so that we don’t have to haul those feelings around with us forever, weighing us down. We all need such places of ritual safekeeping. And […]

The Tribe Has Voted! And the Winner is…

“Intuition is seeing with the soul.”  ~ Dean Koontz Thanks to everyone who voted for the subject of our next free online challenge! The clear winner is: An Oracle Card challenge to help you connect into who you are, what you need and what is the best way forward for you To make the Challenge more […]

Tell Me What You Want!

“First set a strong and clear inner voice and then do all that you want to achieve and the door will be opened.” ~ Amit Ray   Hello Lovelies, I am going on a long-overdue vacation in the middle of this month for two weeks. I’ll be in the middle of the ocean, far from […]

Shhhh, I’m on Bootcamp!

“Finished crap can be edited. Unfinished greatness languishes forever. The only bad writing is the thing you didn’t write!”  ~ Margarita Gakis   A bunch of brave souls and I are starting an online Bootcamp today. I’m teaching them how to create a book or a course or blog content. Or content for social media or […]

Book and Course Creation Boot Camp – NOW OPEN!

“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” ~ Albert Einstein   Do you want to write a book*, create a course, build an author or brand platform and generate content or blog posts? (*Non-fiction books will work well, you could even be working on a fiction project and author platform but this is NOT […]

Soul Awakening Activities for The New Moon Partial Eclipse in Leo

“If you chase anything in life chase the things that get you excited about living. Chase the things that give you hope, happiness and a glimpse of a better life. Chase the things that make you want to be a better person. Chase the things that inspire you to think, create and live joyfully. Chase […]

Choose Your Perspective And Get Happier!

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.”  ~ Alphonse Karr   Someone commented recently on how lucky I was to have such an awesome life, and that having my life would make anyone happy. This was a person who had only just met me, and knew nothing of […]

Guided Meditation and Activities to connect you to your Heart Wisdom

 “Don’t love to be loved in return. Love for the sake of loving.”  ~ Connor Chalfant   Our heart, and Heart Chakra, is both a receiver and a transmitter for love and wisdom. The more we open our heart by giving, the more we can connect into receiving. This positive flow of loving energy allows […]

Up Late, Writing

“Listen. I will lose myself if it means I can find you.”  ~ Alaska Gold   I didn’t mean to do it. I meant to open up one folder, to check one fact, on one page, and to add one small note that was in danger of being forgotten if I didn’t immediately write it down. […]

How To Use Forgiveness To Get Yourself Back In Flow

“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”  ~ Steve Maraboli   Negative emotions can disrupt the flow of your life force energy and your heart chakra just as easily as boulders in a stream. […]

Sometimes You Need Right Timing

“Sometimes my successes come quickly and at other times they are terribly slow to arrive. It is not my place to determine the speed at which they arrive or if they arrive at all. My place is to keep forging ahead no matter what.”  ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough If you follow my blog you’ll know that […]

How to nurture your Spiritual Connection

“Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”  ~ Joseph Cambell   Have you seen the bumper sticker that says ‘We are all Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience’? If you’re reading this, chances are that you are awakening to your own Spiritual Self. […]

This Quiet Morning

  “Outside, there was that predawn kind of clarity, where the momentum of living has not quite captured the day. The air was not filled with conversation or thought bubbles or laughter or sidelong glances. Everyone was sleeping, all of their ideas and hopes and hidden agendas entangled in the dream world, leaving this world […]

Want a little Joy in your life?

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”  ~ Rumi 2018 is a year for connection, community, creativity and collaboration. To honour the spirit of this energy I’ll be writing an occasional post this year about my friends, students and community members to share their work and ideas […]

10 Ways To Be Kind to Yourself

“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.“  ~ Brian Andreas Mostly when we think of kindness, we think of how we can act towards others. But today I want to focus on another equally important type […]

Chronic Illness? This is a Spiritual Retreat for you!

“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. … The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter […]

My Exciting New Card Spread Workshop

“The closer you come to knowing that you alone create the world of your experience, the more vital it becomes for you to discover just who is doing the creating.”  ~  Eric Micha’el Leventhal   I’m so excited about my upcoming pop up shop and workshops here in Brisbane on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 September. […]

Why Revelation Isn’t Enough!

“It’s not in the book or in the writer that readers discern the truth of what they read; they see it in themselves, if the light of truth has penetrated their minds.”  ~  Augustine of Hippo   As our meditation retreat comes to a close today, I’ll be guiding my students about what to do when […]

Want To Learn How To Use Crystals?

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.”  ~  J.K. Rowling I’ve collected crystals and stones since I was a small child. Over time – through my own meditations, from my Guides, my Aboriginal Aunties and a few wise Elders – I have come […]

This Blog Post Is Very Short

“There are days when I lose track of time, of place, of everything else, because I’ve been transported to another universe.” ~ Susan Isaacs   I sat down to write my blog post, and then, just for a moment, I opened up the document where I am editing my memoir instead. Three hours later I […]

We Got 3 Million Views!!!!

“Use the wings of the flying Universe, Dream with open eyes; See in darkness.” ~ Dejan Stojanovic   Goodness! Somehow in the past few days we have reached a new magical number. Three million views. It’s a long way from when I started this blog, thinking no-one would ever read it, and being ecstatic when my […]

My Top Five Ways To Get Some Reflection Time

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ~ Søren Kierkegaard   We’re sitting in a terrific month for reflection, reinvention and connection. So how do we do that? Here are my top five ways to find that headspace where we can explore the past and imagine the future…   1 […]

It’s Here! Year of ME Planner 2017 and Other Good Stuff!

“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” ~  E. B. White “Dear E.B. White, if you had my Year of ME Planner you could do both!” ~ Nicole Cody   There is one thing […]

Feathers for a Friend

“Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.” ~ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore     This week I am enjoying […]

A Little Nicole Update

“People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favour progress, provided they can have it without change.” ~ Anthony de Mello   So, here I am, still in hospital. There have been a few little bumps in the road, including a massive resurgence of lyme symptoms and […]

Rain, Words and Silence

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.” ~ Robert Frost   It was raining in the city. Raining and I couldn’t sleep, my head so full of thoughts and my body so tight with pain. Now I’m home, home at my farm, it’s sometime before […]

Date Savers for August plus We’re On Retreat!

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne   I’m off to run my Chakra Wisdoms Retreat today – a lovely immersive week of self-discovery, solitude, sanctuary, companionship, soul growth, crystals, meditation and really good food here in Byron Bay. I don’t think I have ever […]

Day 7 – Oracle Card Challenge

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe   Current Priorities All of us have so many demands on our limited time. How do we know where to put our focus? This next exercise will help you to gain clarity around the priorities […]

Come Join Us For the Year of ME!

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ~ Mother Teresa   Hello, Lovelies! I’ve had so many people ask me whether it was too late to start using my Year of ME Planner, or to join the year-long course and community that I’ve […]

Designing Your Future – Today!

“If you do not yet know where you fit, I suggest you try seeking it in receptive silence.  I used to walk amid the beauties of nature, just receptive and silent, and wonderful insights would come to me.” ~  Peace Pilgrim   Today is a wonderful day to set aside some time for creating a […]

A Life Examined – On Memoir Writing

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” ~ Charles Dickens, David Copperfield “From the ages of 8-18, me and my family moved around a lot. Mostly we would just stretch, but occasionally one of us […]

What’s Really Going On, Nicole?

“Once you become self-conscious, there is no end to it; once you start to doubt, there is no room for anything else.” ~ Mignon McLaughlin   I’ve had a cranky few days. I could explain it away as lack of sleep – too much noisy koala sex outside my bedroom window keeping me awake all […]

The Sunday Session – or How to Plan Your Week

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra   In Australia the expression Sunday Session is most commonly associated with a lazy day of hanging out with your mates, consuming rather a lot of alcohol. Preferably in a beer garden, with some live music and decent food. That […]

Dreams That Come True

“You are the magical fairy that makes things happen in your life. Don’t wait for someone else to make your dreams come true.” ~ Natalie Rivener   I’m launching my Year of ME Planner – 2016 tonight, and tomorrow it will go live here on my blog. In reflection, it’s the continuation of my great […]

A Sneak Peek at My Secret Project!

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry   I always thought that the first book I brought out into the world would be a story. But it isn’t my story. It’s yours! Here’s the sneak peek I promised you of the project I have been working on. It’s a […]

What Bravery Looks Like

“I don’t like and even resist, being broken wide-open. But, when the contents of my unconscious self spill out of me and I sift through all the disowned parts of who I am… it’s an uncomfortably enlightening and eye-opening experience. It feels a bit like emotional bloodletting. I guess every now and then, I need […]

What Else Can You See?

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” ~ Marilyn Vos Savant   A wise and talented memoirist and creative writing teacher, Beth Kephart, has her students do an exercise where they go out into the world and take ten photographs. The students know they are going to come back […]

Looking Back at Me

“We look back on our life as a thing of broken pieces, because our mistakes and failures are always the first to strike us, and outweigh in our imagination what we have accomplished and attained.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections   It’s odd, this process of writing about yourself. Seldom do we […]

Inside My Story

“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.” ~ Colette, Casual Chance, 1964   I’m deep into the editing process for my memoir right now. It’s a strange process, crafting your own […]

Poking Bruises

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche I’m still editing this memoir. Because of that, I did something really dumb. I couldn’t remember a detail about someone’s appearance. An old friend from the past. Turtle. What colour were his eyes? I couldn’t tell in any of […]

Crazy Busy Writing!

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~ Ernest Hemingway There’s not much going on at my house right now. Except this. Reading. Underlining. Sighing. Crying. This book is all a pile of crap. Sudden bursts of stompy-footed door slamming and wandering around the paddocks. The […]

We’re nearly at magical 2 Million!

“Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” ~ Angela N. Blount, Once Upon an Ever After   When I first started blogging, on December 11, 2011, I didn’t expect that anyone would read what I might post. Cauldrons and Cupcakes was an experiment. An online journal in […]

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