by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Australia
When you look in the mirror what do you see?
Do you scour the blemishes and subtle creases of your face, the way your hair has been groomed to best cover your regrowth and portray your best appearance and the multitude of imperfections from your head to your toes?
Or, do you see and feel the beauty of a woman gazing tenderly back at you? Continue reading “Beautiful Woman Looking Back at Me”
by Julie Ferguson, Mackay
Why would sitting in a room full of women feel so difficult?
To sit in a room full of women and feel that I belong has not been an everyday experience for me. In fact, I’ve become increasingly aware of the discomfort and competitiveness that I’ve felt when I’ve been in the company of any woman. The constant comparison has created obstacles in the way I’ve conversed with them – as I distracted myself with feelings of envy or pity, depending on where I judged others to be in relation to me. Thankfully, this was not in force during Mackay’s Esoteric Developers Women’s Group (EDWG) and has since lessened enormously in my day-to-day living. Continue reading “Discovering Love Beyond Depression”
by Michelle Sheldrake, 43 years old, Brisbane, Australia
Over the weekend I attended our regular Esoteric Women’s group in Brisbane. During the course of our discussions on beauty and the ideals we are surrounded by, Natalie Benhayon* shared that women – instead of being married to their roles or to ideals and beliefs, their families and so on – might actually consider first getting married to themselves!….. their own marriage vows. Continue reading “Marriage vows: a commitment to myself and to humanity”
by Heather Pope, Sydney, Australia
This morning I was woken at 1:20am with a call from a work colleague who needed some help for one of our customers.
I work for a large multi-national company managing a team of people, and we have customers all over the world. The call only took a few moments but as I lay there afterwards (wishing I could fall back to sleep, but with work issues now running through my head) I began to ponder this work life I am living, and wonder if others in the world are living similarly.
Then I received a text from one of my (several) bosses about another issue which I replied to (at 1:30am). This boss lives in Singapore where it was 11:30pm, and he replied.
And so my work day had begun, and indeed I wondered, did it ever end… Continue reading “Corporate Work Demands – Changing the Way I Think and Feel”
By Leonne, Brisbane
Today I have been feeling incredibly distracted. I have been beginning task after task and feeling as though I am not getting anywhere at all. I have been able to feel that what I really want to do is write this blog but until this moment I have found a way to distract myself by doing everything but blog writing!
Distraction has been a theme throughout my life.
When I was in primary school (aged about 7 or 8) I received a report card that stated ‘Leonne is easily distracted and distracts others’. I remember feeling quite pleased about this; I did not like this particular teacher very much and I was glad she could tell that I did not find her particularly engaging. I was doubly happy that my ability to influence the behaviour of others had been confirmed by a grownup. I equated being a distraction with being entertaining, fun, influential and popular. Up until this point I had been a model student and I watched my parents closely for any reaction to this news about my behaviour, but there was no negative reaction and they seemed to think the comment was rather amusing. It is not surprising that the words ‘easily distracted’ and ‘distracts others’ appeared on many of my report cards over the next eight years!
Continue reading “‘To Do’ Lists: Drive and Distraction”
by Adele Leung, Fashion Stylist/Art Director, Hong Kong
From 15 years of age onwards, there has been almost no break in the intimate relationships in my life. Every man that I have been with I thought I would marry.
Until three years ago: I got divorced from my marriage of two years because of an affair. My divorce was in fact a period of grace for me. It was my meeting with Grace.
Continue reading “True Relationships: from Abuse to Love with Grace”
by Fumiyo Egashira, Japan
For a long time, being a foreigner was a great excuse for me not to be fully present and accountable in life.
When I first moved to the UK I didn’t speak the language. It seemed like people quickly judged that there’s not much point trying to engage with me. Whenever I didn’t understand something, instead of asking questions I just grinned – trying to appear harmless and friendly.
Soon I realized that many people were treating me as half a person who wouldn’t speak up for myself. This was very annoying – however when I was not fully showing up in life, taking responsibility, what could I expect? Continue reading “Hanging up my Invisibility Cloak – Being Foreign no longer an Excuse”
The first memory I have relating to my breasts is at 11 years old. I was in 6th grade (primary school) and liked the idea of wearing a bra. My breasts had not begun to grow yet but I was interested in wearing a bra anyway. So I wore a bra to school underneath my uniform. I don’t remember the finer details of this but I do remember feeling a little clandestine about it, like I shouldn’t be doing what I was doing.
At this time I remember fantasizing about what type of breasts I would like – big ones, small ones, soft ones, hard ones, attention grabbing ones, perky ones, etc. etc.
My breasts began to develop at age 12 and I felt very sensitive about this.
I could feel that with my breast development there were other changes occurring too, such as starting my periods, and I knew this meant I was beginning my physical transformation into a woman.
But what did being a woman really mean? At this time I was unable to answer this question. Continue reading “My Relationship with My Breasts (Breast Trilogy – Part 1)”
by Fumiyo Egashira, Japan
Everyday, I spend a fair amount of time on the Internet. I read various blogs and check out Facebook posts, but I hardly ever contribute my own input except for liking/sharing some posts every now and then. I remain pretty much invisible.
I have been OK with this position of mine… until I saw a post about a month ago which challenged me to feel into myself when I click on those ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ buttons: what is it about these particular posts/articles that I feel inclined to share with other people? What am I communicating? What am I actually feeling about them? Continue reading “Rising out of my Refuge in Writing – Reclaiming my Expression”
by Jeanette Macdonald, Healing Arts Practitioner, RN, New Zealand
Note from the author; Where I have put ‘* your name’, do just that and read it to yourself, or better still, have someone read it to you, with your name where it states to do so.
* your name
You have been a daughter, and, no doubt, a friend…
and you may have been a sister… a girlfriend… a wife…
a lover… a mother… a grandmother… a nurse…
a teacher… a doctor… a farmer…
an artist… a scientist…
a practitioner…
and so on
These are some of the many things you may have been and you may have done
But who you are is so much more Continue reading “YOU”
