‘Single’ does not mean ‘Available’

November 16, 2012 in Dating, Marriage, People, Relationships, Self, Society

I’m single. At 32, many of my friends are married with 2 kids. Due to my age and my status of ‘single’, people assume I’m actively looking for love. Or that I need help in finding a man, when the fact of the matter is yes: I am single. But no, I am not available. The word ‘single’ seems to conjure up responses of pity from people who think I must be desperate to find a mate, pining away over my borderline ‘crazy cat lady’ lifestyle when in reality I’m not upset. And I’m not sitting around wishing Prince Charming [...]

Eating Alone: Uncomfortable or Bliss?

July 31, 2012 in Entertainment, Food & Recipes, Lifestyle, Mental Health, People, Self, Technology

Eating alone can be quite confrontational, especially for those who are not secure in themselves or who do not enjoy their own company. There’s a lot of stigma to eating alone, the implication that there’s somehow something wrong with it. That it makes you a sad person who has no friends. I’ve been a victim of this way of thinking. On Sunday I had breakfast out on my own. It’s not something I’d normally do and while I went to the cafe we go to every week for breakfast as soon as I sat down they brought over two menus [...]

Suddenly Single: How I became a single mother. And what I learnt.

April 5, 2012 in Children, Marriage, Mothers

“I’m moving out. I don’t think I want to be married anymore. I’m not happy” came the calm reply, after I had cornered my husband and asked what was wrong. He had been avoiding me all night. Those words were like a hammer to my chest. Suddenly everything felt surreal. We had been unhappy in our marriage for a few years, but I didn’t think things were as bad as that. Now I look back, I can see that my husband had been verbally and emotionally abusing me for years, but all I could think was he was leaving me. [...]