Take A Micro-Break

Hi everyone! Yes, Covid’s still hanging around our part of the world, and I thought you’d enjoy seeing this Aussie take on social distancing. Remember to stand at least one adult kangaroo’s distance from each other, okay?

Love this sign—it’s so Aussie in its humour and we all need to laugh more during these times! My husband and I saw it in Leura this weekend and I quickly snapped a photo for you. On the spur of the moment, we hopped in the car mid-afternoon and drove to the Blue Mountains because we needed a holiday. Instead, we took a micro-break.

This is the most brilliant idea.

When a true holiday just isn’t possible, can you take a micro-break instead?

Our micro-break consisted of road trip music and conversation, a quick drive to the mountains mid-afternoon and a stop at a quirky cafe for sticky date pudding with caramel sauce and a chai latte. Heaven! The whole trip took three hours.

Micro-breaks are possible for all of us, even in our own homes.

• A bath with a candle.

• An evening walk under the stars (if you normally watch TV).

• Afternoon tea with your china dishes.

• A drive somewhere, anywhere.

• Getting up to see the sunrise.

Anything different and outside of our routines can feel like a beautiful little micro-holiday. Try it if you can. Weekends are the perfect time to explore something new.

Happy Sunday, everyone. I know it’s not easy just now with Covid nipping at our heels, but let’s do our best to love these days together.

Catherine xx

PS.

• Fun stuff: we visited Josophan’s Fine Chocolates in Leura! Here’s their bespoke recipe for Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Oatmeal Cookies. What’s not to love?

• I bought a new notebook this weekend: it’s simple but I love these guys. I tear through them at a pace of about four a year.

• And my favourite, favourite, favourite pencils are here. I think of them as writers’ pencils: my beloved Blackwing 602s.

Bigger or smaller?

Happy Sunday!

Look what I found yesterday…our dog, lounging on my laptop. Cute and totally unposed, though it looks like I put her there. In fact, I’d just gone to the kitchen for my third cup of decaf and came back to find Holly like this. She’s almost eight now and I hope she lives forever.

Today I’ve got something very simple for you: a little thought I’ve been having about my own happiness.

Our brains love keeping us safe and helping us do the same things over and over. For me right now, it’s time to try something new.

If you’re in the same place, ask yourself the bigger or smaller question. I know that happiness follows growth and stepping out, whatever the outcome, and that when we’re learning we feel the most alive.

Beginning again or daring to try is harder than seeking happiness, but it is always worth the journey.

I hope your weekend is uplifting, inspiring, and a whole lot of fun!

Love Catherine x

• I just finished a smart, rollicking, fun novel about Seattle — Where’d you go, Bernadette. Wow, Maria Semple can write and since we used to live in the Pacific Northwest, this book was a winner for me!

• Can’t wait to read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun.

Tricking You?

Hello, new friends! Welcome to Love Our Age…I’m Catherine Greer and you’re here probably because you just read The 10 Minute Fix. I’m leading with a selfie today so you can see me! I’m always signing up for blogs and then not really knowing who’s writing to me :) So here I am, Catherine, standing in my study in Sydney mid-way through a big writing day.

I drink a lot of coffee, my friends. :)

Hi to everyone, all of you who I know and love, and new people from around the world and in my city.

I’m so glad you’re here! I have something really juicy to share today — an idea I read a couple of weeks ago that truly changed me. (You can find Mel Robbins at melrobbins.com)

I had to unpack this and ask myself if it’s true.

Yes, thinking about writing sometimes does make me feel like I’ve been writing — even when I haven’t put a word down on a page. Thinking about solutions in dealing with a teen really does make me think I’ve done something to improve our relationship…but I haven’t actually DONE ANYTHING at all.

I’m not suggesting that it’s not helpful to think.

I’m agreeing that my thinking and even deciding often tricks me into believing I’ve already done the thing and moved closer to my goal when I haven’t.

Do you do this? Think and plan and then somehow get tricked into believing that you’ve acted on your plan?

Most of life is about the doing.

Moving closer to our goals? Doing.

Getting healthier? Doing.

Writing a book? Doing.

Changing jobs? Doing.

Starting a business? Doing.

Improving a relationship? Doing. Acting.

I’m so excited about this idea. Here’s why: because now that I see it, I can change it. I can think and plan—of course—but also make sure that I act.

Enjoy your beautiful weekend! I’ll be here today helping a teen with a ton of assessments (not just worrying about him) AND doing some writing on my new book. Can’t wait for you to read it! If you enjoyed The 10 Minute Fix, you’ll love this one…

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• I overbought a ton of pears…wondering if I can make a pear pie for Sunday dinner? Does that sound terrible to you? Maybe mix it with apple? Here’s my apple pie recipe from my author website and blog. I am a serial baker—haha!

• It’s the book birthday of The 10 Minute Fix! That little book has been sneaking its way into women’s hearts around the world for exactly one year. If you want to celebrate with me and gift a copy to a friend, you can get it here in America, and here in Canada, and here in the UK and here in Australia. I love that this small book is helping women feel a little better about everyday life. To me, that’s everything. xo

How To Rest Your Nervous System

Hello, my beautiful friends who are probably also busy and maybe a little tired, can I give some unofficial, un-expert tips on what’s been working for me to rest my jumpy nervous system? If you feel a little tired or overwhelmed, this might help.

I’m not a healthcare professional, but here’s what I do for a quick rest and reset.

1. Exhale, deep sigh.

2. Touch (hand massage or hug…even hug yourself).

3. Hand on heart and breathe.

Let me explain: these are three little tricks you can use to calm down your nervous system while you’re in the middle of something hard. For example, you can use them mid-meeting, mid-argument, or in the middle of receiving bad news.

You can also set them up like a practice — that automatic response you do to soothe yourself.

• Exhale deep sigh — this one comes with a warning that if you do it regularly, you can become a little irritating to your partner! (I don’t want to be a person who sighs all the time — haha — and it was actually my husband who inadvertently taught me this one because his sighing was driving me CRAZY and when I asked, “Tell me about that sigh thing you do…” he said it was to release stress.) Anyway, exhale-deep sigh works, so go ahead and try that one now. Your nervous system will relax and you’ll get a moment of immediate release.

• Touch / hand massage / hug / hug yourself — this one is brilliant. Hand massage works anywhere. It’s unobtrusive and feels amazing. Hug yourself is perfect if you’re lying in bed worrying and can’t sleep. It will remind you that you’ve got your own back, that you’re always there for yourself, that you’ve “got you” no matter what. Hug someone else is as lovely as it always is, whether that’s a little person or a big person.

• Hand on heart — this one is like a touchstone for me. It reminds me that I’m okay. I can do it anytime, anywhere, and usually combine it with an exhale. Another great combo if you’re in bed worrying is ‘hand on heart plus hand on tummy’. This is a great time to do whatever your belief system urges you to do: meditate, pray, send good thoughts to someone.

I hope these little tips work for you. So simple, right? Yes they are, but I know from experience that small steps are perfect.

Enjoy your weekend,

Love Catherine x

PS.

You guys, I share fun stuff I love in the PS of my notes to you just because it makes me happy and I hope it brightens your day! I’m not a big influencer, and if I post an affiliate link to a product on amazon, it means about twice a year I get sent a $15 amazon gift card. That’s the extent of any earnings from affiliate links, but I just wanted you to know. :) If I link to Aussie items, these are never affiliate links — just beautiful, useful things. So, this week…

• If you’re Aussie, go check out these coffee mugs from Wheel & Barrow. I love them so much!

• For winter, my fuzzy sherpa-lined heart socks were a gift from my Aussie bestie this week, and oh man, I love pulling them on during morning coffee or if I go to bed with freezing cold feet. Similar ones here.

A Simple Reminder

Hi and welcome to Love Our Age! If you’re new this week, I’m so happy you dropped by. I’m in pjs with hot black coffee as I write to you, thinking of so many things.

• Goals.

• Plans.

• What we achieve and what we aspire to achieve.

I don’t know about you, but I’m heading into a season of getting some writing done. I’m excited about a novel I’ve been writing for you—my first try at adult fiction—and it’s aligned with the encouragement and wisdom in The 10 Minute Fix. It’s a story about a woman who finds her strength…it’s about reinventing ourselves in the middle of our lives and starting something new. The message? You’re not too old, and it’s never too late.

How are you doing? Is spring or fall making you think of pursuing something fresh and new?

Whatever you decide, I hope you remember the six words on this t-shirt.

Be good to yourself, inspire others.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s this: the first one has to come before the second. It’s the old ‘put on your own oxygen mask first’ cliche, and it’s true. Take care of yourself this weekend, have a few treats, be good to you.

You deserve it. We all do.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Some fun for you…my favourite salad ever! You need fresh corn and quinoa and it’s worth it.

How's This For Yellow?

Today is Mother’s Day in Australia…and it can be both beautiful and hard, for all the reasons we don’t often share.

So let’s take a detour today to include everyone. I’m showing you this gorgeous yellow sweater because it’s almost winter here in Australia and maybe you want one? Maybe you need a lift? (A reader asked me why I share ‘affordable’ items I love and it’s because some of you have emailed me to say you’re finding life a little challenging and an expensive sweater isn’t going to help…but a cheerful one just might. So that’s my why :) — inclusion, fun, love for all of us!)

Isn’t it soft and pretty? And if you’re overseas and fully into Spring, hallelujah! You deserve it after your long Covid winter.

Wherever this note finds you, celebrating spring or fall, or all the people who mother others—and remembering mums and children who have passed on—I’m thinking of you. Life is complicated and emotions can run so very deep. In the lead-up to Mother’s Day, I read some lovely words this week written by Dr. Hillary McBride about what we share and what we keep inside.

I hope you’re doing okay today, celebrating lives well-lived and all the ways people can care for one another, or just quietly giving yourself the biggest, warmest hug.

Wishing you sunshine and soft yellow jumpers, people to love and beauty to enjoy.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• Yellow jumper is here if you’re in Australia. Photo below shows that it’s nice and long, with a scooped hem at the back. I’m 5’7” or 170cm tall.

• Fun yellow dress is here if you’re in Spring, Spring, Spring!

• Red nails…weird for me, but do you like it? Similar colour here. Can’t find a similar fun ring for you but look at this little daisy ring. Cheerful, right?

Happy Birthday, Honey

Hi everyone, and hello new people this week! Welcome to LoveOurAge.com … my little corner of the internet that’s all about encouragement, feeling better, getting older, trying new things and appreciating what we have.

Today is my 55th birthday, and I don’t know about you, but I love my age. Honestly, I do. I am so much smarter, wiser, and more authentic as I tuck each new year into my life.

Do you feel like the same you, but somehow better as you age?

As I grow older, I know so much more about life. I love learning and figuring out what the next stages of life could hold for me…writer, baker, candle-maker? Poet? Singer? Ukulele player—haha!? All I know is that I feel best about myself when I’m gaining skills and growing.

Today, for inspiration, I’m offering these beautiful words from Jamie Varon…in case it’s time to rethink your dreams and start something new. We can all take small steps in a new direction, explore what we love, and have a go.

I believe the best is yet to come…and I’m here Down Under cheering for you! If you write a book, let me know because I’m gonna buy it. If you make an album like my friend Katie Rushing in America, I’m gonna get it. Start a business? Tell me…I’m there. I believe in you, even when it’s tricky to believe in yourself, or when you’re trying something new.

Thank you for enjoying what I bring to the table. Thank you, too, for supporting and sharing The 10 Minute Fix. That book is becoming the little engine that could: it’s chugging its way into women’s hearts around the globe and cheering them on with some encouragement and love. I so appreciate you gifting it and telling your friends about it. Your support means the world to me—thank you.

Here’s to another 55 fabulous years! Let’s love our age together…and dream big and small, at the same time.

Catherine xx

PS.

• This is the cake I make for every family birthday. You’ll never find a better traditional, moist, delicious chocolate cake. You’re welcome! The secret? Coffee and olive oil.

• Let’s kitchen dance to an amazing song from 1962 (I was born in 1966): Solomon Burke’s Cry To Me. You’ll love it. Happy Birthday to me!

• Yellow roses from my Canadian mama…if you know, you know! #the10minutefix #chapter64 Giving the roses a hug because Covid, but wish I were hugging you instead, Mum.

Those Gluten-free Italian Almond Biscuits!

Ahhhh, ricciarelli!

These gluten free, easy-to-make almond biscuits are unbelievable. Last Sunday I promised you the recipe, so here goes. If you’ve got vegans in your home, then you’ll need to find a replacement for the egg white.

Ricciarelli

• 300 grams (3 cups) almond meal

• 250 grams (1 cup, heaping) icing sugar

• 2 egg whites

• zest of one lemon — important!

Mix all ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Form into chunky rectangles and roll in icing sugar. Bake at 180C (or 350F) for around 10-12 minutes.

So quick, so easy, truly delicious.

Enjoy your Sunday, my friends. And hello to all the new people here this week! (You’re receiving this email newsletter because you found me via my book, The 10 Minute Fix! I’m Catherine Greer…author, baker, mum, wife, lover of little dogs, soul sister.)

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• Do you need a little chuckle? I laughed until I cried at the reviews for this handbag. Seriously worth reading. Here’s a sample below…you’ll cry-laugh, too. (It’s sold out, my friends. Truly.)

You Won't Want to Miss This...

Hi my friends,

Are you ready for something lighthearted and gorgeous? I know some of you might be, with Covid lockdown…

I have three things to share today.

1. “When you’re weary, feeling small…” This week, Austin Kleon (American artist and author of Steal Like an Artist) featured this INCREDIBLE video of Paul Simon demonstrating how he wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I get chills…if you watch it you will literally see genius happening. Oh, please watch it here. Four minutes long.

2. This blouse. If you’re in Australia, it’s champagne-coloured, soft, drapey and so pretty. I walked out of my room with it on, and my older son (owner of the bikini comment, “Well, that’s a real poke in the eyeballs!”) said, “You look nice — like a pirate.” By the way, he’s 20, not 2!!! I laughed until I cried. Also comes in slate blue and this weird browny-orange that’s not for me, but the champagne is everything. Size up, okay? You’re aiming for pirate - ahoy! It's $15 here (you can have it home delivered). Worth it.

3. Italian Almond Biscuits called ricciarelli — see below. Gluten free and so delicious that it’s absolutely CRAZY they have only four ingredients and are so easy to make. I’ll share the recipe next week if that’s okay. I know we’re here to talk about encouraging things, and…well sometimes cookies are encouraging. Am I right?

I am wishing you all the beautiful things today — pirate blouses and gluten-free cookies and geniuses that walk among us like Paul Simon. It’s all I can give you, all the good things I could think of.

I’m here, wondering how you’re doing.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• The full version of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

• A photo of the almond biscuits…oh yum. Recipe coming next week, I promise. So easy.

• If you have a friend who needs a lift, I’d be honoured if you shared my book, The 10 Minute Fix: 100 simple ways to feel better now. Order here in Canada, Australia and America. Thank you! Word of mouth is the best way to share the love.

The Lesson of 'Not This'

Hello, internet friends…hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

I’ve started making mint tea for myself, similar to this beautiful way it’s served at my local cafe. It feels like abundance—stuffing all that mint in the tea pot (that’s how I make mine at home). Something for you to try if you have mint in the garden. Fresh mint tea is just surprisingly better: not difficult, just better.

Today I’ve been thinking about how we change, and what we need to invite into our lives to grow into the next version of ourselves. It always makes me think of Elizabeth Gilbert’s words turned into a beautiful card by the amazing Emily Henderson at Em and Friends. You can find this card here.

Through every season of my life, I’ve run headlong into some Not This moments. Maybe you have too. And because we don’t know what’s next, it’s easy to feel like we’re stuck…but we’re not.

We’re feeling ‘Not This.’

All we need to do with Not This is sit for a while—for as long as it takes—and listen until our truth shows up.

I don’t know about you, but it’s so easy for me to argue with my own deepest truth, to try to convince myself that I’m not hearing what I’m hearing, that I shouldn’t feel this way, that I’m maybe too old or inexperienced. I worry that I lack the talent, connections or opportunities.

But the deepest truth hangs around and whispers to us: Not this…it’s THIS. Try this. See what happens.

We can get better at so many things: waiting a bit, listening to our hearts, knowing our deepest truth, taking a small step forward. That’s my plan right now. I hope it’s yours, too.

Enjoy your weekend. I’m cheering for us all.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• My favourite book by Elizabeth Gilbert is Big Magic, and I’ve been meaning to read her novel, The Signature of All Things, published in 2014. City of Girls was not for me—that’s how I always talk about books and art because I know how hard they are to create and every book is for someone. You may love it…America in the 1940s.

• Tea and a book…always a beautiful combination!

Have a Relaxing Easter...

Hi everyone, and happy Easter weekend. For all the new people this week, hello, I’m Catherine and thank you so very much for joining me on this journey. As you can see from this ‘mum on the floor chatting’ photo, I don’t do a whole lot with our Easter celebrations and decorations at home…but I’m spending my time talking with my kids, we saw some favourite friends and had a beach walk yesterday, and today I’m baking cinnamon buns.

I hope you’re doing okay wherever you are.

Do you feel like you need a break, a real break? I do. This weekend I promised myself two things:

1. Laugh and talk as much as possible.

2. Keep my thoughts and conversation about the future (not the past).

So here’s what I’m up to this weekend. And you’ve been warned: I am a baker, so my relaxation always includes a little cinnamon and a hot oven:

• I made the best Rosemary, Lemon, Greek Yogurt cake in the world to take to our friends’ home yesterday and the recipe is here. Don’t you love the edible gold leaf and flowers on top?

• Today, no hot-cross buns for me. I’m making cinnamon rolls. This time I’m trying the recipe from The Food Nanny. Linking it for you in case you want to join me!

• We’ll go for a long walk with Holly, the best little shih tzu on the planet, and then another long walk together. We’ll enjoy coffee and cinnamon rolls, and some chocolate.

• I just finished reading Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist and now I’m starting on Sue Monk Kidd’s The Book of Longings. I love reading and feel rich when I’m surrounded by a stack of good books. Do you?

Lockdown craziness is still happening in too many parts of the world, and I’m sorry. In Australia, we call ourselves ‘the lucky country’ and I’m so thankful for the government’s quick measures that stopped the spread of Covid.

If you’re at home this weekend and looking for a little cheer, I hope these simple things I love will help you find it. Bake a little, read a little, walk if you can. Gently move your thoughts and conversation into your future and not the past. Together, with time, we’ll all get through this and we’ll be flying around the world to visit the people and places we love once again.

Happy Easter, and I’m thinking of you!

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Cake pictures…and that beautiful edible flower topping. My friend Claire bought it for me on holidays in Byron Bay. You can get it here online in Australia and for everyone overseas, there’s something similar here.

• Another one of the Gold & Flower sprinkle bottle…hope you can find it. So pretty and you use so very little! Thanks again to beautiful Claire for gifting it to me.

How To Be An Imperfectionist

Hello from Australia! I took this photo a few weeks ago of my favourite beach snack…not strawberries, definitely not something healthy. I chose a chocolate croissant. If I could, I’d probably choose to have one of these every day, but sadly this is adulthood and so I try not to eat like my inner child is in charge of me. :)

Still, it makes me think about all the times that I try to be more perfect (strawberries on the beach) but where I land is something far less ideal.

That’s why I loved these words from the amazing Nedra Tawwab, bestselling author of the new book Set Boundaries, Find Peace. I hope you like them too.

Today is a beautiful day to let our shoulders relax, to accept the gift of the weekend, and to let ourselves be slow and free.

I hope you have a Sunday filled with your favourite things, and that you can give yourself room and time to be imperfect. I’m going to do the same…I’m busy working on a new book for you and writing always means making peace with our imperfections. We’ll see how this one unfolds, and I can’t wait to share it.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• If you’re in my corner of Sydney, the best chocolate croissants are at the Vietnamese Australian fusion cafe, Pottery Green.

• Nedra Tawwab’s new book is here — I think it was an instant NYTimes bestseller.

• Do you love learning and reading? I love reading so much and I’ll always buy and borrow books. To me, it’s miraculous that we can learn so quickly and efficiently…if you’ve got a good book to share, let me know.

Hello Spring, it's nearly Autumn...

Today in Sydney: so much rain. There’s flooding in New South Wales, and I hope you’re safe and dry. We woke up to State Emergency Services evacuation warning texts for some areas, and we live in a particularly rainy suburb but thankfully our area of Sydney is still okay. If you’re in warning zones in New South Wales, I hope you’re safe and I’m thinking of you.

On this side of the world, autumn, and on the other side there’s spring.

I live in two places in my mind and heart — that’s the life of an immigrant. My birthday is in spring and fall (beginning of May), Christmas happens in winter and summer. I always think we can choose to feel strange about this or good…experiencing both, living both, and knowing what the other side feels like.

Mangoes at Christmas. Christmas snowfall. Either way can feel like magic.

It helps me to remember a little tip I learned — that happiness is 50-50. I used to want to be happy all the time, but the older I get, the more I believe this is true. Fifty percent happy, fifty percent other is do-able, and (as I always tell myself) it’s okay to walk through the low side and know that the good feelings are coming back.

Whether it’s family or our dreams, finances or opportunities, even health or sickness…I know that life rolls on in peaks and troughs and everything feels better weathered together.

Happy Sunday, my friends. Enjoy your Spring in northern climates, and stay safe and dry Down Under.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• No news yet about how to help people in flooded areas of NSW — I hope you’re keeping safe.

• Fun thing — water lilies are going in my pool, my friends. Aren’t they pretty for winter? I got mine at IKEA.

• Super useful — the best Lululemon dupes for workout leggings are here. Really lovely! I want the snakeskin ones because…why not live a little? My favourite workout tip is this: the louder the music, the more fun I have and the harder I work. Happy Sunday!

The Best Dessert.

Hello, my friends. I woke up this morning to a beautiful heavy rain, and it made me think of all things baking.

If you know me in real life, you know I absolutely love to bake, and making desserts is a close second. A few weeks ago I opened my treasured handwritten recipe book and found a classic dessert I’ve made for decades.

Chocolate Parthenons. I have no idea where the name came from and all I can tell you is that this dessert contains all the good stuff: butter, eggs, flour, sugar, chocolate chips and walnuts.

If you’re looking for something vegan, try this favourite recipe for raw brownie bites. But if you want delectable and delicious and old fashioned, Chocolate Parthenons are for you.

Ingredients (makes 6):

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup plain flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup melted butter

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

• (optional) 1 tablespoon brewed coffee (the liquid!) or cognac or other flavouring

• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• Package of filo pastry (you’ll use less than 1/2, that’s all…)

• Preheat your oven to 200C or 400F.

• Mix all the ingredients — beaten egg, melted butter, flour, vanilla, chocolate chips, chopped walnuts.

• Then melt some extra butter for the filo pastry sheets. Maybe around 1/4 cup? And here’s the fun part.

• First, cut the sheet of pastry in half, brush with melted butter and place one layer on top of the other, like a crisscross or letter X. Brush that with butter, too. (Or you can drizzle and spread with clean hands…easier)

• Then place gently in a muffin tin.

Keep it simple and no need for perfection. Try not to break through the pastry. This is what you’re aiming for…

Just fill it up with about 1/6 of the mixture, and pinch the top to close it. You’ll have extra bits on top, sticking up sort of merrily.

Place in a 200C oven (400F) for 8 minutes (fan forced). That’s it! You want the mixture to be melted and delicious, but not too solid.

Sorry—this photo isn’t the prettiest but Chocolate Parthenons are absolutely delicious. It’s really easy at the end of a dinner party to pop them in the oven and serve them warm. A tip: I usually make them in the afternoon, cover and pop in the fridge, then place the tin on the counter to get to room temperature before baking.

Perfect for a rainy Sunday night dinner dessert. You’re welcome!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Other delicious recipes from me at Love Our Age: my favourite rosemary olive oil yogurt cake. I make this one whenever I’m worried.

• Hello everyone new—thanks for joining me every Sunday. My aim is to uplift, inspire and have a little fun. Cx

Lonely. Hopeful. Beautiful art.

Hello Sunday and hello everyone, and a big welcome to all the new people! (A reminder if you’re new: I’m Catherine Greer, author of The 10 Minute Fix, and you’ve signed up for this weekly little newsletter of happiness. Thank you! I’m glad you’re here with us.)

Can I introduce you to the most evocative, brilliant illustrator I’ve seen recently? Norwegian artist Lisa Aisato is definitely someone we all need to know about. Her beautiful paintings transport me right into the heart of how I feel. This one is about Loneliness. There are so many others on her Instagram page — images of loyalty, joy and connection.

My friends, do you remember this feeling from your childhood?

You can see all of Lisa’s work here.

This week was a strange one: my beautiful mum got her Covid vaccine in Canada, I worked on my new novel — the first one for adults — and I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it, I started re-reading Marcus Zusac’s The Book Thief and wow, it’s just as wonderful the second time around. I hurt my wrist and made Bill Granger’s easy Chick Pea Stew for a girlfriend lunch. (We can have friends over in Australia, and I think you guys know that Covid-life is simpler here.)

I felt a little lonely, and questioned everything.

That was me. How about you?

Are you waiting for this?

Sending you so much hope today, and lightness and joy. I’m turning my attention toward all the beauty and goodness I can find this weekend. I hope you do the same.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Bill Granger’s Chick Pea stew is actually vegan — hallelujah, as vegans can be tricky to have over but I seem to love a lot of them :) Recipe is here and photo doesn’t do it justice! It’s really pretty in person.

• I make a lot of recipes from Bill’s Open Kitchen cookbook and it’s great, though published in 2005.

• Missing everyone and everything. Wish I could have you ALL over for Chick Pea Stew and then sit with endless pots of tea and cups of coffee and slice after slice of chocolate cake. xox

• And for Sydney locals…my adult son (also a cellist) is performing next Sunday evening at Mosman Art Gallery with the Seraphim Strings Trio, plus a guest pianist. Tickets are here. I’ll be there and I’d love to meet you!

Posture check in...

Hi everyone. Checking in with a favourite topic that is so easy to ignore…

How’s your posture going?

Mine’s been pretty terrible for years — I have forward head thrust — so I’ve been working on it and I’m really pleased to tell you that it’s getting better.

As a writer, I spend way too much time hunched over a computer (while crossing my legs under my desk, which makes my posture even worse). Couple that with poor upper body strength and being in boarding school from age fifteen without my mother around to say, “Stand up straight!” and there you have it: less than stellar posture.

That was me. But there’s hope.

I learned this year that exercises and upper body weights really do work if you actually do one thing. TRY. Like if you go out to your garage for the weight workout and you literally pick up heavier weights than are comfy to pick up, and then you work until your face is red and you look all horrible and you sweat and you wish the whole time that you were eating chocolate and reading a really good novel…

Go figure.

That method works better.

Just so you believe me…here I am, really trying at weights. Those are six kilos each, my friends, and they are heavy. I am about to lift them over my head while listening to hits from the ‘80s.

Anyway, today I’d love to share my latest posture exercise with you in case you want to work on your upper back and neck (and possibly forward head thrust) too.

Ready? You need a pillow case and I know you’ve got one.

Here’s the exercise set on Instagram from Dr Caleb Burgess, a Physical Therapist and Strength Coach.

This one feels ahhhhh-mazing…the good kind of sore and tingly as you activate muscles that normally don’t get much of a workout.

Dr Burgess’ Banded T Pull that follows his pillowcase exercise is also great, and I basically do this anytime—without the band. The instagram link will show you all four exercises if you swipe through. I haven’t tried the one with the ball, but all the others are easy and feel so good, even without the gym equipment.

You’re welcome!

I’m often a quick fix kinda girl, and I love these easy exercises because I can do them with a real pillowcase, band and gym equipment or just by pretending to use those things.

Mostly I pretend. Voila. Instant posture training, right where we are.

Enjoy your Sunday, and please know I’m sending lots of good vibes your way.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Another winner for forward head thrust from Dr Burgess is here.

• New people, thanks for joining me this week! Love having you here in my little corner of the internet garden. (If you’re wondering why you’re receiving this email, you either signed up and found me via my latest book, The 10 Minute Fix, or signed up at my author website or at LoveOurAge.com)

Hello, Beautiful Day.

Hi everyone. Question for us this morning.

What if this day was completely neutral?

What if anything could happen, and we could simply make it mean whatever we want it to mean?

I’ve been told I’m optimistic, that I’m sometimes irritatingly positive, but the alternative just never seems like a good idea to me. If I can choose my thoughts, then mostly I want to choose some good ones.

Even during these tough times, I believe that every day arrives neutral and ends neutral, too. We get to shape our days to some extent, and no matter what happens, we can think about our lives however we choose to.

Sometimes it’s good to zoom out and get some perspective, right? This week, I drew a little chart while I had a big talk with my husband. It looked like the future for us:

This is our plan, if we’re lucky with health and family. Yours might be different, of course, and we all want to live our lives in a way that’s meaningful and true.

For us, we’ll continue to work as long as possible. We both enjoy working — we find it stimulating and interesting and we both love being on the go. We hope to invest in being involved grandparents — that matters to us. Our boys and our family have been the heartbeat of our lives together, and our family is the best thing we’ve ever built. And do you see our very unpopular point of view with that little question mark…we don’t care much if we travel? Really, we just don’t care.

Here’s the thing: when you draw out your life in however many columns you have left, attitude becomes everything.

No one knows what the future will hold, but when we take a bird’s eye view of the best case scenario of the years we may have left, it’s really easy to get clear on what we value.

Right now more than ever, the days are long but the years are short. Covid’s been rough, with a few hidden gifts inside like more time getting to know ourselves, or loving our families, or making our homes feel more like “home.” Right now we’re all caught up in the daily grind and thoughts of “will this ever end”? But I believe it’s also really important to pull focus, like they do when they shoot movies, to back up our Life Camera a bit so we get a look at the full picture.

Then we can decide a few things.

We can choose how to think. We can decide what we want to happen, and take steps toward that if we can….come what may.

That’s the question I’m trying to ask myself right now. And hello, beautiful decades (if I get you). What will I do with you to make the biggest impact I can with — as poet Mary Oliver says — “my one wild and precious life”?

Sending some good weekend vibes your way. I hope you’re doing okay.

Love, Catherine x

PS.

• Texas is close to my heart. I spent a lot of time there in my 20s with my snowbird Canadian parents. Here’s how we can help during the storms.

• Read Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day”. (Thank you, America and Americans, for sharing your amazing poets with the world.)

• My beautiful friend, Tara, a lovely Texan-turned-Aussie, gave me the little aqua notebook. You can find it here.

How I Fell In Love (Again)

Hi friends. (Hi new friends…so glad you found us here at LoveOurAge and I’m so glad you enjoyed my book, The 10 Minute Fix. xo)

It’s Valentine’s Day, so there’s a lot of love-stuff floating in the air. For me, this was a hard week, a week where I had to teach myself how to fall in love again with a LOT of things. Does this ever happen to you—when you’re so over a situation (hello, Covid) or even just over yourself and your own circular thoughts and loving anything is the last thing on your mind?

That was me this week. I was over it and done. Here are all the ways I needed to fall in love again.

• Family love — I had a moment this week where I was running down a track to pursue the next big thing, then stopped and realised…wait, I still have a 16 year old at home who needs me, and a home and family and they need me, too. While forward momentum and doing new things is the key to my own happiness, I wondered if maybe the time to press go and run ahead is not now, not yet. Maybe I need to fall in love with where I am, and not miss these last few years of family in a big rush of self-actualisation and chasing the next accomplishment.

• Slow love — during a dog walk, I decided to let Holly meander and not rush her. I realised that I am always hurrying, and I asked myself the hard question, “When was the last time you actually enjoyed yourself, Catherine?” I race through so many moments.

And now I’ll ask you the same question: when was the last time you truly enjoyed yourself? We don’t slow down enough…

• Home love — this is a big one for me. I don’t know about you, but when I feel stretched too far, like a tiny bit of butter spread across a long baguette, I need to come back and notice my own home. It’s so simple, but I put on music, wipe the counters, tidy up, tuck in the sheets, mop the floor. My head and heart feel better when I make my space feel more like home.

If you’re needing a little encouragement today, try dishing up some love. We can give it to others, yes, but also to ourselves and to our own little nests, however grand or humble they may be.

Enjoy your weekend,

Catherine x

PS.

• Can I share something grown up and lovely on Valentine’s Day? I’m not an influencer but I have to tell you about this. First my sister, Dar, bought one, then she bought my mum one, and when I saw it here in Australia at Costco, I was all in. It’s brilliant, even on timber floors (make sure yours are sealed). If you clean your own house like I do, then this is for you…a steam mop.

I got mine at Costco for $99…worth every dollar, even though there’s a cord. You use this tiny bit of plain water to steam your floor clean, then throw the mop head in the wash. No detergents, no chemicals and my floor is the cleanest it’s been in forever — plus it’s dry straight away because of that steam. Here it is on amazon.com for $49USD and here in Canada for $79CAD and here online in Australia (but it’s $139, so try Costco if you can). A clean floor? That’s love too.

Pssst....

Hi, friends. It’s the weekend and I’m doing crazy stuff…as in, I’m stretching out of my shell.

I don’t know if you feel the same, but I’m sooooo tired of the current reality — Covid, illness, making do around the world, waiting for a solution, all of that.

I’m not psychologically stuck — still moving forward — but I do feel like Life might be handing us a big black bunker and asking us to step inside, and today I’m saying NO, THANK YOU. Nope. I’m choosing some better thoughts.

I’m getting risky in my own mind. I’m deciding that it’s time to act on some things, to make a move forward, to step OUT creatively.

Maybe I’m doing it in reaction to all the physical Covid restrictions (which we follow around here). My brain, my mind, my thoughts want to get a whole lot bigger.

And YOU? How are you? Really, how are you, in case nobody has asked you today? How are your thoughts and do you need a little wake up call to turn your incredible brain toward something new?

I do.

This is my favourite line from American poet, Amy David.

Yes, I do.

I want to go make some mistakes. For me, it’s the only way I grow.

If you want to grow bigger and make some mistakes too, I’m over here cheering for you. I hope you enjoy your weekend, and find a way to stretch a little.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• I’m trying to do something new and fun (for me) — will let you know how it goes if it goes!

• Welcome to all the new people this week. I appreciate you!

• Anyone up for making the most delicious salad on the planet? It’s my Fresh Corn & Quinoa Salad and it’s so healthy you won’t regret it.

I'm Working On This...

Hey, Happy Sunday. Welcome to you if you’re new…there are so many of you this week! I’m guessing you’ve signed up for my weekly emails after reading The 10 Minute Fix. I’m honestly happy you’re here and I hope I can offer something that uplifts and inspires you today.

Right now this is my Sunday morning view: a rearranged lounge room after the Christmas tree was put away, and I always feel like moving furniture gives me a fresh new start.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all of us around the world — Covid, Covid, go away — and I’m trying to find any kind of silver lining. For me, it’s this: I’m learning to make the most of my home.

Here’s the disclaimer: we are so very lucky here in Australia, and I wish I could have you ALL over for coffee and cinnamon buns right now because our Covid situation is really good, our government has been wise, it’s summer and we are better than just okay. I watch the news and I know it’s easier for us, way easier.

And yet, the gift of Covid is this: we are all noticing our own homes. Covid has made me think about all the things I can do for free, with just a little effort, to make our nest a whole lot nicer.

• Change the sheets more often.

• Put away what’s on my countertop in the bathroom and kitchen.

• Sweep the tiles at the front door and wipe the door down, so it’s clean.

• Faux flowers when I can’t have real…I know, I know, am I an old lady now? But these lilies above are so realistic. I’ll link below.

• A cup of tea at night in a china cup I love.

Yes, the simple things. Little fixes to make our homes more “home” and prettier, or more functional, or just feel like a nicer space to be.

Truth is, we can choose to do this, right? Truth also is…it doesn’t even necessarily take longer, or make more work for us. Because here’s the thing: we can spend time wishing life were different, or we can spend that time making the best of it.

I read something this week that stopped me in my tracks. When that happens, I know I’ve found a lesson I need to learn.

Peace. It’s elusive right now during crazy Covid times, but it’s there, waiting for us.

I hope you enjoy your weekend around your home, and I’m thinking of you, spread around this world…sprinkled in Canada and Australia, America and England, India and Germany, and on and on.

Love Catherine x

PS.

• Those lilies are here, and they’re super convincing in real life. You can order online.

• Tip for faux flowers: I have three different bunches, and I only keep them on display a short while. Then I store them in a vase in a tall cupboard so I never get tired of them. And of course, when I can, it’s so lovely to buy fresh.

• Also this little tip: any green thing from outside, or any wintery branch, can look pretty and it’s free for us to enjoy. All we need to do is take time and notice, and bring the outside in.