A Fun Thing Lately

Hello from beautiful Sydney! Here’s a picture I took recently of the Opera House at dawn — isn’t it lovely? If you’re from overseas and haven’t visited here yet, you should consider Australia for your List. It’s such a beautiful country.

Now, onto some fun!

Lately my life has been extra Life-y, and you already know my favourite trick. When things are hard, I try to throw some good right back into the world. It somehow makes me feel like I’ve got more control that I really do. The “good” is often simple (running over to my elderly neighbour, Robert, with a piece of carrot cake, doing an adult son’s laundry when he’s extra busy, or smiling at someone in a shopping mall who looks like they need a lift.)

But here’s the other thing I’ve been trying recently.

I’ve been working on expanding my joy. When I feel happy, I try to focus on that feeling for a full minute — savour it and enjoy it.

I think of it this way.

Whatever is lovely or makes me feel happy, I imagine shining a metaphorical flashlight at it, so I can notice it and focus on it.

Does it make the worry go away? Not really.

But it makes me feel better and more balanced, and it makes me remember that life usually holds moments of peace and relief and happiness, even when things are hard.

If you’re in an extra Life-y season right now, I hope this helps you, too. And I’m sending all my thoughts your way for something beautiful and unexpected to happen to you today.

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

• Do you love to dance? Sharing with you a picture of… Ta Da! Our garage. Hahaha! Here’s the reason our garage is so fun. During Covid lockdown, we needed more space, so we started parking our cars outside and now we have a ‘gym’ and my favourite thing in the world…’a dance studio.’ This little string of lights from Bunnings and the peel and stick wall mirrors from IKEA make me so happy. Yes, it’s where my husband and I practice our dancing — and that’s exactly what we did for an hour on Saturday night. It’s my joy. I took a photo of it to shine a flashlight on it.

• Open Door, Open Heart. A dear friend from Canada taught me how to make my own iced tea. Genius! Why have I never thought of this?? You can follow along here. She has the most beautiful heart.

• My winter Aussie friends — this Kmart jumper dupe is so fantastic. Size down as it’s really quite big.

• Wow. I’m sharing one more time because it’s AMAZING, I love the Shark Hairstyling tool my beautiful cousin gifted me for my birthday. I cannot get over how great it is. It’s pricey, but if that’s in your budget…you will not regret this. Link is here. Worth it.

A little hit of happiness for you today...

Hi everyone — and hello to you if you’re new here. I’m Catherine Greer, author and baker, Sunday dinner dessert maker, corporate copywriter and trainer, mum to two adult sons AND a stubborn little shih tzu pup. (You’re getting this email because you signed up at Love Our Age, probably after reading one of my books. Thank you! I am so, so glad you’re here.)

Today I have a little happiness tip for you, and it’s something I’ve always done with my own family. I think this is because I have sons — and they can be a bit light on the emotional details when we talk. Over the years, I’ve drifted into the habit of asking them two questions that cause the defences to tumble down.

First I say, “How are you?”

And then I say this:

Try it with someone you love and see what happens.

They’ll soften. They’ll look at you — and open their hearts.

The older I get, the more I realise that connection is the best and most beautiful thing we have. (Think about it: when was the last time YOU were asked “How are you — really?”) How does it make your heart feel to be asked that by me now?

If life is tricky for you today, I hope you have ways to give yourself a little break. I’m going to put some links to do-able things in The Fun Stuff below. Cookies! Hot chocolate! And if you need to heal or improve a relationship with someone you love, take a moment to ask them how they are…really.

Enjoy your Sunday. I hope you find all the peace you need today.

Love Catherine x

P.S. The fun stuff!

• First up, a tiny thing: this sugar free hot chocolate. Oh my goodness! It’s fantastic — even if you make it with water. Run to the shops and get some for yourself. It. Is. So. Good.

• Take at look at my hair in the photo today. Guys, I have okay hair normally — it’s not my best feature by any means. BUT my beautiful cousin gifted me the BEST EVER styling tool for my birthday and all I can say is WOWWWWWWW. If you can afford this, I’d definitely invest in it. I feel so lucky to be given one, and I’d give it a million stars in my review. So good. So easy to use. In the photo above, I used the curling wand attachment and it’s just fabulous. Link is here. Worth it.

• These gluten free cookies. Amazing, amazing, amazing and just three ingredients. You could whip them up in under ten minutes.