Cecilia Macaulay

26/05/2026

“How can we make this work?” is a powerful line I learnt from my sister, yoga therapist Katie de Araujo.

I’ve got the sun streaming in as I write this, at the permaculture paradise guesthouse I’m co-creating with a client, here in Moruya.

Right outside the window is a slow, wide river. I watch for the pelicans to touch down and do that dainty grooming with their huge beaks. Maybe the old seal will appear later on. He joined me for my morning yoga the other day, in the distance, flipper in the air.

As a designer of human ecosystems, this is my dream job. But when things aren’t going as I hoped, and I remember to ask that question, my moaning and blaming often disappear in the very next breath or two.

Much more fun.

Having the presence of mind to ask the right question at the right time is also at the heart of the work Katie and I are offering next.

A few Sundays from now we are running a free webinar for forward-thinking mental health professionals. If that’s you, join us.

Then, in late June, we are holding a full nine-month home-harmonising project for people who want to live in a house that brings out energy and love, but mess is getting in the way. Its neurodivergent friendly, and one of the most engaging, rewarding ways to spend Sunday afternoons.

Katie does rare and beautiful work. She consults at residential mental health clinics, teaching psychologists how to bring embodiment into mental health care.
She also works directly with traumatised patients, using gestures, deep listening, her steady voice and spirit, to help suffering people feel “Things are going to be okay.”

“My hour with Katie is the highlight of my week” is a line that comes up in their feedback forms.

I’m happy to say Katie is impressed with my work too: changing the home set-up so that it delights rather than damages us. So now the two of us get to be pioneers, using the small but real power we have to make things better.

If you are a mental health professional who wants to become more masterful at getting bodies and homes on our side, Katie and I have a treat for you.

For Mental Health Professionals: Togetherness Design in Practice

If you have psychologists, counsellors, ADHD coaches, yoga therapists, occupational therapists, or thoughtful wellness practitioners in your orbit, please let them know about this free event.

And if you want the full home-harmonising experience, it begins June 28, 2026

The Home That Loves You Back Nine-Month Guided Home Harmonising Project.

“How can we make this work?” is an enquiry that you can use on your next frustration, today. If you do and it gets a good result, press reply, I’d love to hear about it.

12/05/2026

Hanging hoshigaki, Japanese dried persimmons, along the verandah each autumn will soon be part of Kim’s sharehouse dream. My friend Kim is still moving in to the big house she bought to be a permaculture paradise, so the food forest is not yet planted, the housemates are still arriving. She hired me to help her set up the infrastructure, so a some mornings, a Japanese cultural interlude is inevitable.
If you are looking for a calm riverside sharehouse experiance, this might be your future home and breakfast.
Follow the links in bio and comments.

03/04/2026

This fence renovation is high-impact, low-cost, and a project you could turn into a weekend working bee with friends. If the chain fence hasn't scared your friends (and yourself) away already.

You can turn a boring metal fence into a stunning living wall with simple cedar frames that give you instant privacy and a high end designer look.

Old chain link fences are a major eyesore that make even the nicest backyard look like a neglected construction site or a prison yard. They offer absolutely no privacy from your neighbors and do nothing to block the wind or loud street noises. Most homeowners think they have to tear the whole thing out and spend thousands of dollars on a new wooden wall to fix the problem. This empty metal mesh just sits there and provides no food or home for the birds and butterflies in your area.

Framing your existing fence with wood gives you a custom luxury look that makes your property feel much more expensive and private. You get the strength and security of a metal fence but the natural beauty of a mountain retreat. This living screen stays green all year long and provides a thick wall of leaves that hides the neighbors and blocks the sun. You get to keep your current fence posts in the ground which saves you a massive amount of digging and heavy labor.

Start by scrubbing your old metal fence with a wire brush to remove any loose rust or peeling paint. Spray the entire chain link mesh and the metal posts with a flat black outdoor paint designed for metal to make the wire disappear into the shadows. Build a sturdy frame around each section using four by four cedar posts and two by four cedar rails. Secure the new wood posts directly to the existing metal posts using heavy duty galvanized U bolts and metal brackets. Screw a thin cedar cap along the top rail to protect the wood from the rain and give the fence a finished look.

Plant fast growing English ivy or thick Boston ivy at the base of every section so the vines can climb the black metal mesh. Add several Green Mountain boxwoods and striped liriope grass along the bottom to hide the base of the fence and add extra texture. Fill the new garden bed with a thick layer of dark brown hardwood mulch to keep the weeds out and help the soil stay moist.

Use stainless steel screws for all your wood joints so the metal does not rust and leave ugly black streaks on your beautiful cedar boards. Apply a clear water sealer to the cedar every two years to keep the wood from turning a dull grey color under the hot sun. Trim the top of your ivy once a month during the summer to keep the vines from growing over the wood frame and hide the clean lines of your new design.

04/03/2026

“You don’t need willpower, you need permaculture.”

And possibly brain swales.

The delightful Catie Payne invited me onto her Reskilliance podcast for one of those conversations where ideas kept surprising everyone, including us.

Have a listen!
Here's what Catie says;
“You’ve heard of swales… but what about swales in the brain to slow and deepen our human experience?
Join me and Cecilia Macaulay for one of those special conversations that gets to the heart of life’s gnarliest struggles; our biggest messes, failures, and everyday chaos, and uses permaculture design to harness their power.”
This episode will particularly chime with forgetful, distractible types, clutter accumulators, chaos agents, overwhelm junkies, and anyone with a hunch that a few elegant household systems could massively increase their effectiveness in the world.

Topics we wandered through:

• Insane wisdom from Bill Mollison
• Meeting Masanobu Fukuoka
• The Five Rules of Harmonious Permie Sharehouses
• Japanese rules of Non-Complaint and Taking Full Responsibility
• Growing an enduring permaculture spirit
• Becoming a world expert in a tiny little thing
• Creating a failure protocol
• Upward spirals
• Permaculture for heartbreak
• Being an effective human later in life
• Neurodiversity: more than medication
• The connection between untidy houses and trauma
• Making your kitchen sink a shrine to beauty and goodness
• Setting household culture using mirror neurons
• Permaculture zones in the home
• Why to share what’s spare
• Expanding the edges of our gifts and talents
• Beautiful messcapes, knolling, and what “can’t be bothered” really means
• Using imagination to improve memory

A few responses from listeners over at Catie's Instagram:

-Brain swales?!?! LOVE!!!!

-I've listened to this a couple of times while cleaning the house. So clear, joyful and inspiring

-Beautiful episode. Blew me away, thanks Catie

-I have this on repeat currently. Going to sit down and pull out all the juicy potent instructions. It’s like a guidebook.

Podcast link in the comments.
We really warm up halfway through — because people are like that.
If you don’t know me well yet, feel free to start in the middle and circle back later.

About Reskilliance
Reskilliance is a podcast about the hard, soft and surprising skills that help us stay afloat if modern systems don’t.
Hosted by Catie Payne and released weekly, link in the comments.

Thank you, Catie for being such an appreciative ally, a canny filter of good things, and for listening so carefully that my thoughts made it out into the world where they are needed.

I’d love to hear which idea from the conversation resonates most with you. If you have a friend who'd like a better relationship with their creative chaos, be a comfort and send it on to them : )

28/11/2025

I arrived in Wuhan wearing a summery dress. Next morning, I watched the temperature drop and drop, down to 2 degrees. It was like someone changed the chanel.
Here is my visit to the Yellow Crane Tower, Wuhan’s cultural treasure, and people I saw on the way.
The totally necessary white hat was bought from a street stall.
Can you see the ears are a bit crooked?
I travel with a quick unpick. I fixed them!
At the top of the tower I connected with a lovely influencer girl in red. The caption for our photo is ‘Discussing the correct angle of ears’ : )

16/11/2025

09/08/2025

The Zoo in Singapore is the world’s most beautiful, with all the animals living in naturalistic enclosures, even the humans. I was in a kind of Ewok dream, staying at the Mandai Resort, where all the buildings felt they were born, not built. Here is a tiny preview: haughty Mr Bean leumurs, intense blue dart frogs (do not lick!), a bird with a blurry head, and a mouse deer being fed by a parrot. World’s tiniest hooves!
My favourites in the amazement department were the improbable ant-eater, all shaggy, no head, and the armadillo: so serious in its armour, yet it dashed around in a built-in grass skirt. No photo of the latter, as I saw them doing their thing at the night safari. I’m reminded that being here and alive in this vast universe is a many-splendored thing.

30/07/2025

Ive just arrived in melty, opulent Singapore. The locals are dashing, the greenery unstoppable, and six days doesn’t look like it will be nearly enough. This pic is taken outside the Raffles Hotel.

27/05/2025