The difference between wants and needs seems simple at first. Needs are what keep us alive and stable, whereas wants are what make life enjoyable and expressive. Yet for many of us this distinction can feel complicated. For women, and especially for mothers, the confusion between wants and needs feels almost inevitable. It's shaped by culture and caregiving roles and an unspoken expectation of self sacrifice. Looking at wants and needs as a hierarchy offers a way to step back

Every year, once Christmas starts to wind down, the idea of New Year’s resolutions shows up again. Whereas, on social media sites in the weeks before Christmas it's wall to wall posts of creamy, buttery, indulgent recipes and lavish home decor, on around the 27th of December it pivots sharply to exercise, diets and decluttering. It's enough to cause whiplash! Having said that, the new year provides an obvious time to review life and make goals. It's a way of starting convers

Image https://rayhurley.ie/ We're nearly there; in a few short days we'll be at the shortest day of the year and Ireland's obsession with 'The Grand Stretch' will begin again. In our house growing up, the first announcement would happen sometime around now. My Dad would look up from his dinner and say 'you know, there'll be 15 minyits in the evenings by the 6th of January' . He pronounced minutes as if there was a spanish tilde over the n. It was one of the marks of his east

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Image: Daily Mail Are You a People-Pleaser? If you've ever said "yes" while your gut screamed "no," bent over backward to avoid conflict,...

Image: RTE.ie In Ireland, we do death well. That might seem like an odd thing to say, perhaps even inappropriate to some, but to anyone...

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(Getty images) Have you ever watched one of those American TV shows about extreme hoarders? The presenters can barely walk into the...

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I was twenty two before I really experienced grief. Growing up in the west of Ireland I was familiar with the rituals surrounding death....

​There's a lot of change going on in my life, both personally and professionally at the moment. I have recently left the job I had for...

It’s ironic that the draft of this post has been sitting in my laptop for at least a month now. All I managed in that time was the...