Desperately Seeking

Today’s episode ticks off my ‘see a brand new show’ item and discusses the frisson of emotion some of us feel strongly when experiencing a liver performance. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikhila.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikhila.substack.com/subscribe

And if you see this… let me know! 😂 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikhila.substack.com/subscribe

On my 40 By 40 bucket list, I had ‘put washer fluid in my car.’ Had I known where the year would take me, I’d have made loftier goals. This year, I’ve had a car hit me, head on, while I was driving - and then drive away. That was a nice bill and a little some to kick off 2025. My car then refused to go in to second gear and a mechanic said it needed a new clutch - which didn’t fix it, so now it st...

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this but I’m planning a themed 40th year, the theme is, ‘Death Becomes Her’. I love that movie, I love Meryl and Goldie, I love the message - did you ever see the interview where Goldie Hawn talked about the original ending? It would have been so much better - and this year I saw the Broadway show in New York with the full cast. It was well known that this particular...

Super quick one today, I made some printable planner pages this time last year and had them as a free download on my blog. That blog is no more but I wanted to reshare with those of you who missed them then. I’ve put them up on smokeandmatches.com , and if you want to see how I used the, the video below is an hour long livestream session I did with some viewers last year. HAPPY PLANNING! This is a...

New York is my favourite city in the world (she says, not being at all well travelled) and I’ve visited so many times I’ve lost count at this point, so how can it be that when talking about this favourite city of mine, I’m always faced with a, ‘oh have you been to - insert famous landmark here ’ and almost always haven’t. I think it’s the baseline assumption that there will always be more time. I’...

I had a conversation with my daughter recently about family. I told her why I make allowances for some relatives and that I felt a weight lift once I realised they were never going to change. She asked why I wouldn’t hold them accountable and I haven’t been able to stop replaying this answer in my head since. I explained that my choice to forgive and move on, without any closure or apology, was ba...

One of my ‘to dos’ this year was to finally read a physical book. That sounds like such a nothing goal, I realise, but carving out that kind of focused time felt impossible - before getting to the question of whether I actually had the attention span anymore. I used to be a voracious reader. I would read walking to work. When I commuted I had loads of time to read and before I had my daughter I re...

When I wrote my birthday bucket list I cheated a little. There were some things I already had planned that I added, knowing they’d be easy wins.. but others, though possible, I felt I might need a push to complete. This was one. In 2021 we visited New York at Christmas for the first time, we went to see the tree and it was truly magic. Absolutely lived up to the decades of movie-magic but you coul...

It’s been a minute since I updated the 40by40 but I’m back and with a bit of a rant, apologies. I also decided to record these episodes as videos because I realised I’m more comfortable in front of a camera than a faceless mic.. so if you’d rather watch, that will be an option for these posts moving forward. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce...

I have no idea whether this transcript is any good but I’m playing with the feature. Also, I had in my AirPods while I was recording I think they ended up being my mic which isn’t great - but hey, it’s all a learning curve Hello friends welcome back. No intro music this week because I'm actually on my lunch break we didn't want that that wasn't the intra music I was looking for uh I'm actually on...

Apologies to this few regular readers for my absence last week but I recognised I needed to take some time to refill my cup so I hope you’ll forgive me. Just a quick BONUS 40 By 40 audio episode this week. I’ve started Couch 2 5K but for different reasons than you might expect, I’ve been out and walking more because of it, in my NEW running shoes, no less.. and getting excited about taking my Dad...

This morning I went for my waay overdue smear and I’m ashamed that I’m ashamed to tell you why. I had, what I have been describing as, a pretty traumatic experience at my last gynaecological appointment in 2020. I’ve been using the Mirena Coil as contraception for most of my adult life and have talked it up to anyone who would listen as not only a fantastic thought-free contraceptive but also, NO...

I run a small business with a colleague. This Summer will mark 2 years since we launched and I’d like to say we’re going from strength to strength but January hit us harder than expected. Partially supply related and partially a bit of burn out from the Christmas season but this week we bounced back in a way that really made me think. How much of the Q4 slump is a self fulfilling prophecy? We took...

I mentioned in a previous post that vision boards were OUT for me, that ‘mood boards’ were the only way forward for positive visual guidance. I also realised that the vision boards I’d made were almost all more mood in tone anyway so.. this isn’t really a huge change but the introduction of a seasonal switch up has been a recent thing I’ve really enjoyed . This is an easy tick off my 40by40 list b...

As promised, the list is complete but I’m starting to feel a tiny bit overwhelmed by this challenge. I tried to throw in some easy wins but it’s still a lot for someone who keeps themselves as busy as I do. Maybe that’s part of the point? I need to make time to complete this list. I’ve already started booking things in the diary to tick some things off and reaching out to friends to see what they...

I was looking for a series idea for 2025 and this presented itself to me in a fever dream of substack excitement and if you know me at all, you know that meant I had to record it immediately This week I turned 39 and although I’m not dreading 40, I wanted to use it as a deadline to push myself out of my comfort zone but also to maybe tick some things off I’ve been needing to get done. I have ADHD...