Writing Prompts & Inspiration
Blogs about writing, mindfulness, and self-care.
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5 secret benefits of ageing we don’t talk about often enough
5 secret benefits of ageing I don't feel a day over 40, but I am inching closer to 60. Am I panicked? Nope. To be honest, I am quite looking forward to it. Maybe I am just lucky, but I don't worry about ageing. Truly. I never have. But I know plenty of people who do....
Latest Blogs
Our most recent articles
How to overcome writer’s block
So you want to write a book, or a short story, or maybe you simply crave a daily personal writing practice to help you keep your mental health in check, especially during these difficult times. But you don't seem to be able to develop a routine, you are feeling...
How to prepare for a TED talk: 7 things I learned
When I told a friend that I had been invited to give a TED talk about The Healing Power of Writing at my local TEDxTownsville, he said he wasn't worried. I wouldn’t have any problem filling 15 minutes. He had a point of course, but he was also missing the point. I can...
How to Write a Book Proposal for a Memoir
What I learned from writing the book proposal for my memoir I got so many questions about the book proposal I recently submitted as part of a retreat I took last year with London-based agent Jacq Burns, that I felt compelled to share with you what I learned from the...
Writing Advice
My top advice for creating a regular writing practice that might just change your life
5 Ways to Use Writing to Build Resilience & Inner Calm During Difficult Times
“The difference between despair and hope is just a different way of telling stories from the same set of facts.” Alain de Botton When the world prepared to go into lock-down in March 2020, I missed the chance to return to my partner and my home in Vietnam....
What I’ve learned about writing practice from living with a musician
“If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. And if I don’t practice for three days, the public knows it.”~ Louis Armstrong I live with a musician. Every afternoon, when he’s finished with his inbox and his daily...
Writing about fear: why it will energise your writing
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou We recently celebrated the mid-autumn festival here in Hoi An. For weeks my neighbourhood was abuzz with the...
Writing Prompts
Creative writing prompts to kick-start your practice
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Retreats
Photo essays of past retreats & tips on the how and why of writing retreats
Why a retreat needs to be part of your annual self-care routine
When I was in full-time employment, I didn’t think much about a self-care routine and I was too stingy to go on a retreat. It wasn’t the cost - there are as many retreats as there are budgets - it was the lack of vacation that held me back. There was too much I wanted...
Writing and Yoga Retreat in Vietnam: A Photoessay
If it's been quiet on the blog, that's because I've just finished organising and hosting the first Write Your Journey Writing and Yoga Retreat Vietnam. And what a magical week it has been! It's incredible what happens when you write together for a week. So many...
How a 10-Day Silent Retreat Helped Heal My Grieving Heart
“In a retreat situation, you are forced to come face to face with yourself, to see yourself in depth, to meet yourself.” ~Lama Zopa Rinpoche When I was at university, doing a ten-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat was considered a hardcore rite of passage only...
Mindful Living
Thoughts and inspiration on living more mindfully
Why Meditation will make you a better Writer
“Once you can communicate with yourself, you’ll be able to communicate outwardly with more clarity. The way in is the way out.” -Thich Nhat Hanh . I was staring at the blank page, my mind a cluttered jumble of words and ideas, when I accidentally discovered the...
My morning routine and why it’s important to have one
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”Commonly attributed to Mark Twain How do you make time for writing once the holidays are over and you are smack bang back in the whirlwind of everyday life? It’s one...
Mindfulness isn’t a tool, it’s a lifestyle: what I learned at Thai Plum Village
Trying to breathe mindfully as a Vietnamese nurse applied stitches to my bleeding foot, after I had absentmindedly sliced it open on a water glass, I knew it was time for a refresher in mindfulness. Too much online work had turned my monkey mind into a roaming beast...
Lifestyle Posts
Stories from my life, exploring the world and my inner self
11 reasons I love living in Vietnam, and why it’s sad to leave
I am about to leave Hoi An, the place that I have called home for the past 10 months. It's been a long and wet winter and I look forward to clean sheets and dry clothes, but there is much I will miss. It won't be a tearful goodbye, because I am leaving most of my...
My morning routine and why it’s important to have one
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”Commonly attributed to Mark Twain How do you make time for writing once the holidays are over and you are smack bang back in the whirlwind of everyday life? It’s one...
Less is more: unexpected compromises and benefits of the nomad lifestyle
Mies van der Rohe Whether I like it or not, the nomad lifestyle forces me to live like a minimalist. For the last three years I've been changing home every few months, never sure what the next place might look like. Renting a furnished house is a challenge in...
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