Change isn’t scary, it’s thinking about it that’s scary. — I’m 38 years old and unlike most people, change is not a scary thing for me. I’ve lived in three countries, six cities, eight houses, twelve apartments, two women's shelters and one squat. I’ve attended four elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one university. I got my…

Love is the goal. Love is romance. Love is commitment. Love is marriage. Love is two people together, forever. What I know of love is bullshit, clearly. Either we want it, have it or had it. Or maybe we thought we had it. As a social construct, love is what…

I didn’t tell you that I wanted to be with you, all the time. It was a daily lesson in discipline to not ask to see you. I didn’t tell you that every notification that wasn’t you was a disappointment. I didn’t tell you how many times I saw you…

Every other Sunday morning is the best and the worst part of my month. — I open the bedroom curtains a bit on Saturday night so the early morning light streams across my bed on Sunday morning. It’s the best kind of alarm clock. I don’t get up when the cool grey light hits my eyes though, I lay for an hour or more curled…

I flipped my life upside down at 37. Here’s how I found my footing. — I am a badass woman, thank you very much. In the past 18 months, I ended a toxic relationship with a partner of 14 years (father to my six-year-old son), went through a painful eight-month remortgaging (to buy my ex out), saw my best friend/soul mate/platonic life partner move back…

In the hours between, I think — goodbye. I’ll never hear from you again. My trustiest defence mechanism is writing the end before the first chapter begins. Never have I felt so exposed and scared. And free. I feel it pulling in my stomach — longing. I crave your fingers…

I’d rather feel the pain after the thrill than no thrill at all. — “I want us to be fuck buddies,” he said, holding his index finger in the air to physically punctuate the sentence. “Period.” I wait. I look at the paper-thin creases gathered at the corner of his eyes. They arch outwards and down, like a pencil-thin waterfall. I am so good…

I’m 38, look 30(ish) and I’m not afraid to seek what I want. And, thanks, Emma Watson, for coining a better phrase for singledom. Google “single” and you’ll find that Ms Watson has made some waves with her new turn of phrase: She’s right though: “Single” is a shit word. It means one, lonely, last thing. If you’re watching your weight, you let yourself have just one single cookie. And if you’re not watching…

Most leaders don’t. But the ones who do lead innovative teams to achieve great things. — For the past fifteen years of my career, I have seen how powerful it can be when staff feel seen and heard. Unfortunately, what most companies with poor leadership have to grapple with is the power that also comes from a workforce that feels invisible and undervalued. When I first…