JOURNAL

Care takes time. It’s not always easy. It’s about being. It’s about being with someone. It’s about being part of their journey and letting them know that you’re there for them. It’s about courage and hope. It’s about doing care. It’s about having that un-rushed cup of tea (or 3) or taking a gentle walk together. The heart of CareBox is about doing life together; it’s about being able to be real and vulnerable without judgment or expectations. One of my favourite parts of CareBox is being able to journal because I get to share stuff with you that’s come from a place of my own real experience of receiving care that has allowed me to heal and for that I’ll always be incredibly grateful. It’s about allowing my mess to be my message…I believe we all go through stuff and by doing this we are then able to help others going through similar things.

Keep in touch with CareBox. Do you have something to share from your own experience? Please message me at hello@carebox.co.za

Thank you! xx

Finding my groove after relocating

17 years ago, Denton and I packed up our lives in Johannesburg and moved to London. I’ll never forget a very helpful bit of advice we were given before leaving…’remember, you don’t have an identity over there.’ At the time I remember thinking oh it can’t be that bad but don’t think I fully understood […]

Refilling my empty milkshake glass

One of my many favourite things about CareBox is being able to journal and share blogs from a personal experience or something on my heart. This picture always makes me smile when I see how excited Tom is about his milkshake and how ‘full’ the glass is of wonderful deliciousness. If you’re reading this now […]

The Unexpected Gift

A few weeks ago, I gave Tom some money to take to school so that he could support the Grade 7’s market day. This involves the Grade 7s creating little masterpieces and treasures from recycled materials. That afternoon when I fetched Tom from school he was telling me about all the little goodies he’d bought. […]

Take the next step…

At the beginning of lockdown, I was asked the question, ‘Nicola, can you see the next step?’ And I could, yes. Fast forward a hundred and something days later and now I’m saying to myself…’Nicola, you need to take the next step.’ It’s not just enough now to see it because somewhere along the line […]

You’ve got this…

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other….Walter Elliot Today my Grade 8 boy has gone back to boarding school. Looking a little like a Star Wars character with his long fringe and mask on but nevertheless, he’s on his way. A month ago, I didn’t ever think […]

Reflection: Will I ever feel ready?

Two and a bit weeks into lockdown and I’ve finally come up for some air to take some time to think about CareBox and what things are going to look like after lockdown for me and for CareBox. I remember writing these words when CareBox was still but a dream… Care takes time. It’s not […]

Can you see the next step?

This was the very simple, yet all-knowing question I was asked on the day our lockdown started in SA…”Nicola, can you see the next step?” As some of you know heightened anxiety is part of my personal journey. Something I’m aware of is that when I start feeling a sense of hopelessness about something, I […]

The long wait…and then…SURPRISE!

The CareBox website has been live for 6 months now and I’ve had some time to reflect back and wanted to share a little story about how the 1st order via the website was received and delivered. Not sure what it was that I expected to happen on Monday, 1st July – the website was […]

A Nice Cup of Tea

While drinking a cup of tea recently, I had time to reflect on the early days of CareBox and where it all started. I was reminded about a conversation I had with my brother Angus in his kitchen one morning when I went to chat to him about my idea of CareBox and bounce ideas […]

Where did that come from? Up close and personal with a panic attack.

I recently enjoyed some time with my family in Cape Town. On one of the days we were lucky to find ourselves on top of majestic Table Mountain with not a breath of wind or cloud in sight. As we started queuing to catch the cable car back down again (not my best!) I noticed […]

This is me…

My scars are invisible to the human eye and the only way of knowing they are there is by me bringing them out into the light; talking about them and accepting they’re real. If I think back, anxiety has been a part of my life but not in a debilitating way until I experienced a […]

A season of change : Tom misses his bestie

My 9-year old’s heart is broken in pieces (his description) after saying goodbye to his best friend who moved to Ireland 2 months ago with his family. Grief can come in many different forms…some without us even knowing it’s a kind of grief we’re experiencing – the loss of a loved one; loss of friendship […]

Introducing our exam boxes

The exam season can be a really stressful and challenging time, for both kids and parents. Our exam boxes are tailored for both boys and girls young and old and have been thoughtfully put together with helpful little items and tips to help make the exam period a little easier. The CareBox team have put […]

Advice from a cherry blossom tree

Hamaro Cantu once said, “the significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.” The World Cup Rugby 2019 is […]

Just for me

Ah, what we wouldn’t do for an extra hour or two during the day for some “me time.” Most of us tend to feel guilty when we spend time alone as it sometimes feels as though we are neglecting the people around us, our work or our hobbies. With endless things to do on a […]

The gift of friendship

It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters – Happy Friendship Day! It is said that friendship is the purest form of connection that unites two people in an irreplaceable bond. No friendships are alike. Each and every friendship has its own unique fabric which is what […]

CareBox : The idea

Hi, I’m Nicola…co-founder of CareBox and this is a little sneak peek into our story so far… The CareBox idea is 2 years old now! Hmmm, I’m wondering where the time has gone as we prepare to go ‘live’, finally! What a steep learning curve this has been. I’ve been a stay at home mom […]

Things I wish someone had told me…about anxiety and depression

When I had my first experience of anxiety I was petrified. Having anxiety on top of the scariness didn’t help either but what I was really scared about was that I didn’t know what was happening to me…had this ever happened to anyone else? What was wrong with me… I remember that’s when a dear […]

Why a brown box?

As kids, a great number of us used to play the game “pass the parcel” at parties and other events. The game involved unwrapping layers and layers of newspaper one at a time until finally uncovering a hidden gift inside. Part of the fun of the simple layers of newspaper that covered the gift was […]

Tips to get your orchid to flower again (& again)

I do love orchids…the flowers are exquisite and I often wish they’d just carry on flowering forever! If you’re anything like me, when the flowers start dying and falling off I’m left wondering what on earth to do with the plant. They seem to have a reputation for being difficult to keep alive. That was until I came […]

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