💭 Today’s thought bubble... health mindset and advertising.
Did you know that, apart from the US, New Zealand is the only country in the world that broadly allows direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines? 💊📺
Thinking about AI and Spring 🌸🤖🌱
This morning I found the first signs of spring... a few flowers here and there, and blossoms starting to line the trees in the neighbourhood. 🌸🌿 And it got me thinking about the advance of AI... and how things are getting interesting.
I’m enjoying posting at the moment. I’ve taken a bit more time for creative thinking because of the project I’m working on. It’s a bit like going to the gym.. I’m exercising ideas. 🧠🏋️♀️✨
I have all the AI programmes I need for work and can use them if I want. It’s like having a personal assistant. When I’m tired and need it to sharpen an email, churn out some SEO's or need a nutshell meaning of a 45-page contract — it’s great. I love it. 🤣
And I have a little bit of fun making pictures and videos. It’s certainly helpful for cementing a visual idea when you don’t have a designer on call. 🎨🎬 But something occurred to me today.
When I do my social posts, I enjoy taking photographs and putting together montages of things I find on my travels. 📸 The photos attached to this post were taken this morning. I like that they’re real. Not perfect, but real. 🌼
When I tell my stories and put my theories forward, they come from a real person and from learned experiences. Things I’ve seen, things I’ve done, mistakes I’ve made, people I’ve met, places I’ve been. Life. ❤️
And I think that’s my point. AI takes away a lot of the fun. A party pooper.
As a creative person, I like taking time. ⏳ I like that my latest work has taken a few years, because beautiful elements have found their way into what I’m doing simply because of things that have happened to me along the way. 🌿✨
You can’t hurry those things. You have to live them.
Why would anyone want to do away with the fun... and pay for the privilege? 🤣🤖💸
I don’t know, but I don’t think AI is gonna get a lot of subscription money out of me. 😂
Useful assistant? Absolutely.
Replacement for the messy, slow, surprising business of being creative? Nah. 🌸🎶📸
Spring takes its time too... and every year, a new delight. 🌱🌸🌳
How much are you using AI?
Thinking about AI and Spring 🌸🤖🌱
Thinking about AI and Spring 🌸🤖🌱
This morning I found the first signs of spring... a few flowers here and there, and blossoms starting to line the trees in the neighbourhood. 🌸🌿 And it got me thinking about the advance of AI... and how things are getting interesting.
I’m enjoying posting at the moment. I’ve taken a bit more time for creative thinking because of the project I’m working on. It’s a bit like going to the gym.. I’m exercising ideas. 🧠🏋️♀️✨
Social Post 16th August 2026
💭 What is a good life and what is the artist? 🎨 That’s the thought bubble today.
What is a good life and what is the artist? That’s the thought bubble today.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, mainly because I’m having the time of my life right now. And yet, by society’s rules and judgements, perhaps I should be packing up the tools and going away quietly? But how can I, when I feel like I’m only just reaching my prime?
When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to live the life of an artist. In 7th form, I was the only person in my music class and one of only two in my art class. We even had our own prefab for our work, which was way cool.
I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn’t know how I could possibly make a living doing it. Art wasn’t something that was supposed to pay the bills.
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🧠✨ Life Hack #4440: The Antidote to Anxiety When You’re Working on Something BIG
I hit a few speed wobbles a day or so ago. 🎢 Ideas and words were flinging themselves around in my head like a drunk trapeze artist. 🤹♂️🍷 And for the first time, I thought:
How am I going to do this? 😳 How am I going to pull all of this together when it’s so HUGE? 🫣
I’d come up against a fairly substantial obstacle. My own head. 🤦♂️🧠 Then something happened. ✨
A draft arrived in my emails; another part of the story, brought to life through a creative edit. 📖💻
I sat down. I read it. And I calmed down. 😌
That’s the thing when you’re in the middle of a project that consumes pretty much every spare moment you have. You become a bit of a creative recluse. 🐚 You’re so focused on where all of this is going that you forget to breathe and pay attention to where you actually are.
🌱 Today. Today is the only day you’ve got.
Then I remembered something important. 💡
Anxiety often comes from projecting ourselves into the future and worrying about things that haven’t happened and may never happen. I was trying to imagine the future when it hadn’t happened yet. 🔮 So I came back down to earth. 🌏 Back to today.
Back to the next page. 📖 The next idea. 💡 The next little step. 👣 And you know what? Everything is good. I’m getting there. 🙌✨
And thanks to the amazing people around me, I have the support, skills and resources to take each part to the next step when it’s ready. 🤝
To my support team, thank you. You know who you are. ❤️ I’m incredibly grateful. 🙏
And to all my social friends who have been following along, encouraging me, commenting, messaging and generally egging me on… Thank you too. 🙏🥰
It’s good to know you’re all out there. ❤️
So, Life Hack #4440:
When the big picture starts freaking you out, stop crystal ball gazing. 🔮🚫
Come back to today. 🌱 Breathe. 🌿 Then do the next thing. 👣
That’s enough. ❤️ ❤️ #lifehack4440 #CreativeJourneyJourney #trusttheprocesscess #onedayatatime #CreativeLife #BigProjects #staytunedPresent #keepgoing #grateful #BackToToday #smallbusiness #creativebusinessowner
🧠✨ Life Hack #4440: The Antidote to Anxiety When You’re Working on Something BIG
🧠✨ Life Hack #4440: The Antidote to Anxiety When You’re Working on Something BIG
I hit a few speed wobbles a day or so ago. 🎢 Ideas and words were flinging themselves around in my head like a drunk trapeze artist. 🤹♂️🍷 And for the first time, I thought:
How am I going to do this? 😳 How am I going to pull all of this together when it’s so HUGE? 🫣
💭 Thought bubble: Imagination, prosperity and digital currency. 💸✨
Living as a creative 🎶🎨, I’ve never really had a true 9–5, and I’ve never been able to save up for things in the way people with a steady income often can.
That being said, I have all the things I need around me to be content. ❤️ I don’t crave a lot of things, and every day I’m grateful 🙏 for the way this weird creative life is turning out.
I was thinking about digital currency the other day 📱💰, and the way my mind works around money.
It took me back to being a little kid at my dad’s panel shop 🚗, counting out the notes and coins 💵🪙 for the employees and putting them into their pay packets. To this day, when I’m thinking about buying something, I imagine the actual cash paying for it. I don’t picture a number sitting in an online account.
And then I realised something. 💡 Most of the things that have come into my life, I imagined first. 💭✨
Without my imagination, I don’t think I would have done half of what I’ve done. Maybe that’s part of the reason I still prefer using cash. There’s something tangible about it. An idea becomes a possibility, the resources arrive, and then that possibility becomes real. 🌱
Here’s a concrete example.
I came back from Australia 🇦🇺 in the mid ’90s feeling a bit down and very broke, and decided I didn’t want to be a muso anymore. At the time, I had this idea that artists had to be poor to be any good. 🎸 I called my mum ❤️ and she asked me what I wanted to do.
I said, “I’ve never travelled or done an OE. It would be great if I could get a Ford ad or something, so I could raise the money to travel while I think about what I’m going to do next.” ✈️🌍
A week later, I was offered the opportunity to perform in a Ford TVC. 🚙📺
I said, “Let me write the tune too.” 🎶
And the agency said, “Yeah, OK.”
A few months later, I flew to Europe. ✈️🇪🇺 (*TVC link below)
Call it imagination, intention, manifestation, coincidence, whatever language works for you. ✨ But I’ve noticed this pattern throughout my life:
**I can see something before it becomes a reality.** 👀💰
And perhaps that’s part of what worries me about children growing up with money that is almost entirely digital. 📱
Cash makes resources tangible. 💵 You can hold it, count it, divide it, save it and exchange it for something you’ve imagined having or doing. There’s a physical connection between the idea and the means of making it happen. 💭➡️💰➡️🌏
Maybe teaching kids about cash isn’t only about financial literacy. 🪙
Maybe it’s also about helping them understand the relationship between imagination, intention and resources. ✨🌱
If we can imagine where we want to go and have some idea of what we want to do when we get there somehow, sometimes, the rest follows.
**Do you have a story about something you imagined first… and then somehow the money or opportunity followed?** 💭✨
Here us a link to the ad... I did the stunt driving... just sayin' 💰. . https://youtube.com/watch?v=A-gctVNi_uk
#CreativeLife #Imagination #FinancialLiteracy #DigitalCurrency #MoneyMindset
💭 **Thought bubble: Imagination, prosperity and digital currency.** 💸✨
Living as a creative , I’ve never really had a true 9–5, and I’ve never been able to save up for things in the way people with a steady income often can. That being said, I have all the things I need around me to be content. I don’t crave a lot of things, and every day I’m grateful for the way this weird creative life is turning out. I was thinking about digital currency the other day , and the way my mind works around money.
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❄️ Mind Mull: Ice & the Grouchies 🎶💙😊
I love this time of year. Mind you, I love all the seasons... for different reasons. 🍂🌸☀️❄️
When I was in my early 20s, I was a bit grouchy most of the time. The world seemed like such a bleak place. My dad would always say, "Put on some happy music, that'll cheer you up." 🎵😊 I used to laugh at him.
Now, after a few more years of living and thinking about anger, energy, and the vibes we bring into the world, I've realised he was absolutely right. 💡✨
Another lesson life has taught me is that not everyone is going to like us... and if we're really honest, we don't like everyone either. 🤷♀️
People naturally gravitate towards those they resonate with, and that's perfectly okay. Once we accept our differences, life gets a whole lot easier. 🌿💛
The beautiful flip side is this: if it's okay for someone to disagree with me, then I'm not obligated to agree with them either. Respect doesn't require agreement. 💛🤝
Which brings me back to anger and division.
I've never seen NZ quite like it is today. 🇳🇿 So many strong opinions, and sometimes it feels as though everyone believes their way is the only way.
Maybe it's time we all took a sip from the cup of acceptance and forgiveness. ☕💙 None of us has the right to force others to think the way we do. 🕊️
So here's my antidote to the glooms:
🎶 I put on happy, high-vibe music (and if the mood strikes, I dance! 💃🎶).
🙏 Then I make a list of everything I'm grateful for. ✨
Today, here are three things I'm grateful for about my country: 🇳🇿❤️
❄️ 1. We get ridiculously excited when it snows or there's ice on the grass. ⛄
👋 2. I can walk around my neighbourhood, say hello to people, and they smile and chat back. 😊
❤️ 3. I know that if I truly needed help or support, my friends and neighbours would be there for me. 🤗
Now it's your turn...
💭 What are three things you love about living in NZ? 🇳🇿💙
🎵 Or what's one song that instantly lifts your mood and raises your frequency? 🎧✨
I'd love to hear your answers. 😊💙
Social Post: ❄️ Mind Mull: Ice & the Grouchies 🎶💙😊 Friday 7th August 2026
Mind Mull: Ice & the Grouchies I love this time of year. Mind you, I love all the seasons... for different reasons. When I was in my early 20s, I was a bit grouchy most of the time. The world seemed like such a bleak place. My dad would always say, "Put on some happy music, that'll cheer you up." I used to laugh at him. Now, after a few more years of living and thinking about anger, energy, and the vibes we bring into the world, I've realised he was absolutely right.
Read MoreSocial Post: Awards & Guinea Pigs
Awards and Guinea Pigs A few things happen in life that you remember forever. Receiving an award is usually one of them. Recently, a Gen Z'er was surprised to learn I'd won a couple of music awards back in the day. I received a Tui for Songwriter of the Year for It's My Sin, and also Most Promising Female Artist. (I wasn't all that promising in the end. ) And they weren't even born then.
Read MoreSocial Post: Creative magic and other things along the way....
Something magical happens once you decide to walk down a creative path.
For my next project, all the creative elements will come from real things. I'll enlist (and pay) talented designers to create the collateral, and as I formulate the ideas for the briefs, something curious always seems to happen...
Read MoreYour 7th decade ain't half bad I reckon....
Your 7th decade ain't half bad I reckon.
For me, I am the sharpest, fittest and best rendition of myself I've ever been. No doctors. No meds. No anxiety about the future because I live in the now.
Now that the kids are older, I can also put more effort into my next big dream... which, for now, I'll keep to myself. I'll let you know when it's achieved.
Read MoreSocial Post: 27th July 2026: Creative New Zealand CNZ job cuts
I have a little something to say about this because I don't like seeing job cuts... in any industry, but especially in the one I have worked in all my life.
I have faced 35 years of rejection from Creative New Zealand When I was younger it was bitterly disappointing. It made me question my ability and wonder whether I was good enough. But over time I learned one of the biggest lessons of my career... I couldn't let disappointment stop me. I had to find another way.
Read MoreSocial Post: 25th July 2026 - My wardrobe, importing cheap goods and low wages....
Today's very exciting thought bubble is about my wardrobe, importing cheap goods and low wages in New Zealand... because that is the way my head rolls.
Today's outfit included a pair of Minnie Cooper boots I've had since 1990. They keep coming back into fashion, so every time they do, I bring them out again. They're just as amazing as they've always been. I've had them resoled a few times, but they were worth every nickel and dime I saved to buy them at the time (yes, I saved up to buy them...).
Read MoreSocial Post: 19 July 2026 Panelbeaters, midgets and a simple life.
When I was a kid, I used to beg my dad to take me into his panel shop on Saturday mornings. I loved being around all the cars, the smell of the workshop, and even the stacks of paper in the office.
I made an art form out of being a tomboy. Except when I was hanging around the wrecking yard watching cars being dismantled... then I'd imagine I was a princess and all the smashed glass scattered across the ground were tiny diamonds.
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Social Post: 15th July 2026 - Thought bubble - about AI and Bacteria
Thought ...about AI and Bacteria I’ve just been having an interesting discussion with a friend about AI. …..My theory has always been a bit like War of the Worlds. In that story, the thing that ultimately destroyed the alien invaders wasn't bigger weapons... it was bacteria.
Read MoreSocial Post: 13th July 2026 - Thought bubble… on social etiquette
Social Post: 13th July 2026 - Thought bubble… on social etiquette
Read MoreSocial Post: 12th July 2026 On getting older with all marbles intact.
Thought bubble…
Now that I’m literally part of ancient history and so much of what I grew up with is sitting in museums I’ve realised something…
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Social Post: Touring. 9th July/ TAFT Arts Festival Taranaki New Plymouth
Social Post: 9 July 2026 One of the best things about playing live shows again is the people I meet and the beautiful places I see. The Taranaki New Plymouth Winter Fest 2026 was such a delight…
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Ideas For Politicians # 2: Making student loans fairer by incentivising the student's investment.
Making Student Loans Fairer By Incentivising The Student’s Investment.
If businesses can claim general expenses, including research, reference and upskilling employees, then why can’t students do the same? Why can’t students carry forward losses from the expense of their courses and offset these against their taxable income when they start working?
Read MoreIdeas for Politicians # 1: How to remove GST from Fresh Food in a targeted way, with existing systems and without decimating treasury coffers
How to remove GST from Fresh Food in a targeted way, with existing systems and without decimating treasury coffers
Read MoreThere is no R in Fee...or why the Free Economy sucks for artists, or anyone really.
Just imagine if I asked you to do a job that could take months, even years, to complete; but before you started, I explained, you may never get paid for it.
Welcome to the world of the artist and musician. This is the environment we work in. Our currency is *IP and Copyright and sometimes we can earn a healthy amount for our output; but for the majority, it’s hit and miss and creative incomes are pretty lean.
Read MoreA Heretics View of the Music Industry Religion
The modern music industry focuses on chart success, data, stats, making money and fame, and, for some, that is aspirational. For me, it has always been a weird religion and one I never really signed up for.
The industry or Popstars have never mesmerised me and I don’t relate to the ethos even though I had plenty of opportunity to drink it in. When I released my second solo album, I gave the cult away so I could forge a music career on my own terms and because of this; I am content today, plus I still produce music and, being a woman of a certain age, that is success in itself.
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