I have a strong memory from childhood of being taught that ‘giving up’ was a bad thing to do. The message I received was that once I committed to something, I should see it through… whether I liked it or not. It was ‘character building’ to stick at it (apparently) and conversely, showed an undesirable … More Stick or twist?
I had a message from my heart recently… It told me it had had enough of me pushing through its warning signs, and so gave me a much bigger signal that I needed to give myself a break. If you, like me, love the medical ‘fly-on-the-wall’ TV programmes on Channel 5 or ITV2, you might … More A message from the heart…
Life has made another quantum shift this week, as I officially became an ’empty nester’. This weekend, I moved my son into the University of Southampton. He has an amazing room in his hall of residence and I’m impressed that he made efforts to ‘chat’ with fellow freshers before he even arrived and seems to … More Roots, wings, and an empty nest
One of the most enjoyable things about blogging, apart from the writing itself, is discovering other interesting blogs and fantastic writers. One of those I follow and relate to most closely is Authentically 50 written by Janie Leeds, whose life experience on turning 50 and getting divorced mirrors (sometimes quite scarily!) my own. Recently, there … More Am I brave enough?
Challenge #18 back in May 2016 was to ‘Be a speaker at an event’ and that event was Ignite Cardiff. My talk then detailed the challenges I had accomplished between January and May, and a brief look at the things to come. I had always had it in mind that it would be amazing to … More Re-Ignite!
Last weekend, I ‘treated myself’ to a weekend away in beautiful West Wales – The village of Llansteffan with its 6th century church and ruined medieval castle lies on the Tywi estuary, and boasts views over the Gower peninsula to the east and Pembrokeshire coastline to the west. There too, you will find Hill House (www.hillhouseretreats.co.uk) … More Oversized baggage …
It can’t have escaped your notice… that pretty, but rather inconvenient ‘white stuff’ that arrived at our Cardiff doorstep last week… I’m not a great fan of snow, I’ll be honest. I am still traumatised by childhood skiing holidays (more like torture than fun), have never enjoyed being confined to barracks by the weather, and … More Fun in the snow!
I’ve been to the opera before. Quite a few times actually. So why, I hear you ask, does this night at the opera warrant inclusion in the 50shadesofbrave blog? Well, dear reader, this was not just any old opera house… this was Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Google it, and the most likely tag line you … More A night at the opera…
Saturday (30th September) It’s 5.30 a.m. and I’ve just got up and come downstairs in a strange new place. Home. To say it has been a stressful few days would be the understatement of the century. However well you can see the deadline looming, however ‘organised’ you think you are, packing up 13 years of … More Being brave and (literally) moving on – part 2
Since the divorce I’ve had to ’embrace’ the 9-5 culture, as the luxury of part-time / pocket-money jobs was no longer mine. I was fortunate to find a job that’s geographically quite close to where we currently live, and to find a very pleasant route to work that involves by-passing the traffic queues and instead … More A distraction from the moving countdown…
50shadesofbrave 