You know when you’re at the deli and the deli assistant weighs the plastic container and then deducts it from the weight of the olives? Life is a bit like that. We see and quantify the substance of a person as we find them today, but what of the weight of past sorrows? Sadness stacksContinue reading “The weight of sorrow”
Author Archives: Emma Castle
Understanding family culture
Families have incredibly complex micro-cultures. You can take two middle class Aussie families and, on the surface, they appear similar. They live in brick and tile houses, they spend Christmas together, they go on holidays to Thailand, or Fiji, or New Zealand. But the minute you start to investigate, gaping differences appear. It’s not justContinue reading “Understanding family culture”
Needless suffering
We all do it. We all have one drink too many, or eat that thing we know makes us sick. We put up with the back pain because we’re too broke or busy too go to the chiropractor. We put off holidays because work – or our boss – is just too crazy right now.Continue reading “Needless suffering”
Creativity is good for you!
Every manmade thing was created by someone. Someone thought, hey, this could work. This might make things better. This is beautiful. There’s this idea that creativity is a hallowed space that you enter deliberately. But no. Cooking dinner is creative. Writing in a birthday card is creative. Creativity is like salt or butter. It makes everything better.Continue reading “Creativity is good for you!”
Losing babies
My husband and I have one child together but after we had him, we lost five babies at varying stages of gestation. Without going into the excruciating details, all I can say is that this is a very common experience. Every second person I speak to shares their story of loss. One of the midwivesContinue reading “Losing babies”
What makes people happy?
I asked about the things that bring you joy and you answered. I wanted to know because I think a lot about how we spend our time and money, and how it affects us. It turns out that joy has nothing to do with money, or indeed, commerce at all (unless we’re talking about buyingContinue reading “What makes people happy?”
What do you really like?
This is going to sound stupid but it’s only recently that I have become aware that there’s a divide between what I like and what I think I should like. I have spent 42 years subconsciously trying to like things that ‘people like me’ like. And by that I mean the person that I want to be. How obnoxious. And now IContinue reading “What do you really like?”
A therapist’s view: How to choose someone to marry
The way we choose someone to marry is completely broken – and here’s why. We do interviews and psychometric testing for jobs but when it comes to choosing a life partner, we use a much less rigorous criteria. People that go into dating with a list are generally frowned upon but there is wisdom inContinue reading “A therapist’s view: How to choose someone to marry”
How to suffer better
“In my interviews [for the book], women spoke often of suffering, and how it should be expected, rather than just avoided. This taught me to resist my Western tendency not to speak of suffering, but rather to accept that suffering happens to all and to really look at our suffering carefully.” Min Jin Lee ItContinue reading “How to suffer better”
Why I love trauma
Some of you will know that I have started a podcast called That Shit Show that focuses on overcoming trauma. So why would anyone in their right mind want to spend so much time thinking and talking about trauma? How could anyone enjoy this stuff? Well, here’s the thing. I do love it. And I am notContinue reading “Why I love trauma”
Together Counselling 