Basque Fish Stew

Last week we had another of our gorgeous girls dinners and this time it was my turn to host.

I have to admit to mild entertaining anxiety, but I managed to contain it by keeping everything pretty simple.

Post Secret

Image Sourced at Capstone Seminar

This week I went to the Post Secret Event at Hamer Hall.

I love the Post Secret website and I was really looking forward to getting to experience the live version that I have read about at the site.

The evening did not disappoint.

Inside

I love the Spiegeltent.  And if I'm honest, the main reason I booked tickets to see Inside was because of this beautiful venue.

Reverse Racism

So Waleed Aly wrote this great article about passive racism this week.

And it got me thinking, as Waleed Aly often does (curse him).  Because I find racism so abhorrent I am acutely aware of it.  And so when thinking about less obvious examples of racism I wondered whether I might be a reverse racist.

Wisdom on the Ward

My little boy has been sick.  Really sick.  Okay, not terminally, devastatingly, life altering-ly sick.  But sick enough that for a while there we thought he might have been all of those things.

Retreat into Silence

Towards the end of last year I went on retreat.  A silent meditation retreat.

Now I have friends who find the very thought of this abhorrent.  Who would rather stick pins in their eyes than embark on something like this.

Gratitude Revolution

For not the first time in my exploration of Buddhist philosophy I was presented with the phrase "This does not mean being a doormat".

I'm not really sure what this means.

Buddhism calls for compassion and gratitude above all else.  This seems a worthy goal.  

But sometimes in practice it can lead to a feeling of self deprecation.

Can we cultivate compassion for a person or situation in which we are being treated badly?  Is that even appropriate?

Blue Skies

Life is suffering.

And sometimes it feels like there's a lot to complain about.  

And it's wonderful how much support there is out there now if you're going through a rough patch.  

With parenting especially.  There's no shortage of places to vent.

Be a Ninja Cardio-thoracic Surgeon Poet.

Image: Cameron Russell Speaking at TED

Or be my boss.  This is the truly awesome advice model Cameron Russell gives young girls in her recent TEDx talk.

Don't be a model.  Models "are not in charge of anything...Saying you want to be a model...is akin to saying you want to win the Powerball...it's out of your control, it's awesome and it's not a career path" she says.

Shift Control

I am such a brat.

My life is amazing and I am blessed in so many ways.  And yet lately I find myself feeling irritated and getting frustrated over small stuff.

Thinking this over I realise that it most often occurs when I am not getting my own way.  See?  Brat.

Summer Pudding

Last week I had dinner at a girlfriends house.  Gorgeous.  We have this little rotation going on in which one of us hosts, one brings dessert, the others wine.  It's pretty much perfection.

So last week was my night on dessert and I decided to make this little gem.  I kinda couldn't believe it was as easy as it was, but the flavour combinations just worked and it was a nice little finisher to a wonderful meal.

Golden Slumbers

I remember trying to teach my son to sleep.  What suffering this caused as desires clashed.  Unhappy baby, unhappy mother and pretty soon the whole family is topsy turvy in a swirl of ill temper and negativity.

It's hard to rise above it when you're tired.  Not just tired but tired upon tired and ground down until your very spirit feels like dust.

Getting in the moment feels like a task beyond reach, but of course this is exactly when you need to most.  And so I tried to use this process as an exercise in presence.