As we come to the end of Lockdown III in the UK - I am using the opportuity to review this year and see if I can draw some lessons - some way of using this experience for good. And frankly I am not doing well. Where work and health is concerned I am surprised [...]
Category: Uncategorized
Vaccine Hope
25 January 2021 - Independence Day! This was the day I had my first vaccination - thank you Pfizer and thank you to the NHS. I am filled with hope, but also with guilt. I am categorised as a key frontline worker - although for the last 11 months that has meant being in my [...]
On Being Enough
If you believe social media (a big if) lockdown has been the perfect opportunity to learn a new language, write a novel, get fit and bake the perfect sourdough loaf. All of this while working from home, caring for family and preserving one's mental health. To those of us who are perfectionists everyday involves this [...]
CELEBRATING MEDIOCRITY
Unfortunately recovery is not a question of waking up one morning to see a golden dawn knowing that you have won. There are no rainbows, no unicorns and there are days when you really don't want to continue to fight. You may relapse – that is part of recovery – sometimes you have to [...]
BETTER IS REALLY GOOD Overcoming perfectionism in recovery
I am not good enough – whatever I do, whatever I achieve I am not good enough. This is the constant soundtrack to my life – the voice that I can never silence. As a child I thought that academic success was the answer – that if I passed enough exams, if I was top [...]
Why are the best MPs on the backbenches and what are they doing there?
British politics at the moment is dominated by one issue – Brexit. A referendum supposedly fought to 'take back control' now sees the Prime Minister taking over negotiations as she can not rely on her Cabinet or her own Party. There is no majority in Parliament for any of the rumoured solutions – none of [...]
PEOPLE WHO HAVE EVERYTHING INCLUDING DEPRESSION
It has become a commonplace – every time a celebrity dies before their time I assume that the cause is suicide as the result of depression. Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain, Lucy Birley, Ellie Soutter – a roll call of people who seemed to have it all – money, success, rewarding work, friends and family, but [...]
Why I’m no longer listening to Germaine Greer
We live in febrile political times – rational polite debate is a thing of the past and the voices we hear are strident and allow for no compromise. Donald Trump transformed a reputation as a loud contrarian into a political career and his base continue to repeat his words, with little thought or evidence. Boris [...]
US Politics – Then and Now
Since Brexit I have often felt close to tears observing politics on both sides of the Atlantic – the alternative is hysterical laughter and stunned disbelief. But never more so then when watching Netflix's latest documentary – 'Bobby Kennedy for President', directed by Dawn Porter. In 1968 when Kennedy ran for president the US was [...]
# Me Too
It has been impossible to watch the media in the last few weeks without seeing yet another high profile (male) celebrity accused of sexual misconduct. Some of the accounts are unsurprising – men who had a 'reputation', who worked in industries where exploitation seemed to be the norm. But this is not only about Hollywood [...]
My Authentic Life 