Blog Posts

IN THE WORDS OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

31/8/2021

I’m currently reading a book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They are discussing how the current situations around the world can make us feel frightened or angry and cause us to withdraw. While the book covers many topics, there is a chapter on loneliness, which is too long to reprint in full here, but I wanted to share a couple of pages with our readers. ~ Gayle, C. Australia

BEING A GRANDPARENT

31/7/2021

Artist: Bernadette Curtin

Do we feel we are entitled to certain privileges, or special entitlements as a grandparent? “I have a right to tell you what to do because I am ‘older’, ‘wiser’, ‘I know better’.” Self-entitlements, rights, expectations and privileges can be perpetuated by family traditions or personal ideals and beliefs, or they may be based on society’s expectations of how the ‘role’ of grandparenting should look.

IN SEARCH OF TRUE FAMILY

31/5/2021

The majority of us have been raised in a family but how many of us have found this to be a truly harmonious and supportive environment to be in? Some of us have beautiful memories of our earlier years, many have a mixture of warm loving memories interspersed with recollections that are painful to remember while others, sadly have only known pain.

IS FAMILY GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH?

31/5/2021

Artist: Bernadette Curtin

As we near the end of our lives we start to question many of the things we have accepted or taken for granted and or have adhered to over our lifetime. For some of us, this may include questioning the role of family and family relationships. We may question, for example, have our family relationships been positive and nurturing, supporting us to grow and evolve, or have they caused us some form of harm, making us question ourselves and influence our life decisions?

LESSONS IN Love FROM A DOG

30/4/2021

Well who would ever have thought that I would learn so much about love, parenting and grandparenting from a dog? So here I am at the age of 60 with two children in their 30’s, neither of them with partners and the likelihood of grandchildren way off the radar. I have never hankered to be a grandmother, so their single and childless status has never bothered me in the slightest.

GRAND-SMOTHERING

30/4/2021

Artist: Leigh Matson

As a child, Christmas would usually be spent at our grand-parents’ place which was a five hour drive from our place. We would all have Christmas day together and then our parents would leave me and my brother and sister there while they went off to have six weeks together. I have many memories about this time and I was pondering why it had such a strong effect on me.

STEPPING OUT OF THE MANY ROLES OF MOTHERHOOD

30/4/2021

What would it mean to step out of the roles and expectations of motherhood that we are reminded of each time Mother’s Day comes around?

Every woman has a relationship with Mother’s Day, whether we celebrate it or not. It is the one day of the year that has been designated as a special day to celebrate mothers, and everywhere we look in the weeks leading up to it, we are reminded that it is fast approaching!

TRUE FAMILY – COMMUNAL LIVING IN MY SEVENTIES

30/4/2021

Who would have guessed I would be selling my house and moving interstate at the age of 74?
I thought my house was a ‘forever home’ but over the past year or so I’ve felt 'it’s time to move … all is complete here and there’s somewhere else I need to be'. But where that was, I had no idea. What I did know was that I no longer wanted to live on my own. It had been too long and I wanted to share.

A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

30/10/2020

I’ve been pondering on the sense of entitlement I have at this stage of my life, in my elder years, and it’s something I’ve seen in many older people in the past. It goes with an inner dialogue that says “I’ve worked hard all my life and now I’m entitled to ….. (fill in the blanks)”. That sense of entitlement can be directed at family –especially family – younger people, the government ... and sometimes God.

FAMILY AND SELF-ENTITLEMENT

1/10/2020

Earlier this year I flew to New Zealand for my first ever visit there. (I had an amazing time!) A friend drove me to the airport in London as I’d sprained my ankle very badly and was unable to drive my manual gear car. Another friend collected me at Auckland airport, so not being able to drive initially wasn’t a problem. I then hired an automatic car which was fine as I’d hurt my left ankle. I was able to drive all around the North Island.

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IN THE WORDS OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

BEING A GRANDPARENT

IN SEARCH OF TRUE FAMILY

IS FAMILY GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH?

LESSONS IN Love FROM A DOG

GRAND-SMOTHERING

STEPPING OUT OF THE MANY ROLES OF MOTHERHOOD

TRUE FAMILY – COMMUNAL LIVING IN MY SEVENTIES

A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT

FAMILY AND SELF-ENTITLEMENT

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