For 25 years Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) has been building circles of support around people facing mental health problems. Even though 1.5 million Australians are trained, MHFA remains one of our country’s best-kept secrets – but I’m hoping to help change that.
For the first ever Mental Health First Aid Day, we’re shining a light on these circles of support and encouraging all Australians to learn life-saving conversation skills.
2025 Mental Health First Aid Day is Tuesday 19th August
We spend up to 80% of our waking day in conversation – in person, on the phone, in virtual meetings, over text or via social media. This year’s theme is “Make every conversation matter”.
I was lucky enough to be able to join a group of 20 or so other individuals recently to undertake the Youth Mental Health First Aid course and thanks to that course I am now a certified Mental Health first aider.
Just like a physical first aider knows how to step in and help during a medical emergency, Mental Health First Aiders are trained to spot the signs of mental health struggles and offer support when it’s needed most.
You’ll find Mental Health First Aiders everywhere — in workplaces, schools, families, friendship groups, and communities. They’re everyday people, just like you and me.
MHFA have created this awesome resource – 25 ways to Make Every Conversation Matter. Grab your own larger version here.
How can you get involved?
Undertake the training & become a MHFAer. Learn life-saving conversation skills to support friends, family, colleagues, neighbours and anyone in your community. https://www.mhfa.com.au/our-courses/
As the coldest days of the Australian winter begin to retreat and the first shy signs of spring appear, we enter a sacred seasonal celebration: Imbolc. In the Southern Hemisphere, Imbolc falls around August 1st, the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is a festival of rebirth, inspiration, and purification, inviting us to nurture the spark of new life within.
While the European version of Imbolc celebrated the early signs of spring in February, those of us in the Southern Hemisphere honour its energy during early August, when the wattle begins to bloom and the days start to lengthen once more. It’s a time of hope and anticipation – spring and summer are just around the corner.
It’s a great time to prepare for growth and time to reconnect with any intentions you set at Yule, then turn those intentions into actions during the upcoming cycle of growth and expansion.
Imbolc Correspondence
Other Names: Oimelc, Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, Festival of Light Deities: Brigid (also spelled Brighid, Bríde, or Brigit), Arianrhod , Cerridwen, Bast, Hestia, Venus, Vesta, Aenghus Og, Eros, Pan, Faunus Colours: White, pale yellow, silver, green, light pink Symbols: Candles & flame, snowdrops and early blooms, lambs, Brigid’s Cross, wells, water Food: Dairy, oatcakes, bread, soups, stews, Seeded loaves, honey cakes, blackberries Drinks: Spiced milk,, warm honey mead, Chamomile tea, apple cider
Things to do at Imbolc
Create a Brigid’s Altar. Set up a space with candles, Brigid’s cross, spring flowers, and white or yellow decorations. Dedicate it to inspiration and healing.
Light Candles at Sunset. As the light returns, lighting candles across your home or sacred space honours the growing sun and Brigid’s flame.
Clean and Bless Your Home. Imbolc is a traditional time for spiritual and physical cleansing. Declutter, smudge, sweep, and open windows to invite in fresh energy.
Plant Seeds (Literally or Metaphorically).Start seeds for your garden or write down creative goals and intentions for the year. This is the time for envisioning what you want to grow.
Craft a Brigid’s Cross or Doll. Using straw, reeds, or even paper, make a protective cross or a doll to place on your altar or near your hearth.
Meditate with the Element of Fire. Spend quiet time with a flame, firepit, or candle. Reflect on what inner flame needs tending in your life.
Visit a Spring or Body of Water. If you’re near natural springs, lakes, or the ocean, honour Brigid by offering flowers or blessings for healing and renewal.
Our plans
Imbolc falls on a Friday this year so I plan to spend the weekend celebrating. We’ll be planting seeds in our greenhouse ahead of the spring planting season. Not entirley sure what as yet. No doubt we’ll go for a beach walk or maybe even take part in our local ParkRun, that winds along the wonderful Tamar River. I’ll be refreshing my altar and decorating it to honour the energy of Imbolc – green and white candles, early spring blooms, and I’ll have a go at making a Brigid’s Cross. We’ll also spend the weekend doing a spring clean and a house blessing then finish off with an Imbolc feast – no doubt a spring lamb roast with roasted root veg, lots of garlic and some crusty bread, then most likely a cheesecake for dessert.
Closing Thoughts
In Australia, celebrating Imbolc is a unique opportunity to harmonise with the land’s rhythm while honouring ancient traditions. Though the snowdrops may be replaced by wattles and early daffodils, the core spirit of Imbolc remains: hope returning, light growing, and life stirring beneath the surface.
Imbolc offers a breath of stillness and anticipation. It reminds us that growth often starts in unseen ways—below the surface, in silence, in the smallest flicker of hope.
Take this time to tend your inner fire. The days may still be short and the winds still cold, but life is on its way.
What is 100 Happy Days? It’s a photo project that challenges you to post something that makes you happy, daily, for 100 days. You can read more about it at 100happydays.com
Click the images to see a larger version.
Looking forward to doing another 100 Days next year
Embracing the Longest Night: Celebrating Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere
As the sun dips to its lowest arc in the sky and the night stretches to its fullest length, we in the Southern Hemisphere arrive at Midwinter—the Winter Solstice, typically falling around June 20th to 22nd. This sacred turning point in the Earth’s seasonal cycle marks not just the longest night of the year, but the quiet rebirth of the light.
Celebrated in cultures across the globe, the Winter Solstice is a time to pause, reflect, and reconnect with both inner stillness and ancient rhythms. For those of us in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or South America, honouring this moment invites us to fully embrace the gifts of winter: introspection, rest, resilience, and hope.
In the dark heart of winter, life appears still. Trees stand bare, animals hibernate, and the land sleeps under a cold, quiet sky. But beneath this stillness, a shift begins. The sun’s light returns, ever so slowly, growing stronger with each passing day.
The Solstice reminds us that even in darkness, transformation is stirring. It is a time of renewal, rebirth, and trust in the cycle of life.
While modern life may push us to keep moving, winter asks us to slow down. To rest. To dream. To go inward and reconnect with the soul’s quiet voice.
The Winter Solstice offers a powerful reminder: the dark is not empty—it is sacred. It is the womb of creation, the cave of wisdom, the place where seeds sleep before they rise again.
Trust in the turning. Honor the stillness. Light your inner flame.
Yule Correspondence
Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Yuletide(Teutonic), Midwinter, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year
Deities: Great Mother, Befana (strega), Holda (teutonic), Isis(egyptian), Triple Goddess, Tonazin(mexican), Lucina(roman), St. Lucy (swedish),Bona Dea (roman), Mother Earth, Eve(Hebrew), Ops(roman Holy Mother), the Snow Queen, Hertha (German), Frey (Norse), Sun Child, Saturn(rome), Cronos (Greek), Horus/Ra(egyptian), Mithras(persian), Balder(Norse), Santa Claus/Odin(teutonic), Holly King, Sol Invicta, Janus(God of Beginnings), Marduk (Babylonian)Old Man Winter
Foods: nuts, apple, pear, caraway cakes soaked with cider, pork, orange, hibiscus or ginger tea, roasted turkey, nuts, fruitcake, dried fruit, cookies
Drinks: eggnog, mulled wine
Things to do at Yule
Light a Solstice Fire (or Candle). Fire has long symbolized the returning sun. Light a bonfire outdoors if you can, or gather indoors with candles or a hearth fire. As you do, reflect on what you are leaving behind—and what new light you hope to nurture.
Reflect and Journal. The Winter Solstice is perfect for inner work.
Prepare a Seasonal Feast. Cook a warming, nourishing meal using winter produce: pumpkins, root vegetables, dark greens, and spices like cinnamon or cloves. Invite loved ones to share in the feast and toast to the return of the light.
Create a Solstice Ritual. Set aside sacred time. Turn off lights. Sit in darkness and silence for a few minutes, then light a single candle. Speak an intention for the year ahead, or write it down and place it on your altar. You can also honour ancestors or the spirits of the land.
Stargaze or Welcome the Sunrise. On Solstice Eve, bundle up and spend time under the stars—the veil of night is longest and often clearest. Or rise early the next morning togreet the returning sun, welcoming it with gratitude and hope.
Decorate with Natural Symbols. Use evergreen branches, pinecones, winter berries, and candles to bring life and meaning into your home. These symbols of resilience and renewal have been used in Solstice traditions for centuries.
What we’re doing
On Solstice eve our council is holding their second annual Solstice in the Square so we are planning on getting dressed up and spreading some pagan goodness. I’m hoping to have a basket of goodies to give out. I took part in a winter solstice headdress workshop so will be wearing that as well.
The 21st would have been my Mum’s birthday. During the day I’ll be spending time with my craft besties so will be taking Yule biscuits and some cake to share. Afterwards our family will have a special meal to honour Mum and celebrate all she meant to us. Then we’ll light some candles on our Yule log. I’ll do some journaling and depending on the weather may do some stargazing for awhile. If not I’ll sit by the fire and enjoy a warm beverage.
In closing I leave you with a Winter Solstice blessing –
May the long night bring you peace. May your dreams be deep, your rest be full, and your spirit be warmed by the fire within. Blessed Midwinter. Blessed Solstice. The light will return.
Honouringthe Veil: Celebrating Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere
As the days shorten and the air grows crisp in late April and early May, those attuned to the Wheel of the Year in the Southern Hemisphere begin to feel the deep pull of Samhain, the ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. While Northern Hemisphere traditions place Samhain on October 31st, aligning the sabbat with our seasonal cycle means celebrating it around April 30th to May 1st—a time when the land truly begins its descent into darkness.
Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals. It marks the final harvest, the end of the light half of the year, and the beginning of the dark half. It is also a time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, offering us a powerful opportunity to honour ancestors, spirits, and the mystery of death and rebirth.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the Wheel of the Year spins differently. Celebrating Samhain in autumn rather than spring aligns us with the true energetic rhythm of the land. Trees shed their leaves, the nights grow longer, animals begin to retreat, and we are called inward—to reflect, release, and remember.
Aligning the sabbat with the actual seasonal cues around us honours the original purpose of Samhain: to acknowledge the changing of the Earth’s cycle, the wisdom of impermanence, and the beauty of death as part of life.
Samhain Correspondence
Other names: The Great Sabbat, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide Day, Sauin or Souney ( Manx), oidhche na h-aimiléise-the night of mischief or confusion(Ireland), Oidhche Shamna (Scotland)
Deities: The Crone, Hecate (Greek), Cerridwen (Welsh-Scottish), Baba Yaga (Russian), Bast (Egyptian), Persephone (Greek), Hel (Norse), Kali (Hindu), all Death & Otherworld Goddesses, Horned Hunter (European), Cernnunos(Greco-Celtic), Osiris (Egyptian), Hades (Greek), Anubis (Egyptian), Coyote Brother (Native American), Loki (Norse), Dis (Roman), Arawn (Welsh), acrificial/Dying/Aging Gods, Death and Otherworld Gods
Colours: Purple, black, orange, silver
Symbols: Pine cones, autumnal flowers, wheat stalks, acornsApples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, Indian corn, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon
Cook a feast of remembrance, using seasonal produce
Reflect and release
Connect to the spirit – it’s a great time for divination work
Embrace the darkness – take time for silence, solitude and inner reflection. Journal, meditate or walk at dusk
What we’re doing
I made a couple of batches of soup and this delicious potato and bacon soup was our tea with cheesy toast. I light a candle to remember loved ones who have passed. I’ll also do some journaling. If you’d like to grab the journaling prompts I’m using, you can grab them here.
Celebrating Samhain in the Southern Hemisphere invites us to honour both tradition and place. It is a time to pause, remember, and reconnect with the natural cycle of life and death. As the Earth sleeps, so too can we dream more deeply, tend to our inner world, and prepare for the rebirth that will come again.
May this Samhain bring you peace, clarity, and connection—to your ancestors, your spirit, and the sacred rhythms of the land.
Today (25th April) is ANZAC Day, a day where Australians and New Zealanders pause to remember the sacrifices of soldiers past and present. Sharing ANZAC biscuits (yes it is a biscuit – not a cookie!) on this day is more than a culinary tradition—it’s a way to honour history and connect with community.
Few treats carry as much historical significance—or delicious nostalgia—as the humble ANZAC biscuit. Crispy on the edges, chewy in the centre, and golden with a hint of caramel, these iconic biscuits are a beloved staple in Australian and New Zealand homes. But their charm goes far beyond taste: they’re steeped in wartime history and national pride.
ANZAC biscuits originated during World War I, named after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). These biscuits were baked by the wives and mothers of soldiers and sent in care packages to the front lines. They were designed to last the long journey across oceans without spoiling—made without eggs, using ingredients that were accessible and shelf-stable at the time.
ANZACs, as they are lovingly know as, are protected by law. The term ANZAC itself is legally protected by Australian law and there are very strict rules around the use of the term Anzac biscuits.
The use of the word ‘Anzac’ in the commercial production and sale of Anzac biscuits is usually approved, however the biscuits must not substantially deviate from the generally accepted recipe and shape, and must be referred to as ‘Anzac Biscuits’ or ‘Anzac Slice’ (not ‘Anzac Cookies’). Where a recipe or the finished product substantially deviate from the generally accepted form (e.g. include ingredients such as chocolate or fruit), the manufacturer should consider renaming them so that the word ‘Anzac’ is not used.
Recently DVA has noted a significant increase in applications to use the word ‘Anzac’ in the production of Anzac biscuits where recipes include ingredients that cater for specific dietary requirements, including gluten free and vegan ingredients. If recipes substitute ingredients for dietary requirements, this is not considered a deviation. Permission to use the word ‘Anzac’ has been granted for the production of such Anzac biscuits where ingredients have been substituted.
From the Australian Government Department of Veteran Affairs, Use of the word “Anzac” Guidelines
Want to give them a go yourself? This recipe is from the Australian War Memorial
ANZAC Biscuits
The following recipe comes from the Australian War Memorial.
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup white sugar
1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
½ cup butter (melted)
1 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp boiling water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Preheat oven to 160℃ (320℉).
Combine oats, sugar and flour.
Mix golden syrup, boiling water and soda until they froth. Pour into butter.
Combine butter mixture with dry mixture.
Drop teaspoons of mixture onto a lightly floured tray, allowing room for spreading.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
Instead of a floured tray , you can use baking paper on your tray.
For crispier biscuits, allow to cool on the tray.
Baking, Snack
ANZAC, Biscuit
Whether you’re honouring ANZAC Day or just craving a warm, homey biscuit, these little golden discs are a perfect way to celebrate a shared heritage—and indulge in a bit of history with every bite.
Have you made ANZAC biscuits before? Do you make yours with coconut? Share your thoughts or your favourite version in the comments below!
