Sarah Wilson, Author at Sarah Wilson

new words for happiness and love

April 25, 2018February 9, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

I’ve been tracking a bunch of lovely, evocative words that have no English equivalent for a while. There’s a joy to learning these “loanwords”. They remind us that there are still things out there that remain undiscovered, unencapsulated. This naivety to the human experience comes as a nice relief. I think also we enjoy the … Read more

The most essentialist observation about what women need in love I’ve ever made

November 6, 2018February 7, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

What do women want? Blokes, there’s only one thing you need to know. When we rant (seemingly) irrationally, when we do something that makes you say, “I damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t”, or when we arch our eyebrow when your response to a confrontation is, “You’re just being complicated” …we are … Read more

I’m finding peace with being a constant mover

November 6, 2018February 2, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

Do you guys remember Hazel Boot? Gosh, she’s great. I love the story of how we “met”. The other day she reached out. And we did some really cool quote sharing. We worked out that we’re both people who need to move a lot. As in, exercise, hike, ride and traverse vast tracts of ground, … Read more

There’s an octopus on the cover of my book because…

February 15, 2017January 31, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

…well, octopuses, as a motif, swam into my life during the process of writing first, we make the beast beautiful. From all kinds of angles. You see, my book is about anxiety. Anxiety is complex. So are octopuses (and yes, it’s “octopuses”, not “octopi”, the latter utilising a Roman suffix, which you can’t do on … Read more

I don’t want to do any more run-ups! Let’s start life!

April 25, 2018January 25, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

How timely. The first post to sit in my new, pretty format (hope you like it?) and it’s about getting this life party started. I happened to notice this article about the challenge facing women in their twenties and thirties on Australian news site Women’s Agenda. The article quotes author and entrepreneur Wendy McCarthy, who says her real … Read more

So, everything is going to look very different…

April 25, 2018January 18, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

…because I’m finally updating this site. This home base will have a redesign. A tightening up. The daggy formatting and fonts will go. She’s having a haircut! It all kicks off next week.

Meantime, here’s a few things I might share about sarahwilson.com, since you’re here. It’s prolly not news to you guys. Most of you have been here with me the whole way.

Sarahwilson.com kicked off 2,757 days ago.

I cut my hair five years ago. Which means the site’s been outdated that long. Oh well. No one has really minded. Bigger fish to fry…

The content I’ve explored here has directed the vibe of my new book, out Feb 28. But more on this next week. Can ya guess?

I’ve written 1,309 posts.

The most popular post is So I’ve written an ebook… (followed closely by The best toxin-free cosmetics – a personal listicle).

My bike helmets rant ended up with 284 comments. (Feel free to wade in!)

Great people I met via the comments on this site: explorer Dan Buettner, writer Kate Grenville, singer Clare Bowditch, actress Susie Porter.

Croissant-gate broke the internet in 2013. Well before Kim Kardashian balanced champagne on her arse.

Think men are useless? Don’t. It only hurts us.

November 6, 2018January 17, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

Justified or not, women can tend to find men frustratingly lazy/self-serving/myopic/unable to plan the kids’ birthday party. And they can tend to voice such frustration often.

I have a friend who shrugs her shoulders and says, regularly, “Look, women are just the more capable half of the race”.

I’ve always felt uncomfortable around this kind of talk. I truly don’t know what to make about where we – the two halves of the race – sit right now. We’re confused about roles. Women feel overworked and underpaid, lumped with too much responsibility. Men feel under-appreciated, misunderstood and emasculated.

But, I don’t reckon bitching about it is good. Moaning and bitching doesn’t feel like the evolved and constructive way to go about shifting things for the better. If anything it’s always seemed resigned and passive and unhelpful. And not kind.

I echo the thoughts of Irin Carmon in this op-ed on What Women Really Think of Men in The New York Times, responding to the “men are useless” cry:

“As a feminist, I disagree. It does women, and society, no favors to grouse about female superiority as a way to let men off the hook. When society writes off men as irredeemable, we all lose.”

There’s another (essentialist) argument to be made here. Anyone mindfully engaged in pondering contemporary gender relations (ie feminists) and who might think their critical thinking is reasonably advanced has a responsibility to carry the debate to higher territory.

Interrupt anxiety with gratitude

November 6, 2018January 12, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

I caught up with Danielle LaPorte the other day. I wanted to ask her a bit about anxiety. She gets it. She writes about it.

I’ve followed her White Hot Truths for a while. And her career in the self-help-of-the-brutal-variety realm. (Note: Danielle tours Australia next month, with special guest Clare Bowditch. Details, and a ticket giveaway, below). A while back she dropped one of her “truth bombs”:

Interrupt anxiety with gratitude

I like this. I’ve dug around on the topic of late. Alex Korb writes in The Grateful Brain, ‘Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle. Your brain only has so much power to focus its attention. It cannot easily focus on both positive and negative stimuli.’ Literally, you can’t be grateful and anxious at the same time. You can, thus, derail your anxiety by being grateful. Chuck a bomb under it!

On top of this, research shows gratitude stimulates the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that regulates anxiety.

Korb adds that the brain loves to fall for the confirmation bias – it looks for things that prove what it already believes to be true. ‘So once you start seeing things to be grateful for, your brain starts looking for more things to be grateful for.’

And thusly interrupting anxiety even more.

I asked Danielle a little more about her anxious thinking.

Me: Why do we get anxious?

DLP: Because every time anxiety shows up, it’s our psyche’s way of saying, “Knock knock, I’ve got something to show you about yourself that you really should see.”

Me: How do you cope with it?

Always telling people to quit sugar? Now you can get paid for it…

April 25, 2018January 10, 2017 by Sarah Wilson

Hey, you’re probably one of those people who tells their mates and family about the I Quit Sugar 8-Week Program rather a lot. Maybe you’re a personal trainer or nutritionist and recommend it to your clients? And perhaps you’ve thought, “I should be getting commission for this!”. We’ve thought the same and my crew over … Read more

Here’s the beauty products I pack when I travel…

April 22, 2018December 14, 2016 by Sarah Wilson

This year I’ve travelled a lot. And, in fact, for the past three years I’ve lived mostly in transit. And so my “beauty regime” in general is a simple and mobile affair.

My travel case. This is everything I use, daily. All of it. Even when not travelling.

A big bunch of you ask me via the socials to share what such a regime looks like and today I’m obliging.

Previously when I’ve done beauty posts The Folk Who Make The Products That I Use have reached out to offer a discount to you guys. I figured I’d do this again, in time for Christmas. Please be aware, however, that the recommendations are genuine – I purchased all products myself and sought discounts for you later. Cool?

PS catch up on my advertising and sponsorship policy.

How I pack my travel beauty kit

I travel very light and this has informed how I “do” beauty in general (since I live light anyway).

As a general rule, I work with beauty products with the least number of ingredients, preferably just the one.
I don’t fall for “organic” or “natural” labelling. “Organic” can mean only a few of the ingredients were grown and produced organically, not all. You can learn more about this here.
You can also learn about what to look out for in beauty products. And how to chose a toxin-free sunscreen.
I work with concentrated products – extra strong formulas only requiring small amounts, thus requiring small packaging.
I work with stuff that’s multi-purposeful – jojoba oil for cleansing, moisturising, facial scrub and hair control, for instance.
I transfer bulk stuff (eg shampoo) into travel bottles that I reuse (I avoid buying travel-size bottles as such…because it’s not a great use of packaging).
Everything in my kit can go carry-on (ie is under 100ml), as this is how I often travel.
I don’t carry body moisturiser…If things get dry, I use some olive or coconut oil from Air BnB kitchens, etc. At home, I do the same (with my own).
As an aside, I use a travel alarm clock. This one above is my second in 21 years. They last a looooong time. I NEVER sleep with my mobile near me.