Grateful I’m alive and growing

Grateful I’m alive isn’t something I’ve said or written very often over many months. Except, perhaps, in one of my somewhat Pollyanna* attempts to write in my gratitude journal. But this morning it struck me that I’m grateful and glowing. This may be a temporary state. But while the feeling lasts, while the concept lingers,…… Continue reading Grateful I’m alive and growing

Discipline – do you love or hate it?

Discipline, according to the Collins English Dictionary, is the quality of being able to behave and work in a controlled way which involves obeying particular rules or standards. This definition doesn’t say whose rules or standards, but I believe they’re our own. My friend, Elizabeth Brennan, says discipline is a grace (which implies a gift). I…… Continue reading Discipline – do you love or hate it?

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Categorized as life skills

How to reimagine ageing with hope

‘Reimagine ageing’. Written by Jennifer Grieve, a respected Australian aged care nurse with forty years experience in the field, it talks about the care that old people need and deserve when they slip into the residential aged care scene. It’s a good article if you consider that some old people need nursing and other care.…… Continue reading How to reimagine ageing with hope

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Incompetent until proven not guilty?

Who is incompetent to make a will or to act as one’s own agent by virtue of their age? At least one law firm in Western Australia seems to think it’s all right to demand proof of competence. ‘Everyone over eighty has to provide a doctor’s letter,’ the receptionist said when I called to make…… Continue reading Incompetent until proven not guilty?

Crazy-making – why the world seems mad

Crazy-making seems to describe my world. Nothing goes the way I expected it would as I aged. Ageing-in-place seemed a delicious idea in theory. But for this eighty-six year old, life-events are confronting. I thought that I’d be peaceful and gentle. And I also thought a rocking-chair and some knitting would feature in my life.…… Continue reading Crazy-making – why the world seems mad

Stone Yard Devotional – a fascinating novel

Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood kept me fascinated from beginning to end. Novels by this quintessential Australian author have won the Stella Prize, among others. Her new book, published last year, deserves similar recognition. This is a very Australian story, encompassing both the bleak countryside and quirky Australian characters. What’s Stone Yard Devotional about?…… Continue reading Stone Yard Devotional – a fascinating novel

Point Peron then and now

Point Peron, less than fifty kms from Perth, provides plenty to do for a simple holiday. It holds special memories for many Western Australians.

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Epiphany – coming of the wise men

The Feast of the Epiphany commemorates the arrival in Bethlehem of strangers from ‘the East’. These gentiles or Magi came ‘from afar’ to visit the little, Jewish Christ-Child. We used to celebrate the day on 6th January. But now, at least in the Catholic Church, the feast has been raised to a Sunday feast, and…… Continue reading Epiphany – coming of the wise men

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Accidental play with photos at Christmas

Accidental play – unplanned, spontaneous, adults-having-fun – must surely be the best kind of play. Such an opportunity came my way last week. My friend, Susan Dunn, and I went to the Crown at Burswood, hoping to see the high-tech Monet Exhibition in the specially constructed pavillion. We’d checked the times, and both thought it…… Continue reading Accidental play with photos at Christmas

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Premature predictions or what happened to the writer?

Making premature predictions involves enormous risk-taking. I haven’t taken many risks lately, perhaps not for a very long time. Now I live alone I feel free to make my own way in the world, even at my age. Or perhaps, especially at my age! Picture the Edith Cowan University graduation ceremony where I received a…… Continue reading Premature predictions or what happened to the writer?

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