Reconnecting with Lizz Hills

10/11/2025

I have made it to Substack. This month I’m participating in ProWritingAid’s Novel November challenge: 50,000 words to complete the first draft of the book I’ve been working on. For me, that means writing and sharing stories and learnings from my 6,371 km walk across Australia.

My aim is to finish the draft this month and prepare it for submission. I’ve been holding this book inside me for more than a year, and it feels like it’s time. It is daunting to share the process as I move through it. I know I won’t get it perfect. But I also know there are people who need stories of survival, resilience, and hope right now.

My intention is that these writings offer meaning, possibility, and a reminder that healing is ongoing and possible. I’d love you to come along for the journey.

You can read my first post and subscribe for weekly reflections.

A journey of healing, belonging, and the wild edges of being human.

09/11/2025

Monday Mindful Musings...Light is present in all that we experience, yet its nature remains quietly mysterious. It sustains life in a physical sense, and it also gestures toward something deeper, an unseen source of meaning and vitality. As the Earth tilts and turns around the sun, light shifts in colour, angle, and intensity. These subtle changes shape the rhythm of the seasons and invite us to notice the many ways the world expresses itself. In my therapeutic work, I am drawn to these natural rhythms as guides for how we grow, adapt, heal, and return to ourselves.

30/10/2025

The Power of Presence, Finding Steadiness in Times of Change
When life feels uncertain, whether through shifts in work, relationships, or direction, our minds often race ahead. We search for answers, outcomes, or clarity. Yet sometimes, what we truly need is to pause… and return to now.
Presence is simply being here, not caught in yesterday’s regrets or tomorrow’s what-ifs, but anchored in the truth of this moment. It’s a gentle practice, simple yet rarely easy. But when we slow down enough to really notice what’s here, something inside begins to soften and settle.
This is where mindful photography becomes such a powerful companion. When we pick up a camera with intention, we’re invited to truly see — the play of light on a leaf, the curve of a petal, the quiet between movements. The lens helps us pause and pay attention. Through that act of noticing, we return to presence — to breath, to beauty, to ourselves.
At Trek2Reconnect, we’ve witnessed how presence becomes an anchor in times of transition. It helps us explore what’s real, what we’re feeling, what we value, and what’s quietly calling for change. From that awareness, our next step often reveals itself with more clarity and ease.
One participant in our “We walk for well-being” program shared:
“I realised I’d been living on autopilot, reacting, not choosing. The space to just stop, breathe, and reflect helped me reconnect with what really matters.”
Another reflected:
“Being present helped me see that I didn’t need to have it all figured out. I just needed to start where I was.”
Presence doesn’t mean standing still. It means moving forward with awareness, compassion, and steadiness, qualities that help us meet change with grace and courage. Like photography, it’s about finding focus, not on the whole picture at once, but on what’s here, right now, in the frame before us.

Check out our blog and subscribe for the latest news and events at -

When life feels uncertain, whether through shifts in work, relationships, or direction, our minds often race ahead. We search for answers, outcomes, or clarity. Yet sometimes, what we truly need is to pause… and return to now.Presence is simply being here, not caught in yesterday’s regrets or to...

27/10/2025

Treading Lightly Tuesday...The Joy of Seeing a Scarlet Honeyeater

For years, I’ve looked at the scarlet honeyeater on the cover of my bird guide, that vivid splash of red perched among the leaves, and wondered if I’d ever see one in real life. It almost became mythical, a creature of the pages, something that belonged more to imagination than to the everyday world.

Then, on a recent camping trip to the Lower Portals, there it was. A flash of crimson darting through the canopy, unmistakable, alive, utterly real. I caught my breath. It’s hard to describe that moment when a long-imagined bird becomes a living presence before you. It’s as if a tiny door opens between worlds, the world of knowing about something and the world of truly knowing it.
The scarlet honeyeater isn’t a large bird, but its colour is bold and joyous, a reminder that life doesn’t always hide quietly. Sometimes, it blazes. And standing there, surrounded by the hum of the bush and the smell of campfire smoke, I found myself marvelling at the sheer diversity of life on this planet.
All the different ways of living, of being alive. From the tiny honeyeater searching for nectar to the wallabies that come to drink at dusk, to the fungi threading unseen beneath our feet. Each with its own rhythm, its own needs, its own quiet genius for survival.

Moments like these remind me how important it is to stay curious, to notice, to listen, to wonder. Because connection starts there, in that simple act of paying attention. And maybe that’s what the scarlet honeyeater was teaching me all along, that some joys are worth waiting for, and that the world is far richer and more alive than we ever imagine from the pages of a book.

Photo credit - Karen Palmer

26/10/2025

Monday mindfulness

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on what it really means for our kids to thrive — not just to be healthy in body, but to feel calm, safe, and free to explore the world around them without unseen pressures or risks lingering in the background.
October marks both Mental Health Month and Children’s Week — two gentle reminders that every child deserves more than just getting by. They deserve connection, joy, and the chance to grow within an environment that truly supports both their mind and body.
Because whether it’s the air they breathe, the noise around them, or the stresses we all carry in uncertain times, these subtle things shape their wellbeing far more than we often realise.
Maybe this week, we can pause and ask — what helps the children in our lives feel safe, seen, and supported to simply be?

20/10/2025

Walking for Wellbeing: Photography as a Path to Presence

We live in a fast-paced world, where rushing has quietly become the norm. From the moment we wake up, our minds start ticking through lists of work, family, messages, commitments. Our attention scatters in a dozen directions, and by the end of the day, we can feel wrung out and oddly empty, like we’ve been busy but not truly present.

This Saturday, we’ll slow that pace right down.
Join me for our We Walk for Wellbeing walk to Moran Falls, QLD where we’ll use photography as a mindful companion. Together, we’ll explore how slowing our gaze can open up a deeper awareness of the world around us, and within us.

This isn’t about taking the “perfect” photo. It’s about seeing — really seeing — the play of light through leaves, the curve of a fern, the shimmer of water on rock. Photography becomes a form of meditation, a way to pause and connect with what’s here right now.

As we walk, I’ll guide you through gentle mindfulness practices and photography prompts to help train your eye for presence rather than perfection. You’ll discover how texture, rhythm, and space can speak to us when we give them time and attention.

This is an invitation to slow down, breathe, and let curiosity lead the way , to walk with a beginner’s mind, as the Zen teachers say, open to what unfolds moment by moment.

If you’ve been craving a little stillness, connection, or simply a different way to look at the world, this walk is for you.

We meet this Saturday for “We Walk for Wellbeing: Mindful Photography at Moran Falls.”
Bring your camera or phone, comfortable shoes, and a willingness to wander slowly.

Let’s walk, notice, and reconnect — one mindful step, one quiet image at a time. DM me or txt 0415 602 052 for more details and to register for this walk , fully funded by the Scenic Rim Regional Council.

— Lizz 🌿
Long Distance Walker and Psychotherapist
Trek2Reconnect

20/10/2025

Treading Lightly Tuesday...
Walking locally this week with friends, I found myself slowing right down, noticing the world in textures. The smooth curve of a seed pod, the papery crackle of ash leaves, the glint of a crow’s wing in the morning light. Even the tiniest pink flower tucked by the path had its own quiet brilliance. 🌸
There’s something deeply restorative about walking gently on familiar ground , seeing how much beauty lives in the details when we take the time to look.
✨ What small wonders have you noticed on your walks lately?

19/10/2025

🦀 Crab Mentality — or Something Deeper?
I’ve always found this metaphor powerful , the story of crabs in a bucket pulling each other down when one tries to escape. But as this image beautifully reminds us: Crabs don’t naturally live in buckets.
They were put there.Taken from their natural state. And when beings are trapped, displaced, or confined by forces of control and power, their reactions are shaped by survival, not malice.
Trauma isn’t a natural state either. So rather than judging those who seem “stuck” or “self-sabotaging,” maybe we can ask instead — what bowl are they in? Who put them there? And how can we help each other find our way back to the ocean? 🌊

12/10/2025

Mindful Monday 🌿

Start the week with reflection and reconnection — a gentle pause to remember what matters most.

We have two homes: our body and our planet.
Both ask for care, presence, and respect.

Each Monday, I’ll share small insights from psychology, mindfulness, and my counselling journey — gentle reminders that growth begins with awareness, and awareness begins with slowing down enough to notice.

What’s one small way you can tend to your inner or outer home today? 💚

— Lizz | Trek2Reconnect