Who Am I ?

Welcome to Thought Food.

Here’s a bit about me:

I am a writer, author, small animal veterinarian, mother of two children and a menagerie of pets, and a mental health advocate.

My last meal would include coffee, wine, chocolate, and cake…not necessarily in that order.

My favourite sounds are my cats purring, rain, a match being struck to light a candle, my children laughing, and the sound of my husband’s keys turning in the front door.

I love that point in a conversation with someone new when it crosses from superficialities into authentic common ground.

I can’t stand cliques.

I’ve lived in Germany, Saudia Arabia, Australia, and the UK.

I am very happy I didn’t live my adult life in the 1950s, because housework is not my strong point… No really:

My fruit bowl doubles as a filing system for bills or school notes to be actioned.

I have lived with Bipolar 1 Disorder since 2006. This has afforded me access to experiences I never could have imagined had I not developed it. I now know what symptoms of mania, delusional thinking, psychosis, and catatonic depression feel like. This illness has also brought some of my most precious friends into my life, so I don’t wish it away. It has taught me how to optimise the times when I am well, because when it sweeps in, it breaks me. When this happens, I have to rebuild myself from nothing.

My memoir, Abductions From My Beautiful Life has now been published and is available widely online, including on Amazon, Fishpond, Booktopia, Waterstones UK, and Barnes and Noble. You can find an excerpt if you go to Book. It is also available to borrow from the Brisbane City Library Catalogue. 

As you can see I am not one dimensional, so this blog won’t be either. There will be a bit of all of me in my posts. But for many posts the emphasis will be on mental wellness and/or illness. I am passionate about destigmatising mental illness through my lived experience.

Whatever the subject matter – my aim is for all the content to be Thought Food for you. So, if my posts get you thinking about, and better still –  talking about, commenting on, and sharing them…I’ll be happy.

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that the land Thought Food was conceived and written on is Aboriginal land. I show respect and give thanks to the Turrbal and Yuggera people of Meanjin for thousands of years of protection of these lands. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

I wish to acknowledge that this land was never ceded, but stolen, and pay tribute to those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives taken, and acknowledge the great trauma and pain still caused by that theft.

I appreciate I have much to learn about the oldest continuous living culture. I am listening, seeing and learning. I am honoured and thankful to travel safely across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands.