I turned sixty-five last month, an age when you’re meant to retire graciously, or that’s what I have always believed. My dad retired at sixty-five with no plan to do anything except stop work. I suggested he write a book, so he did. I have a copy on my bookshelf. He died only seven years … Continue reading Is it ever too late?
Does anyone else feel the anxiety in the air? What will happen once we all go back to living our lives again? Will people hug? What is life going to look like after isolation? Am I the only one who is asking these questions? Before Covid 19, (I guess that's the way we'll be talking … Continue reading Into the unknown
This is not about how to use time in a pandemic. Like most people, I'm vassilating between functioning and faffing at the moment. It's hard to focus when you are suspended in a state of grief. Not that anyone close to me has died, it's more that life as we knew it has ended and … Continue reading Time
Storytelling is magical. That moment when you know the audience is completely enthralled. They begin to mimic facial expressions of the story characters as they listen. An invisible screen lowers and their eyes become dreamy and unfocussed as they watch the story unfold in the theatre of their imagination. Magic. No-one taught our children how to … Continue reading The Magic of Stories
This was my least favourite question when we drove to visit family in Adelaide. It meant the boredom had set in and we would need to get very imaginative, very quickly. We had to avoid any killing in the back seat. We would tell stories, taking it in turns, each person leaving the story on … Continue reading Are we there yet?
Over the years I have had many different jobs. None of them stand out as being 'the best.' I’m sure I am expected to say -- being a mother -- and yes, that was by far the most challenging and life changing job I have ever undertaken, but was it the best? I loved helping … Continue reading The best Job
The final day of the year provokes some people to reflect and set goals, yet something in me rebels. I don't want to be driven and goal focussed, working hard to achieve success and then feeling like a failure when I let myself down. Yet here I am obediently reflecting. I find myself in a … Continue reading New Beginnings
I dreamt of being a writer one day but I was quickly assured that there was no money in it. Is that why we write? I mean really? It had never occurred to me that people got paid to write, I just wanted to tell stories that would make people laugh and cry and fall … Continue reading Not so broken dreams after all…
Lake Eildon During my recent bookcase purge/clean I came across an envelope of old photos. Remember when you had to have photos printed? They reminded me how easy it is to give up. We can sometimes miss what lies ahead, or just around the corner if only we would persist a little longer. So often … Continue reading Giving up
Vulnerability and validation make strange partners and yet, all through my life, they seem to have held both my hands, at least this has been my perception. Even as a small child I would look for accolades from my parents, usually my mother as she was the one that was tuned in to us. Weekends, … Continue reading Validation and Vulnerability
Rhiannon Dowding - Writer 
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