The sense of consumerism associated with Christmas gets me down every year whenever I let myself think about it for long enough. This year, the feelings I had towards both receiving and buying bags’ worth of presents were negative enough for my family and I to agree to not do stockings for each other anymore. I … Continue reading Consumerism and Christmas: Do they go hand in hand?
A colleague mentioned this idea to me recently and it caused me to really think. I thought I’d share it with you. By calling some lines of clothing “gender-neutral”, we are implying that clothing isn’t normally these things. This might seem pretty obvious at first but read it again and think about it a bit … Continue reading The Term “Gender-Neutral” May Not Be as Positive as you Think
Harry Styles, Kit Connor and Yungblud are three prime examples of celebs who have been accused of queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is the implication that you identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community (when in reality you don’t) in order to increase profit and sales. In trying to understand why these people specifically are being put in … Continue reading My Evaluation of Queerbaiting
"I’m a single mum. I’ll always be a single mum because I’m responsible for my sons, whether I’m living with Joe or not...There’s an assumption that if you’re with someone, like I am with Joe, you’re no longer a lone parent...I’ve done posts before [on social media] about how proud I am of being a … Continue reading Respect: It’s not our place to pass judgement
I wrote the first half of this blog a couple of months ago. It sat in my drafts for a little while and then, when I went back to it, my opinion had changed. I have added to it and it is now an arc of the developing relationship between my work and myself. After … Continue reading The Importance of My Job Reflecting Myself
My standout thoughts during and after reading The Underground Railroad were around the treatment of humans (and all organisms). I almost assumed that Cora would get used to her poor-quality of life – that she would perhaps surrender to it – but you can’t turn people into robots or take the human part out of them. No matter how much you abuse someone, they still feel the pain, and they feel it deeply. Even if you expect to be assaulted, your body can’t prepare itself in the same way that you brain can, and even your brain can’t prepare itself fully. This book doesn’t romanticise a thing but it draws you in and reminds you of the cruelty and horror of that time just when you were getting too snuggly with the characters.
There are so many snippets of time throughout our day when we are alone with our thoughts, but what is the quality of our thinking? Since having this question posed during a team meeting, I have reflected and thought about how I can be more conscious and purposeful with my mind. I’m an early bird so … Continue reading The Quality of My Thoughts
Mel Robbins’ 5 Second Rule is something that has been around for a while but I only heard about this year. There is a book and TED Talk on it (which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend) but all you need to know is its principle: When an idea or an instinct to do something crosses your … Continue reading The 5 Second Rule
Book Club Review (No Spoilers) This story is set in the 50s-70s in North Carolina. It follows the life of Kya, a girl who grows up alone in a marsh and develops an exceptional interest in the animals and plants that make up her home. It is a coming-of-age / murder mystery story. If you’ve … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Repeat after me: my life shall not become my job. My life shall not... I’m part of the marketing team and, almost a year in, I’m having to get stricter with my brain and the background processing it is constantly doing. For a good length of time, I synchronised my brain switching off with my … Continue reading Boundaries: The Separation Between my Personal and Professional Life
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