Today marks the first day of the last week of the second month of 2025 - and with it, I feel like I’m stepping fully into a new stage, Reader. Current WIP - a calm and happy space for me to test out how I show up in the world. My second year of Mental Health and Neuroscience postgrad study begins today. My youngest starts full-time kindy, making this the first time in 14 years that I won’t be pregnant or have a child at home every day (🤯), I’m expanding my dream of supporting creative mental...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Just this morning, a person at the kindy playdough table asked me something that completely stumped me. “Oh, so you don’t want to be creative anymore?” Um, what? They asked this, almost flippantly, after I mentioned I wasn’t doing much graphic design work these days. I stumbled over my words, wondering how to explain that creativity is so profoundly a part of my life that it's almost THE WHOLE reason I have pivoted my career to creative mental health care... Reader, you see, working as a...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello dearest Reader, How many emails have you received slamming you into 2025? My guess is ***way more than is necessary***. This email is far from that. As the new year begins, we often feel the weight of expectations pressing down—an endless push to do more, achieve more, and be more. But what if we gave ourselves permission to do something radical instead? What if we rested? In a world that glorifies productivity, rest can feel indulgent, weak, and even shameful. Capitalism has taught us...
3 months ago • 1 min read
At first, having my office next to the laundry was a good idea. Working from home meant that I could easily do washing in between client calls or whilst working on logotypes. However, now, my office is 100% an art studio and well, when I walk downstairs to do laundry, often the paints call my name... "Psst Delphie... Can you hear us? Come, join us in here... you MUST paint!" So, I duck my head into the room, ahh, it feels comfortable here, warm, at home. I sign. Then I get the urge. A big...
6 months ago • 2 min read
It was 10.15pm before I left the set-up for the school fete. I was one of the last four people there, prepping for the next day. Another volunteer said, ‘It’s a bit addictive doing community work, isn’t it?’ And, Reader, nothing has felt so accurate (except that reel where that person can't find the end of the sticky tape... that was spot on?) It isn't unusual for me to put my hand up 🙋♀️ to help where I can, and I almost always end up doing more than I signed up for. But I never leave jaded....
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Last week I had a pretty mammoth anxiety episode. It wasn't enjoyable (**um, obviously**), but coming out the other side, I quickly reflected on the toolbox I had to help me through an event like this. I have learnt that mental health isn't the absence of having crappy things happen to you; it's being as equipped as possible to reach for your action plan when an emergency strikes to help you recover as quickly as possible. Also, while our society has created a narrative that we...
10 months ago • 2 min read
Dearest Reader, Last week I realised I had been running my Permission to Play Members Group for a whole 12 months. Wow!!🤩 A whole year of this beautiful community group! I'm so proud of us all! To all the folks inside the group who have joined and shown up for yourself, your community and your creativity, what a treat it has been to share this space with you. If you have been wondering what this group is that I mention when I email, PTP is a space for: ✅ revitalising creativity ✅ observation,...
10 months ago • 2 min read
Beginning something new is hard, right, Reader? But why-o-why is it like this? Over the last week I’ve been working very solidly on a uni assessment and whilst I’m not new to writing, I am new to research journals and academic scientific writing. I won’t lie, I’ve had several meltdowns and sadly a few migraines thrown in the mix. But that’s not what this email is about. Stick with me! The thing I realised, on reflection, was that all the confusion at the start, all the stress and uncertainty,...
11 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, What do you do when you are a 43 year old about to blow your top at your children who have pushed every single button you have at the end of the school term break??? (OK, okay, you might not fit this **exact** demographic, but the question is relevant - how do you cope with frustration/stress?) Weekend stress relief session. I wanted to share a moment from this past weekend when I found myself retreating to my studio to deal with some parenting frustration. It's been such a...
12 months ago • 2 min read