Among the boxes I unpacked yesterday was a portal to the past. Let me tell you about it…
What Fills Your Cup? Do More Of That!
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the […]
There Is No Magic Pill
Need to get something done? Want to change something in your life? This is what works for me and I know it will work for you too.
Creeping Downstairs To Feed My Addiction
I’ll admit it – I’m addicted. I don’t know how I’ll be able to stop, and I don’t think I want to…
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 […]
How to Nurture your Creativity during COVID
“Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” The Queen, from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Hello, Lovelies. There is a winged dragon waiting at the edge of your conscious mind, and her name is Creativity. If you climb into the jewelled saddle, and nudge her with your heels she […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
What if it didn’t matter?
“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.” ~ Maya Angelou I need to give you an update about my memoir. For those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know that you encouraged me to turn some of my posts about my time in the Kimberley […]
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 […]
An Amazingly Ordinary Fabulous Day!
“Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people […]
Requiem For These Passing Moments
“Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive.” ~ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore “It all goes away. Eventually, everything goes away.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love Sometimes, life is […]
Home In My Own Bed!
“I live in my own little world. But it’s ok, they know me here.” ~ Lauren Myracle There is something so sweet and good about sleeping in your own bed after a long time away. It’s a little crowded just now though. Harry and Bert refuse to leave my side. Not that I’m complaining. […]
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 […]
What It Feels Like to be Hijacked By a New Story
“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” ~ Franz Kafka Last year, on one of my retreats, something very interesting happened. Just a passing thing. But it would not let me go. I […]
On Overcoming Obstacles
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” ~ Calvin Coolidge I have always wanted to […]
Shhhh… I’m On Writing Retreat
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Shhhh… I’m on writing retreat. Well, writing boot camp, actually. So, hilariously, I’m writing this post to tell you that I have no time to write a post today. Because I’m writing. Me and a […]
Sleepy Morning
“I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” ~ Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time I woke to the sound of rain. It was soft at first, a comforting patter of drops on the old iron roof. […]
A Newsy Update and Writing Reminder
“Are you ready?” Klaus asked finally. “No,” Sunny answered. “Me neither,” Violet said, “but if we wait until we’re ready we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives, Let’s go.” ~ Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator This will be quite a newsy post, hence the title. Breaking News and Announcements: Husband Update: Ben […]
Want To Get Your Book Written in November?
“Write it. Just write it. Write it on receipts in the car while you wait for your kid to finish their piano lessons, scribble on napkins at lunch with friends. Type on crappy typewriters or borrow computers if you have to. Fill notebooks with ink. Write inside your head while you’re in traffic and when […]
Why You Need A Tribe
A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are. ~ Unknown We all need a tribe. A tribe isn’t often the family we are born into. A tribe is a group where we find a spiritual home – a group of people who […]
Write On!
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing Over the next four days I’ll be on retreat. Not one I’m running, but one I’m attending. Hopefully I’ll have some phone reception while I’m there, so that I can sneak out a post or […]
Lovely, Lovely 3am
“You were born and with you endless possibilities, very few ever to be realized. It’s okay. Life was never about what you could do, but what you would do. ” ~ Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year Every day, since I was around twelve years old, I […]
That Strange Wise Universe
“All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this.“ ~ Miyamoto Musashi Sometimes things don’t go to plan. We’ve had a lot of rain here at the farm. Lots actually. Think floods. Last Saturday, after having been flooded in overnight, the causeway dropped and Ben decided we’d make a run […]
A Busy Weekend of All Things #Books
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” ~ J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye […]
Why You Need to Stop Talking And Start Doing!
“They blossomed, they did not talk about blossoming.” ~ Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun I’m guilty of it. I’m sure you’ve been guilty of it too. We have an idea. For a book. For a business. For a holiday. For a themed party. For something that excites us so much that we just have to […]
Why We Need YOUR Voice
“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” ~ Neil Gaiman Thanks to you, and to some wise and loving friends, I’ve been pushed to a major […]
Wise Birds Come Visiting
“One day you live somewhere, you call dat country home. Smell like dis place. Earth. Sea. But make you happy again. We send all dem black fella birds remind you your promise. Remind you your story. Then you know it’s time. Time to be dat story. Live dat story in your heart. Live your true […]
Things that make my heart glad!
“Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.” ~ Samuel Johnson, The Idler; Poems The New Year is almost here! As part of my sacred promise to live a heart-centred year in 2014, I am aiming to make sure I fill my days with more of the simple things that make my heart […]
Sorry, I didn’t Blog!
“My head aches, my eyes burn, my arms and legs have given up, and my face in the mirror has a grayish cast. The bed, across the room, calls in its unmistakable lover’s croon, Come to me, come, only I can make you truly happy, oh, how happy I’ll make you, don’t resist, remember how […]
The Friends Who Came to Visit
“When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us […]
NaNoWriMo time…
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~ Ernest Hemingway November is National Novel Writing Month, lovingly abbreviated to NaNoWriMo (pronounced nano-ry-moh). It’s a crazy time where writers commit to writing a novel in a month. Well, 50 000 possibly very bad words, but words none-the-less, between […]
My Lazy Sunday
“A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content.” ~ Proverb I had intended to come up with something fabulous for today’s blog. But the truth is all I can think about is making a pot of tea, cracking my knuckles, and sitting down to work on my pirates and fairies story. It’s one of my favourite things […]
Writing Advice that works for Life too!
“Don’t throw it all away, our love, our love. Don’t throw it all away, our love.” ~ The Bee Gees The wonderful thing about good advice is that it’s usually applicable to more than one thing. Yesterday I was reading a great post called 23 Tips from Famous Writers for New and Aspiring Authors. […]
Harry – Cafe Dog!
“Coffee is a language in itself.” ~ Jackie Chan Good Morning! It’s Harry here. Mum is meditating, so I thought I’d save time and write her blog so that we can go to the cafe faster. I love cafes. Ever since I was little I’ve been going. Especially first thing in the morning. So now I’m […]
Don’t Let Anyone Sink Your Ship!
“Dreams are difficult to build and easy to destroy.” ~ Seth Godin There is much truth in that quote. No matter how thick-skinned or emotionally resilient we think we are, our dreams – especially when new and tender – are fragile things. Today I want to remind you how important it is to protect those […]
The Lady Who Walked Out of My Past
“I sustain myself with the love of family.” ~ Maya Angelou One late afternoon in April this year, the dusky sunset was shimmery and luminous. A light rain fell, misting the cold air and making us hurry to light a fire and get inside where it was warm. That evening the moon rose brightly amid patchy […]
Celebrating the triumphs of friends
“I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul rememb’ring my good friends.” ~ William Shakespeare Last night I had the pleasure of attending the book launch of Charlotte Nash’s Ryders Ridge, hosted at that bastion of local writing support Avid Reader, in West End, Brisbane. Charlotte is a dear friend, and a […]
Life, blurred.
“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.” ~ Jack Kerouac Sometimes, life gets smudged around the edges and my crisp lines fuzzle into fluffy lumps of something but I haven’t got the word for it. No words is hard for a writer. Or when you forget the shape of things or what her […]
Simple Antidotes to Resentment
“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” ~ Carrie Fisher Resentment – it’s a corrosive emotion that causes damage to the container, no matter how cautiously you try to hold it in. Why do we get resentful? You might not have ever been consciously aware of it, but resentment […]
Making My Life Work for Me! – A 6 Week Journal Program
“I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It’s all a question of how I view my life.” ~ Paulo Coelho I’ve been quite overwhelmed with the flood of messages and emails since yesterday’s post on Remembering to take care of YOU! Seems that many of […]
Enhance Your Creativity
“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” ~ Osho Sometimes life loses its shine, and gets […]
Do you really need to start with a Grand Gesture?
“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 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 to be a […]
How a Garden Can Teach You To Be More Creative
“Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.” ~ Author Unknown Gardening is a seasonal thing. There are tasks to do in every season, but Summer tasks can’t be easily undertaken in Winter and Winter tasks aren’t so suited to the Spring. What does this have to do with creativity you may ask? Why, […]
When the Muse vanishes – thoughts on the loss of creativity
“Creativity is our true nature; blocks are an unnatural thwarting of a process at once as normal and as miraculous as the blossoming of a flower at the end of a slender green stem.” ~ Julia Cameron If you’ve ever had some sort of creative block, where the juices stop flowing and the ideas dry […]
Lost your Creative Mojo?
“Creativity – like human life itself – begins in darkness.” ~ Julia Cameron Have you taken the pledge and signed up for my Creative Challenge Project yet? It’s not too late, and hopefully, if you stick with me, by the end of this year you’ll have something finished, a new skill or interest, or a […]
Join my 2013 ‘Creative Project’ Challenge!
“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things” ~ Ray Bradbury It’s the start of a fresh year, and all these days are stretching out in front of us, begging to be filled. And just like last […]
I’m a Star! Blog of the Year Award 2012
I’ve been honoured today with another blogging gong. The lovely Lorna of Lorna’s Tearoom Delights has bestowed upon me the Blog of the Year Award 2012. I do hope you go visit Lorna’s blog – it’s full of deliciousness, and she’s a dear Soul with lots of everyday wisdom and crackingly good photography on her […]
A Room of One’s Own…
Thank you, Virginia, for that most valuable of advice. When I was younger her quote didn’t make much sense – weren’t women independent now, didn’t we have the vote, weren’t we emancipated and equal and couldn’t we Have It All? A room? Goddam it Virginia, I’m a modern woman. I can buy myself a whole […]
Loving my dinged up life-battered Self – Part 1
We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. ~ Joseph Campbell Don’t you love how Life gives you those aha moments? I’m in the middle of one right now. It’s going to be that kind of week, I think. For […]
Poor Form, or Confessions from a Bookstore, Byron Style.
So, I unexpectedly find myself in downtown Byron Bay, at a bookshop cafe, while I wait for a friend. Except for a brief visit to a second-hand book store on the way to a friend’s funeral a few weeks ago it has been many months since I’ve been in a bookshop. It’s been too […]
The Power of Mentors
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.” – Benjamin Disraeli We all learn by modelling ourselves on others. As babies we mimic our parents, copying everything they do until we learn to do those things for ourselves; facial expressions, gestures, words, […]
Grounding Myself in Life Again…
“Go to foreign countries and you will get to know the good things one possesses at home.” ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe I’ve spent the past five days running a meditation retreat. It was a fabulous course, and I was totally absorbed in a world of ritual, magic and spiritual connection. But today I […]
Dr Sketchy – Beautifully Burlesque
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” ~ Salvador Dali My brain is still in a post-virus muddle. Clarity comes in fits and starts, and then fog washes over me and my brain disappears entirely. Trust me, this is not conducive to writing. So, what should a writer do when they’re in […]
By definition, a ‘Hero’ does not have it easy…
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Christopher Reeve Think about it. You read a book. In it, the hero has a cruisey ride. From the moment of their auspicious birth everything they touch magically works. They are incredibly popular. All their family […]
A Magical Way to Attract More of What You Want!
Last week I shared a simple but powerful journal exercise with you, designed to help you get clarity about what you REALLY want in life. If you didn’t read it, or need to refresh your memory, here’s the link: Getting to the Heart of things All you needed to do was to write an answer […]
Getting to the Heart of Things
There is a powerful journalling exercise that I use every so often. It is a very simple technique, but it never fails to give me clarity. It also highlights areas of my life that aren’t working, shows me where my resentments and frustrations are, and uncovers my deepest dreams and desires. It works best when […]
Ghostly Messages and Weird Confirmations…
Most of you probably know that I’m a bit of a writing bender right now. I hadn’t expected to embark on a new project; I have two finished manuscripts to edit, workshop notes to write, and some courses to finish. And of course I’ve started on my second novel with my husband. This bender came […]
Pumpkin Soup Recipe and the Writing Disease
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. ~ Anais Nin You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~ Ray Bradbury There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit […]
Public Service Announcement
Ah-hem… Am I on camera? “Hello.” “This is a Public Service Announcement.” Authorised by me. Bert. Nicole’s Personal Assistant. “Nicole is writing. Not blog writing. Other writing. So we apologise for this interruption to the blogging process. Normal blogging will resume tomorrow.” “We thank you for your co-operation and understanding.” Sigh. Did I do that […]
A little piece of Europe…
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller Australia is a long way from anywhere. You don’t just pop across the border to another country on a Sunday drive. You can’t be anywhere else in an hour or two’s plane flight. So when I feel like travelling, I […]
Writing Ourselves into Awareness
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ― C.G. Jung Sometimes we get so confused. We run this way and that way – searching for the thing, the answer, the lover, the teacher… We forget to trust ourselves. We forget to […]
Writing Yourself into a Brighter Future
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt Did you know that thoughts have great power? When we have clear goals and ideas, and attach positive emotion to them, we magnetise these mental images and begin the process of creating them in our reality. (See this post […]
What makes you come alive?
Don’t ask yourself what the World needs Ask yourself what makes you come alive And then go and do that Because what the World needs Is people who have come alive. ~ Howard Thurman Last night I was talking to a friend about art. It comes easily to her, and she’s so good at it […]
Using your Internal Compass to Navigate Life
At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it. ~ Thich Nhat Hahn Inside each of us in a compass. Although we can’t see it, it spins and turns in ways we can feel, if only we learn to tune in to it. The […]
My ‘One Lovely Blog’ Award
One of the things I’ve come to love about the blogging community is their generosity of spirit, their ability to connect us, one to another, and the crazy amount of awards that are out there for us to show our gratitude and appreciation to one another. I’ve recently been nominated for the One Lovely Blog […]
In Defence of Fairies
Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom. It is as true as sunbeams. ~Douglas Jerrold Those of you who know me will also know that I believe in fairies. In fact, you’ll know that I count a fairy as one of my dearest friends. I found myself in an odd position on the weekend. I’m […]
Protecting a Good Idea
We’ve all had them. Ideas that are special to us. Ideas that seem like they could turn into something good given enough time. It might be an idea about creating something or becoming something – but we sense that this idea is special, and has the power to be transformational for us. A good idea […]
What does Happiness look like to you?
In our age of overwork, stress, social isolation, time pressure and exhaustion, it is increasingly important to know what fills you back up again, what makes you smile, what brings joy and happiness into your life. What does happiness look like to you? If you don’t know, make it your mission to find out, and […]
When the Muse Whispers in Your Ear…
O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. ~ William Shakespeare Inspiration comes to us in many ways, but there is one way almost all creative people have in common – the Muse comes and whispers in your ear. The Muse knows you – she knows your talents and […]
My third Blog Award – The Sunshine Award
I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Award by a lovely blogger! The rules of this Blog Award are: Include the Award’s logo in a post or on your blog . Answer 10 questions about yourself. Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have […]
Writing Yourself into Abundance
Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. – Groucho Marx Writing is a powerful way to get unblocked and back into flow, and one of the areas we often seem to be out of flow is around the area of Abundance. Abundance can be many […]
Writing your Dream Home into Existence
A man’s home is his castle ~ Proverb Everyone has a dream home in their mind – somewhere that will fulfill their needs, bring peace to their soul, and speak to the person they are or would like to be. I’m lucky enough to have found mine, but then again, luck didn’t create it – […]
Writing as a Manifestation Tool
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. ~ John 1:1 Words have power. Whether they are thought, spoken or written down, there is a great energy to words, and over the next six Mondays we are going to focus on ways to harness this power […]
My second blogging gong – The Very Inspiring Blogger Award
The lovely danLrene from Work the Dream has nominated me for The Very Inspiring Blogger award. Thanks Deb! You’re a wonderful inspiration. I’m honoured, and truth be told, a little mystified that in the 89 days since I’ve started this blog I’ve had more than 23 000 hits already. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me, and […]
On a roll, or, why I’m not blogging…
I usually get up at 4am, meditate, and then write. Lately I’ve been blogging first and then writing (I classify writing as working on one of my books…). But this morning I am gripped by the plight of one of my characters. I must get their story down onto the page. I have ample tea, […]
Places that remind you of who you used to be…
The first time I went to Yum Cha was a revelation. It was a crowded barn of a restaurant in Sydney, and my small table were the only Caucasians in a sea of dark hair. They didn’t even have a menu in English. My friend Geoff, who speaks fluent Cantonese, took us there, and did […]
Everyone has a story to tell…
In these days of emails, tweets and text messages we can spend our days constantly communicating, but not really sharing at that deeper level of connection. One of my favourite forms of communication is a fairly old-fashioned one. It involves conversation and cups of tea. Yesterday, my dear friend Carly-Jay Metcalfe, a poet and writer, […]
Wednesday morning, 5am.
It’s raining here. That’s not unusual for where I live. The Northern Rivers wouldn’t flow if they didn’t have replenishment. Each morning I wake up early, around 4am, and then I meditate for an hour or so, lighting some candles and incense to keep me company in the dark. My meditation can take one of […]
My first Blog Award – ‘The Versatile Blogger’
I received a nomination for my first ever blog award. A bit of a shock considering I’ve only been blogging for a fortnight, but what a wonderful way to start 2012. I was nominated by the writer of Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars, a blog that celebrates two things dear to my heart; the […]