Hi all and welcome to a New Year! 2022 was a doozy: it saw us spend an extended period of time in the USA, so that P could spend time with his family; most importantly his Dad, before he passed away. It saw me job hunting (properly) for the first time in a long time. The last job I got via applications & interviews was back in 2012. Every job I’ve had since then has been through my...
I have a single weekend left in the USA. These three months have passed quickly and strangely. There were difficult personal things to deal with, as my husband dealt with the sickness and then death of his father. And I was burned out from two long years of stress, anxiety, bad news. There is no doubt that I was exhausted. When I first arrived I felt like I couldn’t get enough sleep, I...
Transitions are inevitable in life. From the moment we emerge squalling into the world to the moment we shuffle off this mortal coil, we are faced with times of growth and change. Some changes are sudden and devastating; the death of a close friend or loved one or the sudden loss of a job. These whip through our life with the force of a hurricane, leaving grief in its wake. Other transitions are...
The Lonely Century is a book that argues we are living in an age of extreme loneliness. Noreena Hertz has done her research. She points to colleges that are needing to teach students how to interact with other people face-to-face. Elderly Japanese women who are committing petty crimes in order to be sent to prison, in order to alleviate their loneliness. And single people who eat their meals...
My life in housing went something like this: Live with my parentsLive at University in dormsRent a room from a friendLive with my parent-in-lawsLive with my parentsRent a 2 bed houseRent another, cheaper, 2 bed houseRent a studio apartmentRent a room in a house shareLive with my parentsRent another room in a house shareLive with my brother-in-lawLive with my parentsRent a friend’s apartment...
I recently read N.K. Jemsin’s Broken Earth trilogy*. An epic sci-fi/fantasy, it was gripping and fantastical. One of the points she makes is that apocalypses are happening all the time, somewhere. We talk about climate change (nuclear winter, over-population, etc.) as being the end of the world, but what we really mean is that it will be the end of us. It will, of course, be a shame if...
Let me start with the bad news. You can’t cure your depression by eating a stalk of broccoli. Sorry. And, as I talked about in my post about how clean eating fed my depression, trying to achieve a ‘perfect’ diet can make depression and anxiety worse, not better. Now for the good news! There is a lot of research about the link between diet and depression. Eating a nourishing and...
A gratitude journal is, at heart, very simple. It’s the act of taking a few minutes to write down things that you are grateful for. In fact, in some ways, is is deceptively simple. The truth is that gratitude journaling carries a host of benefits, and that the act of ‘being thankful’ has been a part of philosophical and spiritual life for most of human history. Let us rise up and be thankful, for...
This post is not sponsored. It’s an honest review of Daylio. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I have a tendency towards depression. I have found multiple ways of managing that, and for the most part now have solid routines in place. One of the key things for me was to start tracking my moods. This helped me to figure out what activities led...
So you’ve decided to give up alcohol. Maybe you’re partaking in dry January, Go Sober for October, or maybe you’re just trying to cut back after a few too many hangovers. Maybe you’re just giving up for a month, or maybe it’s more long-term. Alcohol is a great social lubricant, but it sucks for our health. Whilst the odd glass of wine or bottle of beer is a harmless...
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