Tag: intention

Book review: Queen Menopause by Alison Daddo

Book review: Queen Menopause by Alison Daddo

When writing my intentions for this year I have focused on six key statements. When I reflect on them, two areas have a component that I can use my love of books for. They relate to making time for things I love and focussing on personal growth and development.

I have always been an avid reader but over the last few years, as life has been busy and I have been tired I have been reading less. Recently I have started reading every night before bed again which is a great bedtime routine. I have noticed though these days my preference is for non fiction rather than the crime and psychological thrillers I was always drawn to in the past.

I am compiling a list of 20 books I want to read this year. Some I have already bought and haven’t read yet and others I have heard about through podcasts, reviews or recommendations from friends. I have three empty spots left so if you have a great suggestion for a must read add to the comments.

We have hit the start of Feb and I have already completed two of the books (disclaimer that I started them in late December). As I work through the list I will add a review in my blog. Today i will just cover the first book and add another review later in the week.

Book review: Queen Menopause by Alison Daddo

The statement on the front cover attracted me to this book. “Find your majesty in the mayhem”.

I grew up with Alison Brahe (as she was then) on the cover of the magazines I read. She was naturally beautiful and seemed like someone every young girl wanted to be. Then she went and married one of the Daddo brothers and a family. It seemed like she had it all. I knew she was a bit older than me and when I heard she had written this book in a podcast interview I was keen to hear her experience of peri menopause.

This book was an easy read starting with a sad and unknown history of her adolescence and early adulthood, followed by an honest and amusing tale of her experiences as she has aged and moved through peri menopause. It was refreshing to see a book being honest about experience and not being afraid to discuss something that is often seen as taboo. How nice to hear that other women also snap at the smallest things when they are hormonal.

The stories added into the book from other Australian stars going though this stage of life made it all seem more relatable and there were some great tips throughout the book. I have now lent this one to a friend to read as this should not be a topic women are embarrassed to discuss.

This book definitely ticked my personal growth area in my intentions as due to my age I am only just approaching this phase of life and had not done as much reading on the topic as I would have liked.

Recommendation: great read for women approaching or going through peri menopause to remove some of the unknown elements and break some of the myths. Let’s try and make this topic a little less taboo.

Back to blogging

Back to blogging

It has been over a year since I posted on this blog.

When I reflect on why, I don’t have a definitive answer. The last few years have been crazy – Covid, lockdowns, home schooling, and basically learning a new way of life. However over the last year this has settled and life has become closer to normal.

I think that it is due to a combination of feeling too busy, spending time focusing on my mental health and self awareness, and thinking nothing interesting was happening in my life that was worth sharing.

Last week I sat down and wrote my intentions for the year. I never set resolutions as I think they set you up for failure. if I say I will exercise five times a week and don’t in the second week of the year what does that do to my motivation and mental state? I also never set my intentions in the first week as I feel I need time to settle after Christmas and New Years chaos to be able to go through the process.

Intentions are statements about how I want my year to go. This year I set six intentions as well as a word of the year which is Balance. I have never had a word of the year before but read about others who do it and loved the premise. Balance sums up how I want my year to go but will mean letting go of some of my perfectionist tendencies which will be hard.

Working through my intentions for the year I realised how much I get out of blogging. I enjoy writing and being creative but need something I can do in small amounts of time. It is good for mental health to share thoughts and ideas and not internalise everything (which I am working on getting better at). It allows me to process what is happening in my life, connect with others and hopefully put content out that is interesting to others.

So for those that follow my blog…I am back. And for those who have just discovered this blog….welcome and I hope you enjoy my content.

If you set intentions each year I’d love to hear your process or what you’ve discovered about yourself while doing it.

Starting with intention

Starting with intention

Happy new year everyone.

This year I am taking the advice of another and have started by taking some time to reflect on the year gone by and set my intentions for the year ahead. This is very different to setting resolutions which is something I have never been big on as I think it sets you up for feeling like a failure when you slip up.

I am very big on being grateful for what I have and have written about this before. Every night I take the time to record three things I am grateful for – even on a rough day I manage to find three things (sometimes it does include things like take away food after a hard day). I also encourage my kids to think of the best thing from their day over dinner to try and show you can always find good moments even in the toughest days. And from January 1st I have started journaling about one of my three gratitude points as it is said that reliving the point provides the benefits of when you experienced it the first time – reducing stress and helping you feel calmer. This is perfect before bed and something I have planned to do for a while however wasn’t in the right headspace the last few months.

So getting back to how I have started my year. The first part is to reflect on the year gone by. What happened, what am I grateful for and what did I learn.

Then I set my intentions for the year ahead. What do I want to do, what do I want to reduce and what am I grateful for at this time of my life. And unlike resolutions there is no failure and giving up if I don’t achieve. It is more about setting the direction I would like my year to go and things I would like for us to try and achieve/do together as a family.

I found it a really positive and clarifying experience and have shared my answers with my boys. I did also give them the same sheets to the boys and discovered something. Everything they could remember for the last year happened in the last few weeks other than one major event. Which I guess is why it is important to talk about our days a the time while it is fresh in their mind.

Wishing you all an amazing new year/decade that is full of moments you are grateful for.