Sharing the Journey

I love this - "Some day you will be the one that sets the blaze alight in someone's heart". As a neurodivergent woman I can feel others pain and some days it is hard because all I want to do is pick up that person and wrap them in a blanket of love and remind them how precious they are. Sometimes though there is nothing I can do but just be there, listen deeply and hold space and that is more than enough.

an open poem to a weary empath,

you can’t leave Earth yet

~ because I just flipped ahead about
a hundred pages in your story and I read
that someday you will be the reason someone
else doesn’t give up on their life

I’m sorry to spoil the end of your tale

~ but someday you will be the one who ignites the blaze in another person’s heart that won’t ever be out again

don’t complicate the plot of your story

~ you are here to be lamplighter that hands out little bits of your flame to ensure the rest of the world doesn’t exist in darkness

I know you have been scorched so many times

~ to love the world is to sometimes be burned at the the stake by others who mistake your gift of compassion as a personal weakness

I know it’s not easy to be a bringer of light to those who have become addicted to shadows

~ but we need you to be a gardener of effervescent seeds that you will perhaps never see grow into burning rosebushes that can be seen from space

Oh, my love, don’t give into the calling despair

~ set your life on fire with kindness and watch how many other people come out of their caves to sit by your campfire heart to share their own stories of survival

Oh my love, you are my favorite element

~ john roedel

(Artist: Yogeshkumar Velari)

The challenge and gift of being an Autistic ADHDER. Challenges with proprioception hence always dropping and breaking things. The gift of problem solving and alternative solutions hence the gaffa tape! No wasting here.

Anyone keen to join me for a silent retreat sometime in June? It will be a time to be still, come home to your self and slow down.

ACAP clinic Adelaide are also running a free social anxiety group for young people. Please find the link below to register:

Online | 5-Week Social Anxiety Group for High Schoolers 13+ Join us Online and connect with others in a safe space, where you will develop skills to manage social anxiety.

Please share as they have immediate availability.
ACAP Clinic provides free and ongoing access to counselling, casework and group work services in Franklin St, Adelaide CBD face to face and via online.
Their services are available for young people (13+) and adults, and are provided by final stage counselling (face to face) and clinical psychology and social work (tele-health) students under close supervision.
They provide services onsite, via Telehealth and with negotiation at outreach locations such as local schools, community centres, aged care centres, libraries and other suitable locations. There are many agencies, schools and organisations at which we provide regular weekly counselling sessions to local community members.
They currently have five final stage student clinicians working in Adelaide - and therefore have good capacity for face to face services.
There are a range of group work programs available to your service users, residents, and clients. These can be delivered onsite with your cohort and include:
Social Anxiety Group
Mindfulness Group
Building Self Compassion Group
ADHD Group
Strengthening Refugee Families
Late Bloomers Group
Art for Happiness
Emotional Regulation and Distress Tolerance Group
Family and Domestic Violence
At this stage, they have a planned Art for Happiness event for Youth Week on Wednesday 15 April (2-4pm), please feel free to pass this on to any young people who might be interested: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/.../adelaide-youth-week-art...
There are also a number of group programs planned for delivery by tele-health (zoom).
Please feel free to get in touch to make referrals ([email protected]).

" Holy listening begins with making space: a space where stories can be spoken aloud and carefully set into cairns. Drawn from the Gaelic meaning “heap of stones,” cairns are person-made and often created to mark a boundary, guide the way, or honour and remember."

The first lines of my article -
Listening for Cairns: Neurodivergence, Spiritual Companioning, and the Sacred Work of Deep Listening.

Soon to be published! Feeling honoured and excited!

Getting ready for our Breathe Day Retreat!

Looking forward to our Breathe Day Retreat. First aid kit seems pretty thorough!!

Day 2 of 365. Breathe. You are doing just fine

As we head into the new year I know we will look back on the year that has been. Some memories may make us laugh and some memories may make us cry either in happiness or sadness. As I look back it's tempting to get stuck in the what ifs and if onlys. If only I had spent more time with dad. If only I had studied less or spent more time with the kids. What if I hadn't paused my spiritual direction training? Sometimes I hear myself saying what a wasted year!!

But nothing is ever wasted. Every decision made was the right decision for you and me at that time. Every experience becomes a part of you and who you are. Don't get stuck in the past because it is the road that formed you. Step into the new year with courage and hope and love for you will create a new path. A path just for you, that only you can tread. One that you will look back on next year and realise it was the one meant for you. Don't be scared. Take the first step- it is yours to travel.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost

With love and hugs for the year that has been and the year to come. Xx