Stylish Spaces

My son turns 21 tomorrow. He is my first born and as first borns do, I learnt far more about myself from having and raising him than I imagine he ever did from me. Every milestone with him was more exciting, exhilarating and sometimes nerve-racking because it was my first as well. First tooth, first hospital visits, first spoken word, first baby steps, first long-haul air travel, first nursery, first school play, first playdate, first parent's evening, first SATs, first GCSEs, and the list goes on and on.  Being a first born also meant I made all my never-to-be-repeated classic parenting mistakes on him. In that he certainly got a raw deal. It also meant I burdened him at times with being more responsible, or setting an example for his younger sisters where he could have certainly done with being more carefree. I have unashamedly over the years relied on him to validate myself as a mom, but both of us have fooled each other not one bit. I am his mom or 'mumma' as he ca...

I really can't speak for anyone else here, but in my moments of solace, every introspection or retrospection I have given myself the luxury to indulge in regarding what I have deemed my many 'failures'  in life have all led me to one very uncomfortable realization - that most often than not I was the one standing in the way of my success and happiness. Yep! No one else. For all my subconscious strategies of blaming x, y or z for my unhappiness; all the while it was me sabotaging my own success and holding me back from reaching my full potential. We really are more in control of our destiny than we think. But... herein lies the very problem - control -  and our desire to have too much of it. We are so conditioned to take control, act now, grip things by the horn, be in the forefront and try our hardest to make a success out of every situation - that sometimes we forget to relinquish it; which we absolutely must do if w...