the.growingroom

17/05/2026

17/05/2026

Yesterday I stepped out of my comfort zone and into a challenge.
A challenge,I had watched so many people face over the last three decades of my life and felt touched by.
Their strength, determination, personal battles, and courage.
I felt the anxiety swell and the fear mount as I stood in the queue. The queue that sidelined the event for all to see...
As we approached the front, I saw that I would face the challenge alone as I didn't have an adult partner.. Something about this made me even more determined to complete it.
As a child survivor of a road collision that could have been so much worse, physical fear anxiety has always been a part of my life.
As I approached my moment, I felt the ever familiar swells of physical panic, the intrusive self-doubting thoughts swam in to join the party too. Having faced years of bullying in the academic, all girls, private establishments I attended: the familiar echoes of 'you're not good enough, fit enough, small enough," chorused round my mind like a hoard of heckling school girls.
Determined to compete, I found my position and nodded when asked, "contender ready?" The singular, hitting like a sledge hammer and confirming my reliance on me, myself, and I for the next minute or so.
I passed through the oh so famous black gates and fell to the mat. The over pouring of emotion and relief I was expecting that, I had watched so many times, didn't come. I felt flat, sad and frustrated : I tripped on the travellator, I bottled out of the zip line and ran down instead, my time was rubbish...
On we went with our experience, the sense of regret and shame weighing on my shoulders.
Today, I fought myself to watch my attempt back.
I had asked my wonderful 10 year old neuro spicey girl, who I had taken to the experience as it is our current hyperfocus, to film me.
I had no idea how it would affect me. As I watched her commentary begins: "go on Mummy," and ends "mummy wins," I recalled when I finished her hugs, congratulations and words of comfort "mum, don't worry, when I am bigger we will do it again and I will zip line with you."
Our invitation today: see yourself through the eyes of your biggest fan : shine. 🌱

15/05/2026

We can only parent with the tools we have, the rest is on the job so mistakes will be made...be patient. Parents learn and grow too

You cannot rewrite their past, but you can choose a different future for yourself. That is how cycles begin to break. 🌟💫🌈🎉💪

14/05/2026

We don't think it is ANY coincidence the sun has its hat on, as the SATs finish today

An invitation from us:
Step outside
Breath (maybe for the 1st time since Monday)
Decompress

🌱🙏

10/05/2026

I think one of the most unexpected parts of growth is realizing the things that once completely unraveled you do not hit the same anymore.

Not because you stopped caring.
Not because life suddenly became easy.

But because somewhere along the way, you learned how to hold yourself through it differently.

You recover faster. You overthink less. You stop letting temporary moments convince you your whole life is falling apart. And sometimes you do not even notice how much you have changed until something happens that used to break you… and it doesn’t anymore.

That is growth too.

09/05/2026

❣️

09/05/2026

The older I get, the more I realize how rare it is to come across people who are genuinely kind. Not performative, not selective, not only kind when it benefits them. Just thoughtful in the way they move through the world and the way they treat people.

And once you experience that kind of energy, you stop overlooking it.

06/05/2026

You don’t always notice it while it’s happening.

The way you’re thinking differently. The way certain things don’t shake you like they used to. The quiet moments where you respond instead of react, where you choose yourself without overexplaining.

It’s subtle, but it’s real.

And one day you look back and realize… you didn’t just get through it. You became someone stronger, calmer, more sure of yourself along the way.