I waste the most time everyday giving Lily lots of love and attention. As I work from home I am around her alot more than when I worked in mental health. These days Lily is a peaceful, contented soul because I don’t leave her for hours on end. She is happy because I am an around.
The other thing I spend time on is talking to loved ones on the phone. There are a couple of people whom I speak to on a daily basis. As I live alone, I make sure I speak to at least one loved one a day so I don’t become isolated. It is important for my mental health that I do this because isolating myself can bring on my mental health issues. So, I try to engage with people on a daily basis.
Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?
The food that takes me back to my childhood is my mother’s Golden Syrup Dumplings. It takes me back to my childhood, particularly memories of family Sunday roasts, all of us seated at the dining room table, with Golden Syrup Dumplings for the dessert 🍨, with cream and icecream 🍦. It truly is warm comfort food, soft and warm and sweet. It has been a long time since I have these, and thinking about it, I can smell and taste it, as it is embedded in my childhood memory.
Today’s blog topic really got me thinking? Who are the important people in history whom I admire and one of them is still living today.
Probably, the woman from history that is important to me would be Helen Keller, she didn’t let her disability hold her back. Being deaf and blind didn’t stop Helen from making a lasting impact on the world 🌎. She is probably the most influential disability advocate in history.
The other woman that I see as being historically significant is Sandi Toksvig. Many people would be familiar with Sandi as the female host of QI. She is quite amazing in her own right. She is on a campaign to make sure that important women in history get written about on Wikipedia, as there is a lack of this happening. When she visited Melbourne last year, she was excited to see the old women’s public toilets in the city of Melbourne. Apparently, Melbourne’s female public toilets are historically significant because Melbourne was the first city in the world 🌎 to build public toilets for women. This is extremely important because before then, women had to work in close proximity to where they lived because there were no conveniences for them in cities. These public toilets meant that women could come and work in the city, because there were conveniences for them. Thank you, Sandi, for letting us know how important women’s history doesn’t get lost or forgotten about. The fact that Sandi is a very witty, funny comedian makes her all the more important and relevant. So yes, Sandi is one of my most favourite historic figures.
The first crush I can remember was in Grade 1. His name was Andrew McDonald . He had blonde hair. It was unrequited ❤️ Love, but it was beautiful. Andrew is the first crush I remember. I say this because there was a crush before that was when I was 3 years old, but I had no memory of this. Apparently, his name was Salem, and he was Indian and a friend of my older brother Peter. Apparently, whenever Salem came to visit, I would ask to wear my prettiest 👗 dress. I don’t remember any of this, as I was too young, but my family do remember it.
The three countries I would most like to visit are New Zealand 🇳🇿, Italy 🇮🇹 and India 🇮🇳.
I h have been to New Zealand a couple of times and it is my favourite place on 🌎 earth. I love the scenery, the people and the food and culture.
I love the food and the culture of both Italy 🇮🇹 and India 🇮🇳. I would love to immerse myself in both the food and culture of both. I love Italian food and the warmth spices and smells of Indian food. Both Italian and Indian cuisine have great vegetarian options. I also love the traditional fashions of Italy 🇮🇹 and Indis. I would love to wear a sari 🥻.
My favourite thing about myself would have to be my optimistic and positive attitude to life. I have a few friends 🧡 who say that what they like most about me is that I am a strong positive force to be reckoned with. I have my moments, like we all do, when life brings me down, but I am resilient and always bounce back quickly. I know that by being optimistic makes me alot different to the stereotype of someone who has mental health issues, and I am aware of such a difference and go out of my way to be positive and challenge that stereotype. I also now look back at the influence Susanna had on my life, and I am conscious of the fact that I behave in a way that honours her. She only ever spread love and goodwill, and I try to do the same as a tribute to her. She was angelic, and I wish to model that. Probably the highest compliment you could give someone is to say they are angelic as it means we are living as God intended us to. It is part of my life purpose to be a positive force.
Todays question was a bit of a surprise package, How do I want to retire? The answer is I already have in many ways.
A few years ago I walked away from my career as a peer support worker in mental health, because I was extremely burnt out. I have no intention of returning to the field of mental health.
How do I want to spend my retirement ?. The answer is pretty much what I do now. Leading a quiet life, focusing on my creative side. Writing my blog and books, looking after Lily and being there for my loved ones. I want to focus on selling my books on ETSY and also sell some vintage clothes on ETSY too. In the short term, I plan on showing Kathryn that she is loved and cared for in her time of need.
So pretty much I am already living the life I planned in my retirement. The trick is to make it a good one.
There are plenty of favourite moments but I thought of something new to write about .
When I was in my early 30s , I had fallen in love with someone who ended up being a really good friend to me. His name was James, and we met studying welfare studies.
James was lovely and mostly treated me with respect 🙏🏽 and grace. When I moved to Sunbury the first time twenty odd years ago, I had arranged to have dinner with James at an Indian restaurant here in Sunbury. James had never been to an Indian restaurant before. It was a lovely night for me. James was the complete gentleman who pulled my seat out for me. He was always polite and charming, and it was lovely to see how much he enjoyed both the food and atmosphere of the restaurant. As James was such a gentleman, he insisted on paying for my meal. Although James is no longer in my life, I treasure my memories of him and appreciate what a true gentleman he was. I particularly treasure his gentlemanly ways because the man I ended up marrying certainly was no gentleman. Everyone comes into our life for a reason, and I think God brought 🙏🏽 James into my life to show me that true gentlemen do exist in this world 🌎. I feel blessed that James and I briefly travelled our journeys together.
At first, when I read todays topic, I didn’t feel that I could write anything because I had just received the news that the son of a close friend had passed away suddenly yesterday.
The response of my support network to suvh news has been particularly notable. My closest friends as always have been a great support. My friends really know how to rally and support one another. It should surprise no one that Susannas daughter Rebekah has stepped up to the plate in much the same way that her mother would’ve. In my family my brother Peter composed a brief text message to me that was compassionate and thoughtful. He showed yet again a good understanding of my feelings. I really feel bonded to him,
So I guess what is notable about today is being shown that I definitely have a lot to be grateful 🙏🏽 for. Having loving people in our lives throughout challenging times is definitely something to be grateful for.
I hope Kathryn feels the warm embrace 🙏🏽 of Gods love at this most challenging of times.
Kaye's Life and other gems 