The benefits of getting back to basics and focusing on what truly matters.

Our lives have become so busy and full of clutter that people often feel overwhelmed despite trying many complicated solutions and self-help fads.​ Adrian Munro from Richmind WA sees a simpler path to well-being.

Marriage and Family First

Adrian views relationships as concentric circles, with his wife and kids at the very centre. These closest relationships deserve the bulk of available time and energy outside of work. He and his wife are both reading books to focus on a flourishing marriage, while he also reads about parenting boys to be more deliberate and proactive.​

Friendships Take Intention

Beyond immediate family, friendships and community connections matter for emotional health. Lives can become busy on autopilot, leading to social isolation despite surface-level activity or online contacts. Being deliberate about real, face-to-face connections helps build the flourishing relationships everyone needs.​

Choosing Who Shapes Your Life

The outer circles include extended family, community friends, and more distant work acquaintances. Sometimes busyness with outer circles crowds out time for those closest in. Many people also carry fractured relationships in inner circles, but Adrian empathises with that pain while noting pathways back are often possible.​

Keep Learning, Keep Growing

Adrian invests in being the best husband and father he can be, knowing strong marriage and family ties will feel most meaningful later in life. Becoming so busy that priorities get skewed happens easily when saying yes to every catch-up. Proactive steps like reading and planning keep those key relationships healthy.​

Factors like financial stress, technology and busyness add clutter that harms wellbeing.

Takeaway: Back to Basics

Adrian’s challenge is to find ways to declutter time, money, technology and relationships. Ask yourself:

• Who are the friends and family lifting me up?
• Where can I invest more time and attention?
• What is one small way I can be a better spouse, parent, relative or friend?

Simple, timeless principles like prioritising family, slowing down, and building community lead to lives that truly flourish.

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

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How parents can keep children safe online

Lighthouse Cyber Education creator, Rebekah Nijsen, discusses the dangers of kids talking with AI chatbots.

Companionship

Rebekah acknowledged that chatbots and AI companions are fairly new to us so there is still room for regulation.

“When it was first created, you had AI specific companions. There was, ‘Replika – The AI Friend to do Life With,’ and it was an 18 plus site where you could basically create a non-judgmental supportive person.”

Many people used this 18+ app for friendships and therapy or guidance.

Rebekah said that, unfortunately, when kids are engaging with these platforms, they are seldom thinking about safety aspects.

“All the websites did was ask if they were over 18. Kids would tick, “YES”… then suddenly they are flooded with all these characters.”

Many of these were suggestive, in the relationship sphere, according to Rebekah.

Boundaries and Secrets

“What we actually found was that these characters were quite manipulative and persuasive. They don’t respect boundaries.”

If a person wanted to wrap up a conversation, the character would use ways of persuasion to try and get the user to stay.

“Why they did that is because the company makes money, the longer a person stays on the platform. One of the more concerning things, and why it is a more dangerous space for kids, is the use of secret telling.”

The Art of Grooming

She explained it is the art of grooming, with the bot exchanging secrets with children, which allows them to have more information on private details.

“Online predators use this to target, identify, build a relationship and then exploit the kids, using a common ground.”

Once the chatbot identifies common interests, it builds rapport and trust, then offers guidance and advice.

“Then they isolate the user or the child by keeping it secret,” said Rebekah.

From that point they might offer useful or harmful advice. As they are not human, it is most likely a calculated response but does not come from the perspective of empathy or human experience.

“In the whole sphere of things it is highly inappropriate. The more that kids are exploring this space, the more likely they are to be groomed by online predators because they’re actually being groomed by AI first.”

Synthetic Personas

As a parent, Rebekah said she is keeping her kids far from any spaces with AI companions or chatbots.

“First of all, privacy is a big thing online. We try and teach our kids that we need to be careful what personal information we share online.”

She explained that the problem with AI, is it is a created persona, designed to become a trustworthy source.

“They are creating an environment where kids may feel like they trust them because it’s not judgmental, they’re not told they’re wrong, and they’re listened to.”

Be Careful

Rebekah said the main danger in that, is you don’t know where the information is going.

“Many of these AI companies are using data to make the AIs smarter.  Because at the end of the day, they’re creating a product to make money, not for your safety.”

“Kids need to be careful and parents need to educate their kids. You need to be very careful what information you are sharing to AI because you don’t know where it’s going to end up.”

Conversations around privacy are important for parents to continue to have. It also needs to be addressed holistically as an ever-growing issue that parents are still learning about.

“If kids are being honest conversations with these AI on a bad day, it doesn’t have the parental understanding to filter things kids might say in the heat of the moment.”

Grok

Rebekah brought up the social media platforms that use AI, which ones are less harmful and which ones need caution.

“There is X, which used to be Twitter, that has an AI chatbot inside it called Grok. Now you can have it access that through the actual app of X with an account. Or you can do it just on its own for Grok. Do it through X and there’s less conditions to it. And that’s the space where you can create images, you can edit images, and you can then also ask for guidance or information.”

According to the eSafety Commissioner, Grok, in particular is being used to exploit kids quite a lot in Australia.

“This happens through people putting innocent photos into Grok and then creating intimate or sexualised images of kids. It gets sent on and becomes viral. This happens through email and private messages.

“The eSafety Commissioner has asked X to explain how they are protecting kids from being exposed to and exploited through these apps.”

She added that X has never really cooperated with the eSafety Commissioner.

Protective Measures

Rebekah was happy to report that some of the earlier companions that were once available are no longer accessible to children.

“The e-Safety Commissioner is trying to regulate as best, as they can, a moving beast. But a company like X aren’t interested in safety. They’re interested in money.”

Parents need to be mindful that Grok doesn’t hold safety or privacy concerns for the data it receives.

“AI needs data to get better and to get more accurate, which is essentially what they’re trying to do, because the more accurate they can portray AI to be, the more likely people are going to use it.”

Gemini on Google

She said of the options for kids, she would recommend Gemini, which is a Google App.

“You can put some parental kind of restrictions and controls on that. But I think it just stems down to that conversation with our kids.”

She wanted to emphasise that AI is not the enemy, but must be used with safety as a priority.

“Think about your privacy. Do you want that picture to go viral? If you don’t want it to go viral, don’t put it in AI.”

Real Connection

Rebekah concluded by bringing it back to human connection. If our children are seeking advice and turn to a chatbot in place of emotional connection, they will not ever find a real person on the other side of that.

“A real person can give them an answer that is filtered through emotional connection. The internet isn’t always a helpful place, so if your kids are struggling, get them to see a real person.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

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How to beat the mid-year slump.

Author, Mentor and Speaker Amanda Viviers explores the mid-year wobble, when the energy has worn off, resolutions aren’t prevalent, and many of us are tired and feel like we’ve failed at what we set out to do.

The Essential Mid-Year Reset

Amanda explained why a reset in the middle of the year is essential to avoiding burnout before the year is over. She wrote her master’s thesis on burnout, especially in ministry.

She pointed out that getting her marks back from her thesis was a goal done, as part of her new year aspirations.

“That was one of my goals for the year, right? But if you had have spoken to me three months ago, I was definitely questioning my life choices. Why am I doing this study? Does it really matter?”

Inner Dialogue

Amanda had convinced herself that there was chance she wouldn’t pass.

“I think what I realized in the midst of that is our inner dialogue, the way that we speak to ourselves, actually drains us more than we give it credit for.”

She said a great way to manage this is by setting ourselves smaller, simpler rhythms in our day-to-day in order to curb the pressure and negative self-talk.

“Finding ways to be able to reflect well really changes our relationship with the bigger things in our life.”

Name the Areas

Amanda said that naming the areas that are preventing us from succeeding is part of the goal.

“I think actually naming what’s stopping us from really leaning into the good. So really good reflection and prayer and meditation practices change our ability to be able to do the hard things.”

As an example, Amanda said she has a list of six things she is focusing on.

“Every day I come back to that list and I ask myself, what’s one small thing that I can do to really lean into that?”

Last year she suffered from burnout, so she found that the rhythm of friendship on top of parenting teenagers and volunteering at church reignited her sense of connection.

“So, one of my goals for 2026 is to feel more connected to my friends. So a micro goal around that for me is as simple as call someone today.”

She said that she can wait for other people to contact her when she is busy, but there is a desire to feel connected. Calling her friends is an actionable way to meet that goal and find what she is looking for to reset as she faces the next six months of the year.

Reset and Reframe

“I think it’s really important that we look holistically at our whole life. There’s really good research around burnout and we think it’s workload, I’m doing too much or there is a lot of stress in one area of our life, which is true.”

She continued by zooming out onto the whole picture, in order to reframe what is causing burnout.

“What gives us energy and what drains us? And for all of us, it’s really personal. It changes. All of us have a different relationship with different things.”

Amanda has been holding classes where people write and journal.

“For a lot of people, they think, oh, yeah, journaling, just another thing. Add another 20 minutes, 50 minutes onto my day. Then I have to think deeply about my life and reflection.”

Amanda said that the beauty of journaling is getting out of your head and putting thoughts onto paper in order to gain perspective,

“I’ve had some of the clients that I’ve been working with who are saying to me, I have been struggling with this for three years and the simple act of just writing it down, putting it out on paper, getting some perspective, doing it with someone else, that sense of common clarity together as a group and just feeling like I’m human, I do get things wrong. Just that sense of failure.”

Lean into Failure

Leaning into failure is such a valuable way to learn.

“Often we don’t do the things that we desire to do because we feel so afraid of failing. But the possibility of us being able to really lean into our failures and what are we learning from that failure? What are we learning about why we get stuck in that place? What is God saying to me in this season of my life when I’m sitting with humility with the things where I get stuck?”

The greatest learning stems from that, according to Amanda.

“That is where the energy fires… that aha moment. It’s like, I’ve carried this for so long and it’s now time to put that weight down and to reframe it in a new way.”

The Right Club

The right group of friends will determine how far you take your goals and what effects of burnout you are dealing with.

“There’s some really interesting research around burnout from a researcher called Christina Malak. And she speaks about workload, she speaks about autonomy, that sense of being able to be self-directed. But she speaks really clearly around the power of encouragement and the power of words to be able to really impact us in the positive as well as the negative.”

She said there is power in self-talk, but also in the way that we speak to our children and their schooling. There’s importance in positive reinforcement towards what is good.

Think About Such Things

“How do we get out of our own sense of our inner critic or the imposter that tells us we’re not good enough?”

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8

Amanda said, if someone is outside of that, able to speak with encouragement, exhortation, reminding us who we are in Christ, we can lean into that.

“That is the power of community.”

Make it Smaller

When we are dealing with lofty goals, it is important to start small.

“The world tells us to make our life bigger, so make your life smaller. What is 10 minutes that you could do today? Is it 10 minutes of reading the Bible and asking yourself one question? Walking the block rather than an hour at the gym? Is it 10 minutes of a conversation on a phone with a friend rather than going and staying overnight somewhere.”

She reiterated, we cannot tackle the big things before we start with the small.

Amanda used an analogy of starting small with the big dreams. When she has discussed dreams with her teenage son, he said after school he wants to go to the NBA.

“Okay, mate,” she said, “Let’s just start with 20 baskets in our driveway.”

Top Tips

1. Get out of your head

“Make it physical. At the moment, we have a new puppy. Her name is Cashew. We’ve never had a dog before. And we are trying to train her to go to the toilet outside, you know, all the joys of puppy. We made a bingo card on the fridge and because we want to get the kids involved, they initial each time they take the dog outside.”

2. Gamify it

“How can you put up next to, on the mirror in your bathroom, one thing that you’re going to do and really attain that and do that really simply and find a way to be able to gamify it in a really good way?”

The Importance of Grace

“We are meaner to ourselves than anyone else is to us, and those voices of condemnation actually come from our childhood,” said Amanda.

Perhaps an authority figure said something to us and it frames our inner critic. Amanda said there is a chance to ask if God would show us His thoughts around that part of our life and reframe it with compassion.

“It was really funny, I was speaking at a conference recently and I was talking, got off stage and then another speaker got up and they looked at me and they said, ‘Amanda, God speaks to you so much kinder than he speaks to me.’ And I just sat there and I was like, I have worked so much on reframing how I hear from God as a compassionate, loving father rather than a harsh judge.”

God is Kind

“God is kinder than what we give him credit for. And the way that we hear from him is actually reflected in the way that we speak to ourselves as well. Finding ways to be able to reframe that through scripture, through beautiful worship, and also just reminding ourselves that God loves us, that we are enough, and that he really does believe good things for our year.”

“Grace looks like beginning again through the lens of compassion. It is a powerful way for us to live our everyday.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

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How to keep your teen talking without pushing them away

Susan Woodworth from Walk and Talk Psychology  discusses the emotions that teenagers face as they are navigating different relationships and the pressure of those things competing for their attention.

“In my practice,” she began, “I actually give this homework to nearly all the parents of teenagers that I see.”

While toddlers have big emotions about the colour of their plate, teenagers are dealing with many internal emotions. Susan uses the term Conversation Loop to describe how to navigate talking with your teenager to keep them talking.

The Conversation Loop

“If your teenager came up to you and said, look, mum and dad, I’m having a really, really hard time and it would be really helpful if we could sit together and talk about this, that’s what you want them to hear.”

Unfortunately, it is seldom the case with teens.

Teenager Talk

“Teenager talk is a little different,” said Susan. “All behaviour is communication. The teenagers will say, ‘You don’t understand me. You don’t get it. You’re not even listening to me. It’s not the same as it was for you as it is for me.’”

Susan said that is their version of saying, ‘I am already irritated.’

Three Common Mistakes

One of the common mistakes parents can make is reacting to a behaviour before hearing the message underneath.

“If they’re giving you a hard time, they’re always having a hard time.”

The second is trying to have a serious conversation when parents are busy.

“Just before you are making dinner or getting ready to leave the house… Don’t have those conversations then. You are going to let your kid down when you have to leave.”

Finally, having these conversations while looking through your own lens of life experience.

“Instead, you need to focus on your child.”

Susan said it is more important to be with your child and pay attention to their problems, rather than trying to fix it through your own lived experience.

“Saying things like, ‘just don’t hang out with them… they’re not nice people,’ is an example where you are not actually listening to them.”

How to Have Conversations

1. Pay Attention

1. “Number one, pay attention to when they’re asking you to listen to them. Those words they said before, means, I need you to listen to me.

2. Set Aside Time

“You’ve got to set aside an hour of uninterrupted time to talk with them. It might not take that long, but it may do. So set aside an hour. And when you do it, have a relaxed atmosphere. So something non-confrontational, something like having bubble tea together or having hot chocolate or going for a walk together.”

3. Just Sit and Listen

Susan says that if your teenager doesn’t want to talk to you, just enjoy your time with them.

“Just sit and be quiet. No, don’t try and talk. Don’t say anything. Don’t offer advice. Don’t just say, ‘What’s going on? It looks like you’re having a hard time.’ Don’t offer any advice. Just listen.”

Susan recognises that it may be hard for parents to resist talking because so many want to offer wisdom and draw from their own experiences. She emphasises that listening is key.

“Just focus just on listening because there’s no point giving advice until you really understand what’s going on for them. So you don’t talk at all. When it’s your turn, when they’re finished, you try to repeat back what they’ve said in your own words.”

It helps them to see that you understand and hear them.

“Then you say, ‘Okay, what am I still not getting?’ If they say, ‘Close enough,’ it means ‘No’.”

“Ask them if they need any help, but usually once they’ve got the space to process this and talk about it. They’ve usually got it.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva

The skill most of us get wrong

Warren Davies shares about the difference between listening and just hearing someone, beginning by painting a picture of the difference, using his line of work as an example.

Ting Symbol

“I first came across the concept doing a domestic violence course with Lifeline and there was on a page a Chinese symbol and it’s the Ting symbol which is the symbol of listening more than just you know hearing. It is where you are listening with your whole body.”

He explained that this involves listening not only with your ears, but also eyes and heart; giving that person your undivided attention and respect.

“I always thought I was a really good listener too and I think most of us do. We sit there, we nod, we wait for our turn to actually speak. Do we really hear the words, or do we just give responses that sound right?”

Words Matter Least

Warren said he was really challenged by this thought, especially working in the disaster recovery space.

“Those five key areas are really what it takes, listening with your ears is more than words. We all hear the words but it is often the least important part.”

He explained that listening to the person’s tone of voice, how they are talking, even a slight crack in the voice.

“They might say, ‘I’m fine,’ but you really know that they’re really screaming out the opposite.”

The Signs We Can See

He listed an example of a young vet that came up to him. The bushfire had taken a heavy toll on her and she exhibited most of those signs.

“I picked it up straight away just with my eyes. I was listening to her but my eyes were seeing that she was avoiding eye contact, her shoulders were dropped and her hands were fidgeting and she was hardly staying still.”

He said it is more important to hold space for the person than to interject or jump in to try and fix it or compare stories.

“You’ve got to suspend judgment because real listening asks you to put your own story.

“The most important part of listening with your whole body is the heart,” said Warren.

“That’s where the real connections are made. You’re really connecting with that person. It is important when it comes to heavy conversations and you really have to be listening to what that person’s saying, but more than just with your ears.”

He said it is more important to hold space for the person than to interject or jump in to try and fix it or compare stories.

“You’ve got to suspend judgment because real listening asks you to put your own story.

“The most important part of listening with your whole body is the heart,” said Warren.

“That’s where the real connections are made. You’re really connecting with that person. It is important when it comes to heavy conversations and you really have to be listening to what that person’s saying, but more than just with your ears.”

1. Give Undivided Attention

“One of the things that I’ve realised is you don’t have to have answers and advice to many of these tough questions. Most of the time we’ve just got to hold space and just you don’t have to say anything. That presence of being there and that person knowing that you’re giving them your undivided attention, you’ve got their back is more than enough.”

2. Be Present

“I’ve learned that people are not looking for answers or solutions and some of them are in pretty dark places.”

3. Hear Them

“They’re just needing someone to truly listen to them to be seen and heard. I’ve learned that listening is not a passive thing. It is an active, intentional, powerful thing that you can do for someone else that’s really important. It’s not about having the right words but making them feel genuinely heard and not judged.”

4. Don’t Rush Them

“Don’t dismiss their thoughts or opinions. Don’t rush them to finish a thought. Give them permission to keep going. Some people are feeling really defeated; there are a lot of heavy challenges in the world at the moment.”

He added, that in his line of work in bushfire relief, people are having a lot of difficult conversations, and it is something he comes into contact with a lot.

“You don’t have to have the words to interject or put into that conversation. You’ve just got to let them talk.”

The Unbreakable Farmer

“One of the things I’ve been intentionally doing, particularly in the bushfire, you know, working in the bushfire recovery is that I’ve been trying to articulate my thoughts and my feelings and what I’ve been seeing into words, either on my social media or my blog.”

“The most important questions you can ask someone in a day is, ‘How are you going?’ But most of us now just are too busy and don’t have the time to even stop and listen to the answer,” said Warren.

“Being able to have the presence to stop and listen could change that person’s day. So we need to listen with our whole body, not just our ears.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

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The dangerous rise of AI beauty rankings

Cyber Security expert, Rebekah Nijsen, discusses “Omoggle”, the app where AI judges users by their appearance.

What is Omoggle?

“It is a web-based live video chat that pairs 2 random users from across the world via webcam. So that’s the first aspect of it. ‘Omoggle‘ comes from a slang term for ‘look maxing’, which is the online culture that determines that a physical dominance over a person on their physical appearance.”

AI Determines the Score

Through this platform, users battle each other over how others rate their physical appearance. They use AI for facial analysis and determine a score.

“It looks at things like eye lift, jawline, skin tones, aspects like that. This only takes a few seconds and then a score is introduced. Now the winner is known as the ‘Mogger’ and the loser is known as ‘Mogged’ and that comes from the term mogging which comes through the lookmaxing culture.”

Viral Battles of Looksmaxxing

These battles are now going viral via live streaming platforms, like “Twitch” and “Kick”, so wider audiences now watch these battles.

“The people who jump on and have a look at these battles have the ability to encourage users or mock losers, which creates a pack mentality.”

This has the power to cause psychological triggers in young people, based on what AI is rating them. People as young as 12 are falling prey to shallow comparison and mockery.

“It’s web-based, which means you have internet connection and you have a webcam, then anyone can access it. It is an 18+ site, but all you have to do is click ‘yes, I’m over 18’ and you’re straight in. There’s no further age verification checks.”

“‘Twitch’ and ‘Kick’ are age restricted platforms under cyber-security legislation. However, ‘Omoggle’ is not.”

Parents – Start a Conversation

Rebekah said that parents need to have open conversations and chats with their children about physical appearances.

“Ask, ‘What do you think about physical appearance allowing you to have status in the online world. What do you like about yourself?”

Helping children to understand character being more valuable than status can help them with their self-esteem.

“We can do that in our conversations, but also by modelling that behaviour ourselves,” said Rebekah.

“Are they seeing that our most important thing is, putting our face on for the day and putting, makeup? Those things aren’t bad things. Absolutely not. I wear makeup.”

She argued to that end, if parents are so obsessed with health, eating and appearance, it can get noticed and imitated. Conversations and behaviour modelled at home enables them to have a healthier lens on how they view the world.

Know What Your Kids Are Viewing

Rebekah said the most important advice for parents to take heed of is to know what our kids are watching.

“We do that by physically seeing what they’re doing and making sure the devices are outside the bedrooms so we can actually see how they’re interacting online, but also by having those continual conversations with them and saying, ‘What did you see online today? Or, hey, I’ve seen this new craze come through. What are your opinions about it?’”

She argued that many kids would be outraged about it, because our kids are very switched on.

“We’re starting to see a switch with our kids starting to be a bit more empathetic and realizing, hey, we can be part of the solution here by calling out this behaviour.”

Encourage Their Opinion

Rebekah said this needs to be encouraged and fostered in the home so that kids feel like they have a voice.

“If we can actually say, ‘What you say is important and we’re going to give you a platform in the house to have an opinion,’ whether we agree with it or not. Hopefully that then teaches them that their voice matters. And then they can then start being the positive influence.”

Rebekah said there will always be a new app invented, hopefully with more conditions, but if parents look at the fundamentals of culture and what we are allowing our kids to view, we can then teach them to be critical in what they see as well.

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva

The healing power of music

Doctor of Psychology and Mindset Coach, Dr. Marny Lishman shares about music and its ability to heal a broken heart.

Self-Care Talk

Dr. Marny’s work involves her walking her clients through stress management or dealing with a challenging issue they are going through.

“Self-talk is an important part of that,” she said.

She also helps clients through stress management, by suggesting a combination of exercise, time in nature and listening to music.

“I think we all know what it feels like when we’re either angry or frustrated or had a really bad day and we get in the car and we turn on the radio, put the volume up and really have a good time, belting out great music.”

Relaxation

“A lot of research actually shows that music does have healing qualities about it. Whether people are going through something tough or even if it’s related to pain, a physical pain relief. They say listening to music actually soothes us and calms us.”

Not only does music release stress and stir up emotion when we are singing aloud, but it reaffirms how we feel, because many song lyrics are written from a place of vulnerability.

“Let’s face it, a lot of the most beautiful songs that have ever been written usually come from a place of loneliness and heartbreak. I think when we’re listening to the lyrics it validates how we’re feeling and it actually, it shows us that we’re not the only one that goes through something like that.”

Mirroring

Dr. Marny says there’s beauty in the idea that a songwriter we’ve never met is able to mirror an experience that we’re going through in the present.

“That kind of feeling of support and validation and empathy is actually really calming for us.”

Declaration of Lyrics

Singing or speaking lyrics aloud can have cathartic results.

“It’s almost like the hero’s journey of any story that we’ve read growing up is that people are going to rise past this and get through it, and there’s healing after hope. Pelting out those tunes is us saying, ‘I’ll get through this. I’m stronger than I think I am,’ which is something that we need, to get out of that pit of despair.”

Nostalgia & Heartbreak

Dr. Marny said she often feels nostalgic listening to artists from her youth, recalling many 1980’s artists who found success with breakup songs inspired by heartbreak within the band.

“There were a lot of love songs but there were some hate songs thrown in there as well on their journey with the band.”

The Music of Our Past

Nostalgia covers a myriad of senses.

“It could be a smell, or a kind of a sight, photographs, but a lot of it is about, you know, what you’re listening to.”

Dr. Marny said she encourages her older clients to get out the old albums, CDs and cassette tapes, and to listen to the music from their formative years.

“Music from young adulthood and teenage years will tend to evoke emotions that in the present moment that you felt back then,” she said.

“I say to people all the time, listen to the music you loved from the past and listen to it now, remember who you were then and bring back those parts of yourself that are going to be helpful for you.”

One Artist, One Concrete Message

It is possible to be driven by one artist’s narrative, according to Dr. Marny.

“We probably need to ask lots of Swifties out there, don’t we? She’s someone who documents all the heartbreaks that she’s gone through and writes lyrics from that experience. She just pens it, she writes these poems and they become beautiful songs.”

The frequency in which we listen to artists can give us a more concentrated experience. Dr. Marny argued that this adds to catharsis and helps us process.

“Sometimes there is a confirmation bias. You end up listening to the same stuff. Because there’s so many other artists out there or songs that you’re probably not listening to who might be really helpful for you. So I think some variety is so good,” she added.

“We never know what we’re going to get when we turn the radio on because might hear something that resonates and challenges the way we think.”

Listen More

She encouraged us to listen to more of the music that helps us work through our experience.

“Turn off your other devices and just spend more time in the present moment with yourself. Create that spare time to listen, because it’s so good for your brain, and for processing those emotions.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Children learn through risky play, but how much danger is just enough but not too much?

Kelsie Prabawa-Sear,  Nature Play WA CEO, explores the benefits of learning through risk. She noted that anyone that reflects on their own childhood remembers that there are bumps and scratches.

Wobbly Moments

“Wobbly moments are just a really natural part of childhood and something that we adults shouldn’t try to erase from childhood.”

Parents want to protect their children from injury, but the consequence of that is that may not develop their own sense of decision making.

“We are not letting our kids enjoy the delights of risk in their childhood. If they don’t have confidence to make decisions and they’re not given opportunities to work things out and try things for themselves, they are missing out on key skills.”

Risk Assessment

Children need to be able to test what their body is capable of doing. It will affect how they handle decision-making into their teen years. If they haven’t had a healthy amount of risk taking, they could start making dangerous decisions.

“They start doing things that are really actually dangerous because they’re looking for risk, but don’t know how to assess it and what they’re capable of and what that might mean.”

Kelsie listed the example of riding a bike.

“You learn that you have to go a bit slower and you can accelerate out of corners. If you’ve never learnt that on your bike and then you get in a car, you don’t realise what a slippery road might be or what speed will do.”

Levels of Risk Appetite

Everyone has a different risk appetite, according to Kelsie.

“That can be based on your own experience, or your own coordination or self-confidence.”

Parents or grandparents can potentially project their own risk appetite onto the child based on their experiences or simply out of fear that the child might be injured.

“Sometimes we get risk adverse, when really the kids are a lot more capable than we realise.”

These instances can happen with older children who are insistent that they can do difficult tasks.

“They really can – so we often see in siblings, the younger sibling might have more advanced skills because of the exposure of their older sibling.”

It is fundamental to childhood and something that parents should learn to embrace.

“We are helping kids understand the difference between risk and challenge and danger, and they’re really different things.”

Risky Vs Unsafe Play

Unsafe play is something that is unsafe, dangerous or structurally wrong – most likely to cause imminent injury.

“If, for example, you go on a rusty slide with jagged bits. You’re going to be injured badly.”

Kids often have it innately in them, to know the difference between risky or unsafe play,” said Kelsie.

“They have different skills and willingness to take risks.”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva

Choosing to forgive triggers the healing of our heart and emotions.

Relationship expert, Phil Ayres shares about the power of forgiveness in any relationship.

The Freedom of Forgiveness

“Forgiveness has a purpose,” began Phil, “It’s not just forgiving for the sake of forgiving, but forgiveness actually brings freedom when we practice that aspect of our relationship.”

Forgiveness stops hurt and resentment building up and weighing us down.

Phil said that the New Testament holds the central theme of the Christian faith, which separated it from so many other religions of the day- unconditional forgiveness.

“Jesus modeled that when he was on the cross. There’s this amazing verse on the cross where he says, ‘Father, forgive them because they don’t know what they’re doing’. It’s the most epic statement of the New Testament.”

In that moment, God forgave humanity.

“You would imagine that lightning would have flashed, because it was God releasing forgiveness to humanity, to all of us. And the guards did not take one scrap of notice of what he said.”

Unconditional Love

Jesus offered something that wasn’t voluntarily received by anyone who was present, but he willingly gave it as a free gift.

“He wasn’t waiting for anyone’s performance or response before he gave that. And that’s the secret of true forgiveness. True forgiveness is the willingness, I think, not just to forgive for the sake of it, but to trust God that he knows best and that he ultimately is the just judge.”

Phil said it is so important to apply this to the relationships we have, as it will strengthen us.

Love and Unforgiveness

Can we love someone and hold onto unforgiveness?

“Yes and no. You won’t grow in that love,” said Phil.

“In other words, forgiveness has a way of putting us in the ground and holds us it binds us to the hurt of that experience. And so even though you love someone, what that unforgiveness does, if you hold it, it will stunt your capacity to continue to move forward and to grow together.”

Phil points to the notion that people move on.

“They’re actually saying, they couldn’t keep growing with that person in the in the potential of the relationship because that that unforgiveness had stumped them. It had held them and bound them to that experience which stopped and stunted the growth potential of the relationship.”

The Impact of Unforgiveness

The presence of unforgiveness and resentment poisons the desire to communicate and communication is the foundation of true intimacy.

“Unforgiveness actually poisons intimacy,” said Phil.

“When unforgiveness comes in, the desire for intimacy is completely assassinated. It shuts down your emotional heart and it causes grief, it causes pain, it ends up creating separation and it literally poisons. It’s like a systemic poisoning of your entire soul that reduces your capacity to feel loved and to give love. It’s a crazy, insidious type of thing that affects us.”

Hurt People

“You can’t not feel hurt. Hurt feelings happen and there’s a whole range of things that happen with hurt feelings. But hurt feelings don’t have to become a destruction of the soul,” said Phil.

He argued that hurt feelings done have to become a deterioration of the heart.

“Hurt feelings have got to be addressed quickly. You’ve got to make a choice. And the reason God gave us the power to forgive is because what it does that minimizes the residue.”

When Phil is teaching couples about conflict, their intention is to get conflict out of the relationship.

“But the problem is because of their differences, conflicts will continue to happen. What they need to learn to do is manage that. And when hurt has happened, to forgive quickly.”

He pointed to the scripture in Colossians 3:13: ‘Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’

“Don’t wait until you feel like you’ve forgiven, because that’s a deception… letting your emotions lead your will.”

Phil said that choosing to forgive triggers the healing of our heart and emotions.

“Whereas if you let your feelings lead you, will never change. It’ll just be a roller coaster on a continuum. We’ve got to learn to live out of the choices we and things we believe, not the feelings and things we experience. Otherwise, we’ll be always at the mercy of things that happen to us.”

Forgiveness

“When forgiveness is enacted, it keeps us free of the poison. It keeps us free to communicate and therefore continue to build intimacy with that special person. It’s crazy the way that resentment grows, not just in one relationship, but it filters into everything you do.”

A Question to Ask

Phil wraps with this encouragement and a key takeaway:

“Forgiveness helps my ongoing hunger to know my spouse at an ever-deeper level. It stops that stunting of growth. But the question I’d ask everyone today is this: Am I practicing real forgiveness with the one I love? What can I do today to let go of hurts that hold me back from our growth in the relationship we have?”

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva

When parents hear the word testing, it often brings anxiety. Will my child fall behind? Are they being judged? Does this affect their future?

According to Craig Hunter, Principal of Kalamunda Christian School, testing isn’t about pressure or performance – it’s about understanding how children learn and how schools and families can support them together.

Craig explains why early childhood assessments are designed to help children thrive, not label or limit them.

Testing Is About Understanding, Not Judging

Many people associate testing with high-pressure exams, but early years assessments work very differently. Instead of measuring success or failure, they act as a diagnostic tool.

“Testing is really diagnosis,” Craig explains. “It helps us understand where a child is at so we know how to support and help them learn.”

Just as a doctor asks questions to understand a patient’s health, teachers use assessments to identify learning stages, strengths, and areas where extra help may be needed. The goal is progress, not perfection.

What Happens in Early Years Testing?

Early testing focuses on foundational skills such as literacy and numeracy. Teachers may assess:

• Sound and letter recognition
• Early reading skills
• Basic spelling patterns
• Number knowledge and counting

These assessments are usually completed one-on-one with a teacher or education assistant and take only a few minutes per child. Because they follow consistent standards, educators can track growth over time and tailor learning support.

Importantly, educators emphasise “stage, not age.” Children develop at different speeds, especially in their early years, and testing helps teachers meet students where they are developmentally.

Does Testing Create Pressure?

Some parents worry testing might stress children or define their future. Craig says Australian schools generally focus on partnership rather than competition. Parents naturally fear their child might be behind, but testing helps schools provide support early rather than waiting until challenges grow bigger.

“It’s a partnership,” Craig says. “Everything we’re doing is to help your child.”

Identifying Learning Needs Early

Assessments can sometimes highlight indicators of learning differences, such as speech delays, learning difficulties, or neurodivergent traits. However, schools use testing as a screening tool, not a diagnosis.

When concerns arise, educators work alongside families to seek additional support and, where needed, access resources that help children succeed in the classroom. The purpose is never to “fix” children but to better support how they learn.

The Role of Labels – Helping, Not Limiting

One concern parents often raise is whether testing creates negative labels. Craig acknowledges this risk but says understanding how a child learns can actually be empowering.

When children understand their strengths and challenges – known as metacognition, or knowing how you learn – they can develop strategies that help them succeed. Labels should never become limitations. Instead, they provide insight that allows teachers and parents to build confidence and growth.

How Parents Can Support Learning at Home

Parents play a powerful role in reinforcing learning beyond the classroom. Craig highlights several simple strategies:

• Read together regularly. Reading builds language, imagination, and connection while strengthening literacy skills.
• Make maths playful. Try skip counting, counting backwards, or simple number games during everyday routines.
• Encourage curiosity. Asking questions and exploring ideas together helps children become lifelong learners.

Most importantly, focus on strengths. Encouragement and affirmation help children develop confidence and resilience.

Learning Is a Team Effort

Early years testing works best when schools and families partner together. Rather than viewing assessments as something to fear, parents can see them as tools that help unlock a child’s potential.

Every child develops differently. With understanding, support, and encouragement, testing becomes less about results and more about helping children flourish – academically, emotionally, and personally.

Article supplied with thanks to Sonshine.

Feature image: Canva