Living alone changed me in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve been on my own for about five years now, and somewhere along the way, that quiet became informative. Not lonely, just quiet. Spacious. Honest. I love my own space. So much so that I can easily go an entire weekend without orally speaking to another […]
I’ve had jobs that gave me financial stability; the kind where you can finally tap your card without checking your balance first. I’ve had jobs that gave me space to look after my physical health; predictable enough that I could train consistently, meal prep, and not crawl into bed by 8pm from pure exhaustion. And […]
I’m much braver with words than I am with people. On a page, I can say things clearly. Thoughtfully. Without interruption. I can sit with a feeling long enough to understand it before letting it out into the world. I can choose the right phrasing. The right tone. The right moment to pause. With people, […]
New Year’s Day always feels different from New Year’s Eve.Eve is loud, sparkly, chaotic! A night where everyone collectively decides to be their most unhinged, glitter-covered selves.But New Year’s Day?That’s the exhale.The slow morning.The soft reset.The quiet moment when the world feels suspended between who we were and who we’re becoming. This year, I’m not […]
Driving back “home” to Orange for Christmas, I felt this strange blend of nostalgia, affection, and a quiet sense of dislocation. The streets are familiar. The same pubs, the same corner shops, the same footpaths cracking in all the same places. A few new cafés have appeared, a couple of shiny developments on the edge […]
I’ve already started mentally preparing to go home for Christmas.Not because I’m counting down with excitement, but because I’m preparing myself emotionally, in case this is the last one Dad remembers.If he remembers it at all. That thought has been sitting quietly in the background for weeks now.Unspoken but heavy.Not just the grief of what’s […]
Some people’s Roman Empire is actual Roman history. Mine is a mildly awkward chat I had four years ago at a party where I made a joke that didn’t land, panicked, doubled down with another bad joke, and then spent the rest of the night avoiding eye contact while mentally packing my bags and moving […]
We’ve never told Dad he has dementia. It’s not a secret, exactly. It’s a complex and hard choice, a way to protect him from the fear, the confusion, the spiral that might come with knowing something he can’t fully understand or control.So he doesn’t know what’s slipping.Doesn’t know why the world feels a bit foggier […]
It really depends on the day. Some mornings I wake up and the lighting hits just right. I drink my pre-workout like I’m in a wellness ad. I strut through the world with main character energy, inner monologue fully narrated by Beyoncé. Other days?I’m wandering aimlessly through Coles in my gym shorts, holding a single […]
My techno era didn’t start in Berlin or some sweaty warehouse party at 4am.It started at a straight event.In a gay club.That I worked at.Already a confusing sentence, I know. I wasn’t expecting much that night, I was vibing, watching the crowd, just happy to not be on for once.Then the DJ dropped a set […]
Mitchachell 