There is purpose and beauty in caring for another.
A Carer’s Journal is a collection of articles based on the lived experiences, observations and learnings of many carers. Their writings reveal and share the joy, beauty and adventure of caring for another. To care for and nurture is exquisite and transforms both carer and cared for.
Journal articles
It Takes a Village: a Cancer Diagnosis and its Implication on the People Around Me
When you receive a diagnosis of cancer, it is not only you that receives it. There is a whole circle of people that are equally affected by the news. This was not something I realised ...
Saying Yes to Receiving Care
I recently became a client of a mental health service. The service is part of a charity that works with people ‘to end homelessness and tackle disadvantage’. Am I homeless, you may ask? Am I ...
Dignity – Nature’s Way
This morning, a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the breakfast table began to fade, flower petals dropped, leaves turned yellow and wilted. Did I love them any less? No. Did I weep at their passing? ...
Is Lack of Self-Care Self-Abuse?
Why is lack of self-care so prevalent and accepted as normal behaviour? In a support group for carers recently, one participant began sharing about their decades-long relationship of constant verbal and occasional physical abuse. During ...
The Quality of our Presence in care
Often, when I go to my client’s house after a day at work at the local school, if I arrive rushed and trying to just get the job done then I can feel this whilst ...
How My Work as a Carer Offered Reflections and Healing in my own life
Having just spent 14 days at my new job as a live-in carer, supporting a lady aged 94, whose earlier life would have been similar to mine, what I saw of the everyday normal was ...
Our Daily Rhythm and the Quality of Our Care
When I started working as a carer, I had no idea where it would lead. I had made a career change from working in education, management, and consultancy. Some would say I took a downward ...
Does Material Wealth Bring Joy? A Carer’s Observation.
In the business of live-in aged care work, we not only respond to the physical and mental ill-health conditions of clients. There is more. Yes, we have a job to do. We are also there ...
Working as a Carer – More than just a job
I have worked as a carer with my client for about 8 years now. We have built a beautiful friendship over this time to the point where really, we feel like family. Our client-carer relationship ...