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Category: Creative Living

PSA: you can let go of something once it’s served its purpose

November 19, 2025 CatrionaLeave a comment

It's that time of year when the air turns from autumn crisp to winter bite. For the last couple of years that's felt like the flicking of a switch - literally one day I'm appreciating bright skies, orange leaves, and jackets without gloves; the next, I'm navigating frost or a snowfall in hat and boots.… Continue reading PSA: you can let go of something once it’s served its purpose →

Welcome to my bug soup

September 19, 2025September 19, 2025 Catriona3 Comments

Dive in and have a taste. Warning: it's not comfort food. Image credit: Shutterstock Did you know that when caterpillars go into their cocoon, they don't just gradually change from one state to another? If I ever thought about it, I'd have imagined the caterpillar becoming less furry, losing some legs, slimming down, and growing… Continue reading Welcome to my bug soup →

How to finish what you started

December 31, 2023 CatrionaLeave a comment

My word for 2023 worked out pretty well, although I never got around to sharing it until now: FRUITION I was determined that this year I’d bring into the world the tangible result of more than three years of writing. This year, I brought my mindset into alignment with that goal and became an author,… Continue reading How to finish what you started →

Thank you Wayne

March 29, 2023 Catriona2 Comments

I've just logged off from the livestream of the memorial service for the writer Wayne Milstead, who died suddenly last month. Wayne and his husband Aaron ran Circle of Missé, the writing retreat. I'm sharing here what I wrote in an email the day I heard the shocking news. It was in 2015, when we… Continue reading Thank you Wayne →

The Certainty of Granite

December 2, 2022May 26, 2025 Catriona2 Comments

This phrase, ‘The Certainty of Granite’ is one that I’ve had knocking around for years, and it was the working title of my book before I settled on the one I have now. Instead, earlier this year I crafted this poem from various notes and journal entries. The ideas here don’t resonate in the same… Continue reading The Certainty of Granite →

Paris Sketch: Monet at l’Orangerie

October 25, 2022May 26, 2025 Catriona2 Comments

I wrote this during a moment of reflection in front of Monet's famous Water Lilies, and it's only lightly edited here. Scroll down for more information about the gallery. It's hard to resist people watching instead. Just two elliptical galleries, no hurry, no trying to take in every painting and learn the significance of what's… Continue reading Paris Sketch: Monet at l’Orangerie →

On Crossing Paths and Feeding the Soul

June 4, 2022December 2, 2022 CatrionaLeave a comment

It's my birthday weekend, so here's a treat! I'm sharing my fortnightly email this week with anyone who wants to read it! If you like it, get more about connection, expat insights, and creative living resources by signing up here. I had two meals in a row this week that fed my soul, as well… Continue reading On Crossing Paths and Feeding the Soul →

Sketch: Saudade on a Saturday afternoon

May 24, 2021February 1, 2022 Catriona2 Comments

[Lip-syncing: Fallin'] Alicia Keys is playing from the speaker in the corner. I’m enjoying it not just because I’m transported back to Saturday afternoons with Trevor Nelson on Radio 1, in my sunny yellow flat, the first flat I owned. My first self-created nest. But also because the music is…not loud…but insistently present. I have… Continue reading Sketch: Saudade on a Saturday afternoon →

Crossing Generations

May 11, 2021February 1, 2022 CatrionaLeave a comment

This is my response to the #Generations prompt for #MayontheMove2021 (learn more here). It's raw and unedited, because otherwise it wouldn't be here at all. This is not what I thought I was going to share today. Earlier in the month Jamey of @couragelifecoaching mentioned his 'cross-generational heart', which a few of us seized on… Continue reading Crossing Generations →

Do the Next Right Thing

December 29, 2020May 26, 2025 Catriona3 Comments

#2020yearof… Do the Next Right Thing I'm writing a series of posts here and on Instagram about how 2020 will always count. Read more about why here. I only got around to watching Frozen 2 in the second half of this year, after Disney+ arrived in Denmark. (I wish everything Frozen wasn’t so heavily marketed… Continue reading Do the Next Right Thing →

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