Winter Wise

I am cold. I’m sick of the clouds. I’m sick of the rain. I have such negative emotions associated with clouds and rain, growing up in Sri Lanka. The rain I remember was mostly during monsoon season when the heavens would just open wide and dump bucket after bucket of wetness on us mortals below, …

Impatient Patient

I lie waiting for morning light to creep into the bedroom. But the skies behind the wooden blinds remain stubbornly dark. It is 6:30am. There is a feeling of satisfaction that I’ve slept through since 11pm. But my bladder came knocking at 6am and so I have just hopped to the toilet. Ben, my husband, …

Christmas Past

When I think of Christmas what I picture is my grandma Grace’s home. She was my Ammamma (mother’s mother) and was my hero growing up. She ran a tight ship when it came to Christmas, or any family gathering for that matter. As the matriarch of the family the Christmas cake was made at her …

Letting Go

During yoga we are often told to let it all go (our breath ... and with that everything we’ve been holding onto from the busyness of that day) and then ... hold ... just pause. Pause. There is always so much lightness in that momentary pause! It reminds me just how much weight I carry …

Little Mother

Today I said my final goodbye to my ‘Sinna’, my Aunty. Sinna is short for Sinnamma or Chinnamma in my mother tongue, Tamil. This directly translates to ‘little / younger mother’, but is actually the title for one’s mother’s younger sister. In the essence of it she truly WAS my ‘Little Mother’. I am so …

My Privilege

refugee /rɛfjʊˈdʒiː/ noun a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. It is Refugee Week and each year I realise how greatly privileged I am not to be counted as one of their number. I fully understand that if not for a whole series …

On Belonging

belonging /bɪˈlɒŋɪŋ/ noun: an affinity for a place or situation. I lived in the same house from birth until I was 19 years old. During that time I was surrounded by the same neighbours, had the same childhood friends, attended the same school that my mum (and aunties) and her mum before her attended. I …

Just Wait

"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet." (Franz Kafka) I recently read this …

Bravely Vulnerable

The last few weeks I’ve spent time with people who have shared their stories, opened their hearts and been fully present and vulnerable. In turn I have been so privileged to be a recipient of this act of, what can only be called, ‘bravery’, and to be able to call them friends. Here is the …

The Unmasking

Deep down I’ve always been a people pleaser. We’re all people-pleasers to some extent. Wanting to be approved of and loved is natural and that shouldn’t be what makes us feel ashamed. But when we try to please everyone it becomes a problem and can make us sick. Harriet B. Braiker called it “the disease …