ARE YOU AFRAID TO GO OUT ALL BY YOURSELF?
Attending anything alone has always gripped Amy with fear. She think it’s genetics.The entire Cassell clan has issues with being sans entourage. So going to the movies alone, being her first foray into the world of solitude, she was starting to hyperventilate.
NEVER COMPARE YOUR BEHIND-THE-SCENES TO ANOTHER’S HIGHLIGHT REEL
Emma Grey is reminded of Steven Furtick’s brilliant advice: never compare your ‘behind-the-scenes’ with another person’s ‘highlight reel’, and realises she’s been allowing herself to feel inferior against an illusion of another’s happiness.
SHIT, I LOST MY SELF ESTEEM
Psychologists have renamed self-esteem self-compassion {because doesn’t everyone need a makeover at some point?}. But more-so because to have self-esteem apparently meant that you had to be better than someone else. And who really has the time? Victoria Nicolitsi says hurrah to the ‘new girl’ self compassion.
DON’T HATE ME BECAUSE… I WATCH REALITY TV
Melissa Koutoukidis adores foreign flicks, but there are occasions when she doesn’t want substance. Reality TV does its job of providing entertainment with no strings attached. Whether it’s the voyeuristic delight in observing the Louboutin-wearers of the world, or the thrill of a cut-throat competition between artists under extreme conditions, there is a reality show for everyone. After all, one woman’s trash is another’s Saturday night guilty pleasure!
DEAR 16 YEAR OLD SELF: KERRI SACKVILLE
Dear Kez, Hello! It’s me! Your 43 year old self! I have so much to tell you, but first thing’s first: Don’t worry. The haircut will grow out. I know it looks crap but your hair will look fabulous again very soon. Just stop trying to cut fringes. They never work on us. Ever. Also, please try to stop biting your nails. I’m spending a fortune on acrylics because years [...]
DON’T HATE ME BECAUSE … I DON’T DRINK
Melissa Koutoukidis drank diet coke on her 18th birthday. Unlike the majority of her peers who awaited the chance to guzzle down alcopops, she shunned the teenage rite of passage like an egregiously high pair of heels. Melissa discusses why she chooses not to drink.
LIKE NINA PROUDMAN, IS YOUR HAPPINESS HIJACKED BY DREAD?
Before Offspring, and before Love My Way, there was The Secret Life of Us; that other TV series that meant we never made plans on a Wednesday night. And Kelly introduced us to the trifecta for happiness; relationship, home and work. And, ding, ding, ding, I have all three. So why then, like Nina Proudman, is my happiness sometimes accompanied by a sense that the bottom will drop out of [...]
THE PERFECTION OF ORDINARINESS
Laura Valerie writes … “Nothing is so commonplace as the wish to be remarkable”. It’s an oft-quoted line, and I am sure I have heard it before. Yet, this time, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realised exactly where I had been going wrong: I was trying, with all my might, to be remarkable. When the truth is that I am ordinary. And that is not a depressing revelation. In fact, it is liberating. Let me explain.
IT’S ALL ABOUT ME – AND WHY SHOULDN’T IT BE?
Womankind has come a long way in the self-care movement. We know that giving is a great joy, but unless we take care of ourselves, then we can’t possibly take care of others. However, when we do carve out time for ourselves, do we really enjoy it, or we are still hijacked by a hefty side serving of guilt and lashings of oh-my-god-shouldn’t-I-be-flying-to-a-third-world-country-and-devoting-my-time-to-feeding-the-poor?
THE NEW “C WORD” – COMPARISON
When many women look in the mirror, far from fairest of them all, they see too much of this and not enough of that, and lo and behold, if that isn’t enough, they start putting themselves down in comparison to others. Nasty and to be avoided at all costs – just like someone mouthing the c word, (no, I’m not a fan). We’ve all been guilty of comparing ourselves to [...]
WHAT ARE YOUR TEN COMMANDMENTS?
i) Thou can’t live without a weekly blowdry at the hairdressers. Or manicure. Or pedicure. Nor should one feel guilty about indulging in such activities. Yes, never underestimate the power of good hair to one’s psyche.
WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL PROUD ABOUT YOURSELF?
After a conversation with a dear friend today, I feel compelled to write this post. As you may have gathered from my writing, I am always open, honest and real. That’s not just because of who I am, but most importantly, it’s because I believe that it’s the candor that you, my readers really engage with and benefit from for yourselves – and there doesn’t seem to be a lot [...]
A BIT OF A PRINCESS AND PROUD OF IT
In the past, I’ve been affectionately referred to as a bit of a princess. Not in that bad, snotty, obnoxious kind of way, but in that-don’t-we-just-love-her-for-all-her-quirks-and-charms kind of way. To be honest, it was more about me finally embracing who I was, instead of feeling like I had to be more practical, more responsible, more anything actually. Because, at the end of the day, this is who I am, and [...]
BECAUSE SOMETIMES I’M TOO NICE
This article has been brewing for a few days (as they usually do whenever my head hits the pillow), and it was further spurred on by my Editor Sandi Tighello’s latest article “The Small Matter of Ball Breakers”, for her fabulous column with Trespass Magazine – how she ever finds the time, I will never know. In my mid 20s, I learnt the art of boundaries. Just because I was [...]
