Category: MENTAL HEALTH

Choosing the Best Medicine for Me: Bringing Self-Care into Health-Care

by Jenny James, McLeans Ridges, NSW

Is life really just about the luck of the draw? When I was very young I remember being told that a friend of the family had become extremely ill. It was as if they had been struck out of the blue. Without any forewarning this disease had descended upon them. To me this seemed quite mysterious – as if there were a sort of random hit that could descend at any moment – and you escaped merely by the luck of the draw. There seemed to be no concept of health, self-care, nurturing or wellbeing – only shock and sadness at the disaster that had fallen.

I realised that over time this had developed into a way of thinking, a way of living where I could be more reckless with my health as it didn’t matter anyway – it will happen if it is destined to. There was also a feeling of fear and a sense of foreboding around this as I felt I had no say in what might happen to me. But why was I accepting this as the way it was? Didn’t I have any say in the matter? With this way of thinking, self-responsibility in any real terms was pretty much out the window.

Continue reading “Choosing the Best Medicine for Me: Bringing Self-Care into Health-Care” →

Stress & Work: Learning to Trust Myself As a Woman

by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia

Lately, as I’ve been reflecting on my motives for choosing the roles I’ve had throughout my working life, I’ve realised these had little to do with the real me, and everything to do with mind-created ideals and beliefs. I’ve also examined my propensity to choose industries and jobs that have been challenging to the point of debilitation, with no consideration for myself… again the result of the ideals and beliefs I held.

But the revelations haven’t stopped there: in the course of my explorations, I’ve come to see there is a third, equally important element to consider in the work equation: how I’ve gone about the business of work itself. Continue reading “Stress & Work: Learning to Trust Myself As a Woman” →

From Empty Returns to Investing in Me

By Julie Chung, Melbourne

I have come to realise that in the past I have been an extremely bad investor. Over all of my 56 years and all that I have invested in, I should be a very wealthy, healthy and wise person by now. But all I kept getting were empty returns that needed to be filled up with another investment to satisfy me. It left me feeling incomplete and not enough as a person, which was very dis-empowering, draining and totally not who I now know myself to be.

I realised that I can’t possibly feel or know the fullness of me or who I truly am at those times because I’ve chosen to not feel what I truly need and instead go with outside stimulation as a filler – and it doesn’t work. It was like trying to fill something with nothing, so I couldn’t possibly feel open and spacious, vital and complete. Continue reading “From Empty Returns to Investing in Me” →

From Superwoman & Supermum to Super Amazing Me

by R.B, Northern NSW

I used to feel that to be an amazing woman, I had to be like SUPERWOMAN, and Supermum. The definition included being a good mum, keeping the house clean, doing the homework with my daughter, cooking meals, doing the laundry, keeping the car clean – and as you can imagine that list goes on forever because as soon as you have ticked those boxes, there always seem to be more that appear out of nowhere… and this is along with being a friend, full-time worker and business owner.

In the past when things got hard, I got tough. I would knuckle down and push on through.

I would feel like a failure if I couldn’t accomplish everything on my own… and felt like I was great because I didn’t need anyone’s help. Continue reading “From Superwoman & Supermum to Super Amazing Me” →

From Ideals and Beliefs to Making Loving Work Choices

by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia

In the last couple of months I’ve been exploring the option of setting aside my role as a self-employed consultant to return to regular employment, and have been looking at various jobs. My work had slowed down over the last six months and I was starting to feel the next step would need to be a practical one, to bring in more income.

I’ve changed jobs – and careers – many times before, but I’ve never brought to the process the kind of honesty I’m bringing to it now. In fact I’ve used this time to reflect on my working life as a whole, a chapter of which I’ve already written about in Celebrity Chef or Self-loving Chef:Where is the Love in the Work that We Do?. Continue reading “From Ideals and Beliefs to Making Loving Work Choices” →

Celebrity Chef or Self-Loving Chef: Where is the Love in the Work that We Do?

by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia

For six or so years, across the mid 1980s to the mid 90s, I trained and worked as a chef. One thing I’ll never forget is my first day in a commercial kitchen. I was completely overwhelmed – by the sharp banter of the staff as they prepared for the busy weekend ahead, by the controlled chaos of the kitchen itself, by the pungent, unforgettable smells of simmering stocks and chopped, fresh herbs, and by the stern-looking, mostly silent head chef and the glamorous restaurant owner.

Both the head chef and owner were famous – the restaurant I’d been lucky enough to score a day’s work experience in was at that time widely regarded as Australia’s best. It was out of town and could only be accessed by water, but this did nothing to prevent local and visiting foodies making the inconvenient trek to its doors. It opened for a limited time each week, with staff staying on site for the duration. I was daunted by the rather basic accommodation, and the fact the restaurant would be lived and breathed for days at a time. But I could also tell that the ‘privilege’ of working there out-weighed any disadvantages in the minds of the staff. Continue reading “Celebrity Chef or Self-Loving Chef: Where is the Love in the Work that We Do?” →