In her late thirties, Connor Hartog’s life changed dramatically in ways she could never have predicted. A 10-year relationship ended, she was stood down from her IT job because of COVID and she found herself living alone for the first time in a decade during lockdown. In an apartment, adrift from colleagues who had been like family, she was close to despair. She left the city, started to rebuild her life and herself, found a new job with a global software company and was able to buy a house in a country town.
Now she says, “I relish the weekends where I don’t have any commitments so I can be on my own. I look forward to thinking, ‘What do I feel like doing today? Do I want to lie on the couch and watch Netfl ix? Do I want to spend time in the garden? Do I want to catch up with the neighbours and have a drink?’ I don’t have to consult or confirm that it’s okay with anyone else. I can completely make my own decisions and that feels great.”
Almost 15 per cent of the households in New Zealand are single person. Half a century ago, women were financially dependent on men and a spinster was a pitiable creature, some kind of social failure, a person nobody wanted. Since then, there has been a significant swing away from the traditional family towards the rise of the independent woman, living alone.
“For many women, to live alone is an empowering and deliberate choice,” says psychologist Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe. “The solitude of living alone provides an opportunity to know yourself well and become comfortable in your own company. Women who choose to live alone can experience a greater sense of freedom, control and independence because they can develop an environment and a routine that suits them.”
Bu hikaye Australian Women’s Weekly NZ dergisinin May 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Australian Women’s Weekly NZ dergisinin May 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
