The short version:

• Stationery obsessed, Journal Junkie
• Wife, mother, daughter, friend
• Prolific tea and wine drinker
• Qualified Life Coach (Currently working on becoming a Master Life Coach)
• Chocolate Lover
• Procrastinator
• Neo generalist
• Anxiety battler
• Owner of too many striped tops
• Doodler 
• Avid Traveller

If you want to find out more the longer version is below!

I am married to a wonderfully supportive man and am a mother to two gorgeous girls and step mother to two amazing young women (both have made me a grandmother - way too young but I love it).  I drink too much tea or wine (depending on the time of day or the type of day), usually accompanied with a healthy dose of chocolate.  I love spending time surrounded by family and friends but am equally happy curled up on the sofa with a good book or some pens and a journal.

I have had a varied career and love taking on new challenges.  I have been a photographer, financial planner, business owner and employee.  I love reading, writing, drawing (really anything creative) and am constantly learning. I consider myself a neo generalist or a multipotentialite (great term isn't it?)

I am now a qualified life coach and enjoy helping people find their passion and work to achieve their goals.  All through the art of journaling.  This has led me to create The Journal Hub.

So why The Journal Hub?

Throughout my adult life I have suffered from depression and anxiety at different times.  The first time was after the birth of my second child, I was suffering from post natal depression.  At that point I understood it, my mind went crazy with hormones, I was in an unhappy marriage and struggling to run my business on my own.  With the help of medication, exercise, change of diet and the support of my family and friends, I worked through that period and made some big decisions about my life.  I changed careers and decided my marriage wasn’t working.  I turned to journaling and counselling to help me discover what I really wanted and needed.  It helped, I got off the medication and began to feel like the old me.

Fast forward a few years and I had it all together, or so I thought.  I found a wonderful, supportive man, my girls were happy and healthy, we were building our dream home and I had a good job.  But I wasn’t happy – I was having panic attacks, crying a lot and just not coping.  This time I didn’t understand it – I had so much to be grateful for and still couldn’t find any joy!

I felt guilty for feeling like this – I had so much.  There are so many people with much less that seem happy, what was wrong with me?  The shame led to greater anxiety and hiding my feelings which simply perpetuated the problem.

There were (and still are) a number of things in my life I wanted to achieve, but I just kept procrastinating, as I was struggling to find my purpose or my way.  To relieve the unhappiness, I buffered it by overeating and overdrinking, by trying to please others and overcommitting myself.  This led to feeling bad about myself, letting people down and as a result the cycle continues…… but I didn't want it to.

It started me on quest to discover more about how our minds work and how I could use that knowledge to heal myself.  It led me back to my journaling, using it as a tool to express my feelings, get myself more organised and enable me to coach myself out of my mid-life funk.

I found tools to help me work through some unresolved emotions, to change my thinking and in turn my results.  I am still a work in progress  - it took me 46 years to get here, I’m not going to turn it around in a day – but I can say it’s working and I’m feeling so much more joy in my life. 

On my road trip of discovery (I won’t use the word “journey” is seems too calm, this was an up and down, bumpy, chaotic road trip) I realised I was not alone.  Many women felt this way.

I believe we get to 45+ and we start to question ourselves.  We have ticked off the boxes:

• Finished School
• Go to Uni or College
• Find a Career
• Find a Partner
• Build a home
• Have the kids
• Get divorced and find another partner (both optional, just relevant in my case)
• Kids gain more independence

Now what?

Often we have a job that we stayed in, because we had to pay the bills and still be available for the kids.  But now what – is this it for the next 20 years until we retire.  Welcome to the mid-life funk – you are not alone and there is nothing wrong with you!

The Journal Hub was born.  I wanted to share the knowledge I have built up over the last five years of searching for answers in one place, so you don’t have struggle as long as I did.   This is a place where you can find the tools and get the support to make this next stage of your life everything you dreamed of and more.

I have become qualified as life coach so I can teach you the tools to coach yourself.  These are tools you will use throughout the rest of your life and perhaps teach to others. To find joy, achieve your goals and live your best life.  Together we make this part of the crazy road trip of life, absolutely rock!

So it's time to grab your journal or notebook, take some time for yourself and work out what you really want.  Then we can focus on making it happen.