Latest Posts

National Standards and What Education is Really About
June 19, 2011
A podcast interview with Des Mann, founding principal of Green Bay High, about National Standards and what education is “really about anyway,” and an excerpt from his book, “Correspondences: The Shaping of a School”. Listen to podcast and read extract from Des Man’s book...

Is Sex What Men Really Want
June 10, 2011
Childhood sexual abuse can cause many problems in adult life. The  compulsion to repeat the original abuse can retraumatise a person, but  it can also offer opportunities to gain insight and the compassion to heal the pain of the past. Read...

About School
June 10, 2011
This post includes a poem handed into a teacher by a senior in high school shortly before he committed suicide. It highlights the frustration of many students at school and unfortunately, mine too. Read...

The ADD Myth
June 07, 2011
Peter Giddens gives his take on the ADD epidemic affecting steadily increasing numbers of boys in
schools. Read...

Making Dreams Come True
May 30, 2011
Mark and Rowan Sommerset had a dream of creating children’s books when they first met ten years ago. Read about how they achieved their dream and won the coveted Children’s Choice Award in the 2011 New Zealand Post Children’s Book of the Year Awards, or listen to Mark’s story in a podcast. Read story...

Procrastination: Are You Sabotaging Your Own Success?
April 16, 2011
The thought has crossed my mind several times that I should live each day as if it was my last. If that was possible, maybe…just maybe, I could see something through to completion and pick the fruit of my labour. The mess in my living room bore witness to the fact that I had again fallen victim to procrastination. Continue reading...

The Hidden Consequences of Child Rape
March 12, 2011
“The amount of sexual abuse that takes place in our country is unacceptable, and even less acceptable is our nation’s sense of apathy,” wrote Dr. Boyce Watkins on his blog this week in response to recent arrests of eighteen men (thirteen adults and five juveniles) in Texas, on charges of gang raping an 11-year-old girl late last year. Read...

Christchurch, and what can be learned from disasters
March 05, 2011
Pema Chödrön, a Buddhist nun who wrote When Things Fall Apart, stated that we need chaos and disasters in our lives to “wake us up”. As terrible as it appears, this is sometimes what we need to change the whole course of our lives for the better—although often we can only see this in hindsight. Read...

Overcoming Self-Doubt
February 19, 2011
Self-doubt immobilizes our actions and retards the development of our greatest potential. For years it stopped me from sharing the writing that was most heartfelt to me, for I was afraid of exposing myself by becoming vulnerable and open to criticism and misunderstanding. Read...

New Zealand’s Social Crisis
February 18, 2011
When governments remain fixated on reducing debt and growing the economy, they ignore the core social problems that cost billions and create ongoing cycles of poverty, violence, child abuse, health problems, and drug and alcohol abuse. Read...

Ten Keys to Happiness
February 04, 2011
“Happiness is a way of life—an overriding outlook composed of qualities such as optimism, courage, love, and fulfillment.” I share ‘ten keys to happiness’ that work for me. Read...

Jimmy Buffett: An inspiration to share your talents
January 30, 2011
Using one of Jimmy Buffett's songs during a drama lesson with children and noticing their delighted faces, made me reflect on how connected we all are and that by sharing our talents, we can positively impact so many people and create good in the world. Read....

Achieve Your Goals by Changing Tack
January 20, 2011
Do you know where you are heading on this sea called ‘life’. Perhaps you are trying to sail into a headwind of obstacles that keep taking you off course. Here are five steps to help you take over the helm of your own destiny by learning to change tack. Read...

Finding Utopia
January 13, 2011
It was the noise that started it…my sudden desperate search for Utopia. It began to intrude upon me like an unwelcome guest the day air brakes squealed and whiffed repeatedly as a huge truck manoeuvred a house onto new foundations at six one morning, early last November. The steady noise of hammering and chain-sawing followed as builders added decks and an extra storey. Read...

How Do We End Family Violence?
December 07, 2010
Along with steadily increasing incidences of family violence, are the spiraling economic and health costs it creates - not to mention the huge problems caused when drugs and alcohol are used to self-medicate the anxiety family violence creates. What can we do to end these cycles of abuse and create peace within ourselves and our homes? Read...

The 4 Most Important R’s
November 11, 2010
As I turned on my computer for the day I chanced to glance at a message from the Dali Lama on my wall. “Follow the three R’s: Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.” Out of my normal routine of starting the day writing, I quickly scanned the headlines in the New Zealand Herald. The headline, “Men...  Read...

More posts by Juliet Bonnay available at:

By Juliet Bonnay
Commentary, Education, Rants, Ponder This, Inspiration, Memoir

Self-Regeneration
PTSD, Mental Health, Healing, Self-Development, Parenting

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