Stephen Mitchell | Life Lessons, Creativity & Personal Growth
Observations on Being a Weekend Father, Creating New Memories and Figuring Life Out
I’ve been cleaning windows on Kangaroo Island since 2018. Flyscreens. Window tracks. The lot. I do it so everyone has a clear view. Oh, and I’m also a volunteer radio presenter at 5KIxFM 90.7. And now, I’m a KIBBA member. For quite a while I thought the Kangaroo Island Business and Brand Alliance (KIBBA) was... Continue Reading →
One of the stranger lessons I've learnt since separating my wife is simply this: Just because a marriage ends doesn't mean my responsibilities end with it. I don't mean financial obligations or legal arrangements. Those have their place. I'm talking about something less tangible. The wellbeing of our children and their mother still matters to... Continue Reading →
I am guessing nobody noticed... Yesterday afternoon I had just over 500 subscribers to this blog. After perusing a mere handful of them, I discovered them to be deceased blogs! I really shouldn't have been surprised: A lot of people switched from blogging to vlogging, podcasts, instagram and other more visual types of getting their... Continue Reading →
When I was about ten years old, I quietly made a promise to myself that I never wanted to say goodbye to anyone ever again. At the time, it seemed like a sensible promise. Goodbyes hurt. They leave an empty space where someone used to be. So as a child I simply assumed that if... Continue Reading →
Over the last few months I have compiled an interesting and life-changing list of the many things in my life I SHOULD be, COULD be and WILL be thankful for: Things I should be thankful for: These are the solid, already-in-my-hands realities. The stuff that’s quietly doing the heavy lifting. I am alive, functional, and... Continue Reading →
I’ve never followed a god. Never felt the need to kneel or pray to something unseen. But I’ve always admired the quiet simplicity found in Buddhist teachings - not the ritual or the robes, just the way they live. There’s something deeply human about it. For me, spirituality isn’t about worship or belief. It’s about... Continue Reading →
Recently, I asked ChatGPT to talk about a subject it’s deeply invested in – itself. What came back wasn’t flashy or self-important, but calm, measured, and quietly impressive. It described artificial intelligence as the craft of teaching machines to think, learn, and decide in ways that echo human reasoning. No hype. No doom-saying. Just a... Continue Reading →
Choosing separation is EASY; Living with the aftermath is Not Before anyone nods along too easily with the popular narrative around grey separation, it’s worth slowing the tape. This article by Spicy Auntie paints later-life divorce as a kind of moral awakening for women who are "finally choosing themselves". From where I stand, it often... Continue Reading →
This evening, on my walk home from my old house (~ the one where my separated-wife and our children still live) my thoughts drifted to the spaces that divide all of us. Walls and barricades, both physical and emotional, shape our conversations, our silences, even our memories. Somewhere between the streetlights and the cool night... Continue Reading →
If I could give one piece of advice to younger couples just starting out, it would be this: Talk. Talk about everything. Not just the big-ticket stuff like money, family, or plans for the future - include the small, awkward things too. The things that feel too petty or too complicated to bring up. Your... Continue Reading →
Since 2020, awareness around neurodiversity has broadened. It’s no longer hidden behind clinical jargon or whispered confessions. More people now recognise that Autism exists on a spectrum that touches nearly everyone in some way. That shift has helped me drop the shame and instead embrace the idea that understanding ourselves is a strength, not a... Continue Reading →
As I am now a 55+ year old, I am enjoying reading blogs by equally impressive people of a similar age. My current favourite site to read is https://greymatter.gallery/ . Thanks to one of my oldest friends (not her years alive; our years knowing each other!) Charlie Helen Robinson, I have recently read an article... Continue Reading →
Stephen Mitchell | Life Lessons, Creativity & Personal Growth 
[…] with XXY, and alone now, has taught me that my brain is wired differently to most – yet I…
[…] Living with XXY, and alone now, has taught me that my brain is wired differently to most – yet…