Category: Lifestyle
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The Power Of A Good Book To Change Your Life
One thing I won’t be giving up for my minimalist lifestyle is my love of books. Unsurprisingly, in the months I’ve been labouring through my wretched manuscript, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the writing process and the impact that certain books have had my life. So I thought I’d share some of…
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The 7 Changes You Must Make For A Minimalist Lifestyle
“A minimalist home is very intentional,” Joshua Becker explains in an article for Good Housekeeping magazine. “Each possession is there for a reason.” In my free time, I’ve spent the past six months bogged down in the restructure of my manuscript, hence the reason I’ve not been as vocal on this site as I was.…
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C-Words like COVID-19 are never good, but most clouds have a silver lining
Historically, c-words have had a bad rap. For example, the c-word “c*nt” is described as a vulgarism for female genitalia on Wikipedia, and the euphemism for “cancer” used to be the archetypal c-word. That is until recently, when a far more sinister c-word entered our vocabulary. I suppose it is fortunate, therefore, that the negative…
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Isn’t It Funny How Our Priorities Change With Age?
The old man opened the vault last week. Last month was the first time he didn’t lose a ton of our money since he became an investor and it triggered un uncharacteristically generous response. Of course, I leapt at the opportunity to spend. Photo from Sophie Elvis on Unsplash.com I’m sure I must have mentioned…
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This Is How A Middle-Aged Couple With Anxiety Books A Holiday
There are certain undeniable factors when two people with anxiety get married. 1. There will be a lot of overthinking, and 2) We can talk ourselves out of pretty much anything. Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash Such has been the marital soap opera created by my decision that we go on a proper holiday…
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Why Try Mindfulness In Middle Age? Because That’s When You Realise Just How Fucked Up The Worl
I took an introductory course in mindfulness a few weeks ago. I thought that the company of calm, spiritual people would wield its inner peace on me. But when it turned out that only my friends had signed up for the course, I realised something I already knew – that we’re all dealing with our…
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Bad Dreams? I Blame Anxiety
Photo by Rodolfo Sanches Carvalho on Unsplash Of course, sleeping in the garden might be my problem and I could simply invest in a bed. I used to have this theory about dreaming, which was that only creative, imaginative people had them. I admit that this conclusion was drawn from the fact that the old man doesn’t dream.…
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Those Awkward Gumtree Moments…
We’re on the move again. As bonafide empty-nesters, we’re going for a proper “downsize” this time into a grown-up, executive apartment with posh fittings, a dishwasher that works, and voluminous sheer curtains that we hope will keep the outside world at bay. The latest move means, of course, that I’ve had to rekindle my love-hate…
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After Thirteen Years In Australia, It’s Good To Know That My Fear of Spiders Remains Completel
Image found on Pinterest A man in Perth, Australia, was heard shouting from his house, ‘Why don’t you die!’ Upon hearing the distressing cries of a toddler, passers-by alerted the police. Understandably. Fortunately, however, the victim of the man’s momentary loss of sanity was not a defenseless child, but a spider – I imagine a…
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Are Women Just As Guilty Of Disempowering Men As They Are Of Avoiding The “Emotional LaborR
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash ‘But you enjoy it,’ the old man retorts defensively when I moan about him not chipping in with the organization of social events, the ongoing responsibilities of our adult children, and – dare I mention it – Christmas. You might have read in the news this week about the…
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Can I Suggest Eating Mindfully This Christmas Rather Than Dieting?
Let’s make a pact and enforce a community embargo against dieting this Christmas. I won’t be dieting. In fact, I will be eating all of the pigs-in-blanket, swigging the whole jug of brandy custard, and scoffing every one of the purple Quality Street! In Joanna Nell’s book, The Single Ladies Of Jacaranda Village, her doctor…
Louisa Simmonds 