Home Life Simplified

Words spoken make a difference

Debra Dane — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:25:14 +0000

I am a talker.

In case you thought I just like to write a lot.

I talk a lot too.

It can be exhausting for all involved. No harm is intended.

My 8 year old is often the same. She is a mini me anyway (my mother is having her revenge with the high energy child issue).

As much as I talk a lot, I have found my way in recent times to getting comfortable with the silence, holding back, sitting still.

Sometimes you may notice I have little to say on my Facebook page and have embraced and accepted this now.

Sometimes I sit and listen when around others, but usually people ask if I am okay. I try not to get offended by the implication that a silent Deb is an unwell Deb.

The good thing about shutting up at times is being on the receiving end of some wonderful words.

Words that lift me up.

Words that reassure me.

Words that let me know I matter and am loved.

Words that stay with me.

I am grateful for those words that I have heard (and those I have read).

Emails from readers that make all the hours invested here worth it.

Comments on Facebook like today when someone referred to me as “talented” based on my art and post yesterday. (external validation is not required, but oh my how much it can boost your confidence).

Conversations where I am reminded of all I am capable of doing.

Messages of support (including my mother planning a visit and timing it for my Summer specifically because she figures I can use a hand this year while the kids are out of school).

A-ha moments shared in the self care blueprint group.

Little messages and connections on instagram (my new second home).

I am grateful that I feel so connected.

What are you grateful for this week?

Find your simple,

Deb

Linking up with Bron for 52 weeks of grateful. xx

Bloom where you are planted

Debra Dane — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:05:30 +0000

Today was a grey and cold day. I accomplished very little. I let the weather cloud my mood and I sunk into the funk. I was looking back on my art journal and looked at this watercolour I did last month “bloom where you are planted” and it hit me in the face.

It is so easy to keep putting things off. We wait for just the right conditions – our mood, timing, support, resources, how we look or how sure of ourselves we feel.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Tomorrow I will make things happen.

Tomorrow all the planets will align and magic will take place, just you wait and see.

But then tomorrow has its own challenges.

We get sick.

Someone needs us.

Our confidence is low.

We feel guilty about investing in ourselves.

We feel self conscious promoting our ideas or work.

Someone else goes first and we lose our steam.

There are always going to be hurdles.

Whether they are circumstances like finances or where we live. They might be about who we are or who is in our life. Hurdles will appear.

The question becomes will we wait for the all clear or dive right in, cloudy day and all.

There really only is this one chance we have. Whether we make the most of our days is up to us.

We can look at the hurdles and use them as excuses to keep delaying what we want but are afraid to claim, or we can look at the hurdles and refuse to let them take us down.

We can use what we have right now to make the most of this life.

We can take those first steps and trust that once on the path we will figure it all out.

We are blessed and capable and the time really is now. We can bloom here and now with what we have.

Figure out what we need to thrive, how to put down roots, what will feed us and help us grow.

Bloom.

Find your simple,

Deb

Grace for ourselves

Debra Dane — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:32:01 +0000

A week and a half ago I wrote about “room to breathe” as my weekly gratitude post. I wanted to expand on that this week.

From that post:

This week I have been unwell and I am so grateful that I am still at home working and taking care of my girls.

No one to call in sick to but myself.

Room to breathe and take it easy when I need to.

I think so often we are too hard on ourselves.

We push through.

We berate ourselves for failings real or perceived.

We expect perfection and are disappointed with ourselves when we miss that mark.

Another way to look at “room to breathe” is calling it “grace”. Can you give yourself grace?

Forgive the slip ups.

Allow for slow steps and even a few backward ones.

Love yourself now, as you are.

Accept your imperfections as normal.

Take a step back in spite of pressure to go forward.

Embrace the gray – life is not black and white.

Have realistic expectations of what you can do.

Stop putting yourself down or beating yourself up.

Reschedule rather than push through.

Cut back when you need to.

Say no to others in order to preserve your own time for your needs.

Be kind to yourself.

Ask yourself what do you need rather than ignoring the signs.

Consider what you would tell your best friend in the same situation.

Whether you feel you have let someone down, made a mistake, or failed somehow you still deserve kindness and love.

There is only so much you can do.

There is a finite amount of energy and passion.

We all get sick.

We all make mistakes.

We all go through different seasons of life and need to adjust ourselves and our expectations with the changes.

We all are worthy and are enough just as we are.

Is there something in your life right now where you can give yourself grace? What would that look like for you?

Find your simple,

Deb

Linking up with Jess for IBOT!

Listmania week eighteen: gratitude

Debra Dane — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:23:17 +0000

This week’s list is all about gratitude. I know I go on about gratitude a lot, but in this case the list topic was actually a suggestion from Beth – funny that I had not thought of it for Listmania. I can’t wait to read all your lists since I know most of you don’t participate in any of the gratitude linkys that are out there.

Right now I am grateful for:

libraries – I love coming home with an armful of books risk free. I can grab things that take my fancy or I think my family will like. If they are a dud it is no worries, just drop it off again. No harm, no foul. This weekend I stumbled on an art book perfect for my almost 10 year old. Buildings and street scenes from NYC. She has been so inspired, drawing with my sharpies on everything from paper to white cardboard. I would never have known of this book or brought it into our lives if it had not been at eye level by the table where I sat flicking through my stash.

my new phone – I had been wanting to save up to get a DSLR this year but for right now I am so happy with the iphone I got. I am taking pictures daily now, sharing more with my friends and family on Facebook (I often forgot all about our camera for weeks at a time before), loving being a part of FMS ” photo a day” (when I remember) and instagram community (my little part of it anyway) – it is just the perfect step for me right now.

the juicer I picked out for Mother’s Day – part of my journey with “clean” and healthier eating. I finally unpacked it this weekend and have been loving how easy it is to juice fruit and veg. My daughter who has eaten only bananas for fruit for so many years loved a glass of fresh watermelon juice. I am hoping she will try some concoctions that have other fruits and vegetables in it, but baby steps are fine. This machine has a spot on the counter now and we will be experimenting with it for a while.

my husband changing his flight – part selfish for me and part concerned for him, either way I encouraged my husband to change his way too early Monday morning flight to Sydney (and his planned wake up of 4am) and head out Sunday night. It meant no one in this house had to be up at the crack of dawn (you know as soon as he was up the dog would get up and then the domino effect would not be kind to our house this week). It also meant he left before I could heat up the lamb shanks he made previously and I had to eat both in his absence – greedy but glorious.

as always, good friends and family – having people to email with when PMS is kicking your ass, a sister to play ipad games with and chat with from afar, skype sessions, phone calls, text messages and catch ups over wine or food. Love it all. (and then I love to curl up with my latest book and retreat!).

What are you grateful for right now? There is so much in this life to give thanks for – try to pause this week and focus on all that you have and all that you are!

Find your simple,

Deb

Featured blogs this week:

Debra from Marmalade Event Stationary Her first time joining in for Listmania – go welcome her and check out her awesome word art/ graphics.

Lisa from Cut my milk – Do not miss her hysterical quotes from tv shows! Made my day.

Week nineteen prompt:

You have just won the lottery – a big one – now that the sky’s the limit how do you spend big (of course after you give to charity and take care of your family etc – this is the fun stuff, guilt free, don’t worry about the world as it is not real) LIST IT!

Link up for week eighteen:

Getting cozy

Debra Dane — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:56:03 +0000

I am so cold today. It is miserable out (all clouds, gray and rain and no blue to be found).

I have had soup, cups of coffee, and a scarf around my neck.

Our house is designed to keep us cool in Summer so can be an ice box when the weather takes a dive.

I am grateful though as I miss having four proper seasons.

I would hate to be in sub tropical humid weather all year round, sweating and complaining.

Instead as the temperature drops I get to snuggle under blankets every day – for bed, to read stories, to watch DVDs – enveloped in warmth.

I break out my favourite warmer clothes like jeans that can only be worn briefly here in Brisbane.

I will start going through my recipes and fire up the oven again and break out my enormous stock pot for double batches of soup.

I admit we are struggling in the mornings. No one wants to get up and I finally have to accept the role of grown up and be the one to blink first.

Today I had to invoke the power of the dog to rouse the children. What my kisses could not achieve dog licks could.

I hate the dreary gray and the cold drizzle, but accept that the dark and gloomy serves to make me appreciate the light and warmth when it returns.

If life and light were always bright would I appreciate them?

I am grateful for the cold that lets me appreciate the cozy and the warm.

I am grateful for the changes that seasons bring.

I am grateful that while it gets colder and colder we still have beautiful flowers in bloom and trees that stay green all year.

I am grateful for the people in my life that envelop me like that warm blanket.

What are you grateful for this week?

Find your simple,

Deb

Linking up with Bron for 52 weeks of Grateful

Are you multi-passionate?

Debra Dane — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:59:27 +0000

**Note this post is time sensitive as this is to promote an amazing ebook and ecourse sale that finishes on Thursday, May 16 at midnight Pacific time in the States (Friday 5pm AEST). I bought my bundle and after checking it out more thoroughly wanted to share it quickly with you before you miss out. **

Many people know exactly what they want to be when they grow up and are driven to follow that path completely.

I thought I was that person when I was young. I had wanted to be a lawyer since I was ten or so years old.

I have shared before how I spent three months working at a top firm in NYC before my senior year of college. Game changer. I loved studying about law, politics, human rights and more, but could never work in a corporate law firm which would have been necessary to pay for law school.

I am so glad it played out like it has because I would never have been happy spending so much money on a degree that I would have felt indebted to.

Instead I have had freedom.

Freedom to explore. Freedom to move around with my husband. Freedom to take my skills and talents and apply them to so many different jobs I have loved from the non-profit in Bangkok to the Radio Network in Sydney.

Do you feel drawn to many different passions either for work or for your hobbies? Love trying new things and get bored after a while – needing change to stimulate your interests again? Do people tell you it is important to focus or settle on one thing? Tell them you are simply “multi-passionate” and it is not a bad thing. Work with your interests and make your life a full and happy one.

Check out this bundle of 27 ebooks and courses worth $1379 (yours for $97) from some of my favourite online people who I have been following for a long while. I already purchased my own set and once I went through the key ones I bought it for (those alone were valued at almost $400, listed in orange below and amazing!), I knew I had to share it with you. It is an affiliate link which means I earn a little cash if you purchase.

Also know that $10 from each sale goes to support Michelle Ward’s team for the Avon 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk in NY. Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2011 and declared cancer-free in June 2012, and this will be the 2nd year she’ll be walking 39.3 miles with Avon over 2 days with her mother and bestest friends.

The full list is below but I want to highlight some that I think you will love especially as they focus on self care, creativity, productivity / planners and topics I write about here at home life simplified (bolded in the list). If you are in business or thinking of starting one you will also love all the books and courses related to that area.

Deb’s highlights from the Multi-Passionate Must-haves

Life is Messy Planners by Mayi Carles ($40 value): The Life is Messy Planners are for messy revolutionaries who have a deep desire to create big tsunamis of change in the world (the good kind), but don’t want to be chained to a to-do list. This organizational solution, composed of oh so pretty interactive PDFs and smarty pants Excel spreadsheets, is designed to give you both the flexibility to continue fueling your creative fire + the step-by-step, no guesswork structure to take your brilliant ideas from light bulb to done. No yawning included. I know HLSers love printables as my round ups still get the most views after all this time – Mayi is featured in my round ups and this collection is amazing!

The Declaration of You by Jessica Swift and Michelle Ward ($57 value): The Declaration of You encourages you to discover, embrace and declare what makes you truly unique. It’s time to shed your “shoulds”, learn who you are and give yourself permission to step powerfully into your own passionate life. Through a series of creative, colorful exercises and engaging discussions, we help you get out from behind all the excuses (y’know, the “I-don’t-know”s, the “I-don’t-deserve”s, the “I-don’t-have-time”s) that you put in front of finding who you are and what you’re here to do. This is the last time this ebook will be offered, as The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books in July 2013. I shared about Jessica Swift previously and Michelle is one of the organisers of this sale – I have downloaded a sample of their new book version of this and it is amazing. I love that I will have this to go through right now. It is the creative and colourful version of what I write about here at HLS.

The Courageous Living Program by Kate Swoboda ($125 value): The Courageous Living Program is a guide for powerfully and permanently changing the habits that work against you, replacing those old, stuck patterns with practicing courage. Go after what you want. Connect with others honestly. Stop letting the inner critic voices run the show. This is what’s possible when you invite the practices of courage into your life. You’ll get 4 complete content modules and over 20 video seminars plus interviews with Brene Brown, Chris Guillebeau, Danielle LaPorte, SARK, Cheri Huber, and more. I subscribe to Kate’s newsletters for both Courageous Living and her coaching blueprint. Always inspiring and full of value. I have been wanting to buy her programmes for a while and this alone made this sale a no-brainer for me. This costs more than the $97 and I get all the rest for free? Awesome! This chick is the real deal. If you do not buy today go sign up for her newsletter at least.

52 Weeks to Awesome by Pace & Kyeli ($52 value): Having an awesome life isn’t an idle fantasy. This isn’t something that only other people get to have. You can live an awesome life, and Pace and Kyeli will give you 52 awesome missions to show you how. You’ll get an email each week containing that week’s mission. That email will also include a link to an MP3 file you can ignore, listen to, or download to listen to later. You’ll also get a 128-page workbook containing all 52 of the missions, for you to download or print out. Love these two – I have watched fab videos they have done in the past. This was the first product I checked out and I am so thrilled to have it. I like having the missions all together as I was able to pick and choose and browse by topic last night. You can still get weekly emails which will prompt you to take action on things to do with self love, busting through many things that hold you back AND MORE.

The Creative Ignition Kit by Melissa Dinwiddie ($37 value): A 30-day toolbox of goodies and inspiration to get you — and keep you — doing your creative thing, even just for 15 minutes a day, for a whole month. The Creative Ignition Kit is all about gentle structure to keep you focused and on track and actually doing what you love. It includes 30 daily emails, weekly video, meditation MP3, workbook/journal, wall chart, and commitment contract. EXCLUSIVE BONUS: Multipassionate Must-Haves buyers also get a free month of membership in the Creative Ignition Club, Melissa’s private tribe and clubhouse, where big-hearted creatives come to fire each other up. Use the support of the club to keep you moving forward with the Kit! I did a short course with Melissa last year and love her fun energy as she encourages me to push through the perfectionism wall to get to my full creative self!

Full Multi-passionate sale includes:

BYOB Build Your Online Business Guide by Natalie Sisson ($37)
Pitch Perfect™ Pack by Dyana Valentine ($57)
The Creative Ignition Kit by Melissa Dinwiddie ($37)
Renaissance Business by Emilie Wapnick ($49)
Productivity for Multipotentialites by Michelle Nickolaisen and Emilie Wapnick ($67)
Operation: Creative Career Cheer by Michelle Ward ($37)
Social Media Rehab by Tiffany Han ($59)
Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead ($47)
Life is Messy Planners by Mayi Carles ($40)
Creating Your Own Mastermind Group by Jen Louden ($100)
The Declaration of You by Jessica Swift and Michelle Ward ($57)
The Comparison Cure by Kylie Bellard ($15)
Ethical Selling that Works by Pamela Slim ($97)
Help, I Need More Time! by Bev Webb ($46)
How to Describe the Indescribable by Alexandra Franzen ($17)
The Art of Earning + The Art of Growth by Tara Gentile ($40)
Spin Your Story by Amanda Oaks ($10)
The Joy Equation by Molly Mahar ($147)
52 Weeks to Awesome by Pace & Kyeli ($52)
The Right Brain Product Development Playground by Jennifer Lee ($97)
How to Take a Career Break to Travel by Alexis Grant ($29)
Small Army Strategy by Srinivas Rao ($2.99)
The Kick Burnout Kit by Michelle Nickolaisen ($17)
The Yearly/Weekly Planner Bundle by Michelle Nickolaisen ($23)
The Courageous Living Program by Kate Swoboda ($125)
The Momentum Kickstart Kit by Charlie Gilkey ($47)
Guerrilla Influence Formula by Tyler Tervooren ($49 value)

Do not feel you have to read and love all of these. Look through and see what you would buy if funds were unlimited and make those your priority. You can delete what does not interest you and save some for other times when they become relevant or a priority. Once I got close to $300 for my interests I bought and trusted there would be even more I love and that is the case for me. I figured it would be the same for many of you xxx Go here to check it out or read more about the products.

Feel free to ask me about any of the products if you are curious. I hope you find some awesome resources here that support you on your journey to a happy and fulfilled life.

Find your simple,

Deb

Get in on the action

Debra Dane — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:15:16 +0000

Over the years I have battled with depression and even when I have been feeling “well” I never really felt like my old self. It got to the point I no longer remembered who I used to be. I would think back and start doubting I had ever been a fun person to be around. I lacked spontaneity. I did not laugh as often as I would like – taking things way too seriously.

I have finally hit a period where I seem to be feeling well along with feeling at peace. A shift has taken place in me over the last year with a lot of change in the last six months especially.

I feel settled where we live and with our friends.

My marriage is the best it has been for many years – almost derailed permanently by post natal depression.

My kids are getting older and I feel I am in a season of parenting that suits my cerebral self – lots of chats, connecting over books and life and art, jokes that make sense, long days out, evenings listening to music or watching a non-Disney movie.

This weekend was Mother’s Day. I love this day – partly because I get to sit back and let others take over for the day and partly (mostly) because I get to celebrate the day I became a mother. I get to celebrate the role I play in the lives of two amazing girls.

This was my 10th Mother’s Day and what I loved most about it was that I felt like I was celebrating a bit of a rebirth of myself. I was the me I think I lost for a while.

After a slow and lazy morning waiting for my special breakfast (ready two hours later, but cooked by someone else is all that counts). My oldest came back to bed with me afterwards to read and relax and chat together while my husband and youngest hung out in the hammock.

This is how I like to spend many weekends.

And then I saw someone post about a market down the coast and I almost had whiplash from changing my tune so fast.

Five minutes later I had mobilized the troops to start getting ready for a drive.

We drove 45 minutes down the coast and found ourselves among a big celebration for the Gold Coast.

There were market stalls, food for sale, bands performing, free activities from face painting to water balls and circus skills.

We had brought our dog and had no agenda, just a fun afternoon ahead of us.

The kids were having a little fun with the circus people playing with the sticks as we had done years ago at another circus workshop. I was taking photos when the woman helping everyone told me to get my own sticks and join in.

The old me would have held back, afraid to look silly. Control was my middle name.

This time I only hesitated a second before putting away my phone and dropping my bag to the ground.

I spent the next half hour or so really playing with my girls.

Tossing the sticks in the air alongside my 9 1/2 year old and then across to each other, back and forth.

Then I was onto the hula hoops laughing it up with my eight year old. She was a champion spinning for ages. I laughed and laughed as I attempted to keep it going for more than 10 seconds.

My husband stayed on the sidelines with the dog, watching and taking photos and encouraging me to stay longer.

With every laugh and every spin or toss I felt the rebirth happening.

For too long I forgot how to get in on the action.

It is almost impossible to awaken happiness and laughter and fun when you sit on the sidelines taking photos.

Things cannot change when you hide out in your room.

Life is meant for living fully and that includes the messes, the silly stuff, the times we feel exposed.

I have been sitting on the sidelines too long.

Next up is buying myself that bicycle I want with the basket and retro styling. I have not been on a bike in more than ten years since I found out I was pregnant with my oldest. Biking is the one sporty thing my husband likes. We have never been on a family bike ride because I have been too afraid to try to get back on the bike.

I plan to get in on the action!

How about you – do you dive in and play, have fun, look silly, or do you hang back, play it safe and take the pictures?

Find your simple,

Deb

Linking up with Jess for IBOT!

Listmania week seventeen: Favourite Quotes

Debra Dane — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:05:43 +0000

If you follow this blog at all – and especially on facebook – you know I love quotes. I love to read and I love to reflect so quotes are perfect vehicle for self-discovery and getting real with myself (lifting up or pushing forward).

Here are some of my favourite quotes I have shared previously on facebook- happy to include them here and not lose them.

A wise man on so many levels, but I am grateful on a regular basis for these words from Martin Luther King, Jr. I am someone who is often paralysed by the idea of what I want to do and fear of not being able to do it. This quote always brings me back to taking those baby steps and trusting I will figure it out as I go.

Following on from that is this lesson on the value of making mistakes. So I take those first steps trusting in the journey and then learn that mistakes are another part of that path – and it is all good.

This is one of my biggest lessons and one I finally learned in my 40s. Loosening my grip on life to find that balance – I do not need to control everything, hold on so tight or be right!

Part of letting go of that control is letting go of my need to try to change others to be how I think they should be or how life looks in my mind. I can make my choices, change myself and control myself, but others have the right to do that for themselves.

Self acceptance is a big part of my journey and what I advocate for here at HLS – whatever and however you are – that is just as it should be. Embrace it, accept it, and celebrate it.

Love a good proverb and this is one of the best guides to life I have seen.

Enough said!

What is your favourite quote?

Find your simple,

Deb

Prompt for Listmania week eighteen:

Gratitude – wide open: be creative, simply list it, share what you are grateful for

Featured list from week sixteen:

If you like to sew go check out Shell at Sew n Sow as she had everything from waldorf dolls to girls’ superhero costumes to hexagons galore. Also check out her shop as I keep drooling over her market tote bags when I see them in my Facebook feed.

Link up for week seventeen:

Room to breathe

Debra Dane — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:25:07 +0000

This week I have been unwell and I am so grateful that I am still at home working and taking care of my girls.

No one to call in sick to but myself.

Room to breathe and take it easy when I need to.

DVDs to curl up with.

Friends to call on for support.

Takeaway dinner, tuck shop orders and simple and reliable meals.

Coffee and lunch with a friend to clear the cobwebs.

Wonderful book discoveries at the 2nd hand shop.

Vintage glassware in bright orange to brighten my space.

Cloud cover and breezes.

Homemade coconut rough.

Videos and course work with inspiring women.

I am so grateful that I am in a space where I can have an “off” week and let things slide without feeling bad about it.

Less time on Facebook.

Retreat as needed.

Enjoying my children and their life adventures and antics.

Dance rehearsals and performances.

Choir performance.

Costumes tried on and enjoyed.

Drum practice aced and new song being selected.

Endless games played while walking the dog – A to Z of names, geography, things.

Slow rising mornings full of a chill, impossible to leave the blankets and bed.

Slow.

What are you grateful for this week?

Find your simple,

Deb

PANDA Million Mums in May – answer the call

Debra Dane — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:37:42 +0000

When I developed postnatal depression and anxiety after my daughter was born 8 1/2 years ago I was quite alone.

I had no family in Australia.

My husband was commuting longer since we had moved to the suburbs when I was seven months pregnant.

I was far away from the friends I had made in the previous years.

As I started to slip deeper into the fog I was lucky I had one consistent contact person – the local child health nurse.

I had been going for the regular baby checks and asking lots of questions as we struggled with feeding and sleeping (and everything else).

She gave me the Edinburgh test a couple of times keeping an eye out for PND.

I lied on the Edinburgh test a couple of times fearing what it would mean for me.

One day she was bold and told me that while my daughter seemed to have improved over the months I was getting worse every time she saw me. She wanted my permission to call my doctor.

I will be grateful for that moment until the day I die.

I have no idea how things would have progressed if she had not taken that step for me.

It can be so hard to pick up the phone and ask for help when you are suffering from perinatal illnesses like depression and anxiety or psychosis or OCD.

Between the lack of clear thoughts at times and the fear factor of actually admitting things are not right, it can be the scariest phone call or conversation you will need to have.

Dealing with the AFTER is actually a little easier. Like pulling off the bandage in one go. The build up, fear and worry is all consuming and once you do it you feel the relief.

But oh how hard it is to take that step.

Whether it is telling your spouse honestly how you feel or reaching out to a close friend or doctor it can be the hardest step to take.

I applaud every single man and woman who has ever taken that brave step.

I applaud every single man and woman who has been on the receiving end of that plea for help, that confession of pain, that tearful moment of vulnerability. Thank you for being there with a shoulder to lean on, a hand to hold, or a reassuring word.

Now imagine if one of those men or women pick up the phone in their darkest hour. They have just struggled for hours to feed and settle a baby and now feel at their whit’s end at 3am- or they have just waved goodbye to their partner as he head’s out at 5am to catch a flight out of town for business – or they can’t sleep and their thoughts are consuming them as they toss and turn in bed.

They decide this is it – this is the moment I can do no more. They admit they need help. They pick up the phone to ring the hotline they were told about.

It rings and rings and rings.

No one answers.

What happens next?

I hate to think about what happens next actually, but it is the reality of the current situation in Australia for those suffering from PND. We have one national hotline run by PANDA, but it only operates weekdays from 9am – 7pm.

Unfortunately people suffering from PND do not have a schedule to keep nor do they know when they will finally reach the point of asking for help.

When it happens at 3am or 5am and they reach for the phone, no one is there to answer the call.

They cannot turn to their child nurse or feel comfortable calling a friend in the night. They might make it through until the sun comes up, but the moment of reaching out may be lost.

The next day they might tell themselves it was just a moment in time and they need to get on with things. Stay strong. Fight through. Get over it.

Time will pass and who knows how this will play out.

With any luck they have someone who intervenes like I did, but I do think that is a rare case. The norm is more likely a slow (or rapid) decline, stress on a marriage, possible self harm.

This situation is one we can change. We need your help and it is something you can do in 5 minutes right now.

Please go to the site for Million Mums in May and send an electronic postcard to your Federal Representatives in Parliament asking them to increase funding to this hotline service so that they may be there to answer the calls – the ones that take so much courage to make and need someone waiting on the other end of the line no matter what time it is. If you do that I also hope you will make a donation to support this initiative. PANDA are asking 1 million mothers to each donate $1 in May which would raise $1 million of the funds needed (they need almost $2 million).

If you even donate $1 you will be helping, but I hope you will join me in donating more. Often we wonder how we can help other mothers who are hurting.

We offer to babysit or bring over a meal. We offer a hug of support or drive their kids to school.

Today you can do something so big with something so small – say 5 minutes and $5 even!

Help us answer the call!

Find your simple,

Deb