Breathing Space

I refuse to allow any guilt over taking some breathing space over the holidays. Do you hear that Mr Guilt? I am not listening to your insidious whispers. I needed the rest, to allow myself to recover from everything that’s been happening, personally, family, work, health … and I feel […]

So many squirrels

One of the challenges I am experiencing is “where to start”, what do I do first, is there an ‘order’ I should be doing things? What is the best order? What is the best order for me? I have an appraisal coming up, an ethics form to think about and […]

The Words We Use

As I started to read journal papers and other academic texts I felt so ill-prepared to return to academia, I had all the “I’m not good enough” thoughts … the reason (well one of a few) … the language being used. As I’ve read more and my understanding grows, I […]

Lifting Heavy Things

Life can feel so weighted down sometimes (or often), these last two years of pandemic and lockdowns and masks has been a drain on my energy and a feeder of my anxieties. I need to (want to) do something to make the heavy things feel lighter. I’ve known that between […]

Moved by Design

Transferring from Sociology to Design Research is akin to the change of wading through a claggy marsh and suddenly finding yourself paddling in a swirling river. Yes, it’s still a challenge, but at least progress is easier and quicker. I originally began in sociology as it seemed the better fit, […]

From there to here

Varied, muddled, unplotted … I think these are words which that, for most of my life, describe my background. At least from my teenage years. As a child I was told what to do, how to be, subjects to study. I distinctly remember, with annoyance to be honest, being told […]

So far, so good (ish)

The journey is on an upward trend but has been, shall we say, challenging so far. To be honest, I struggled a lot. By the end of last year I was questioning whether I had made the right choice to undertake a PhD, questioning whether I was intelligent enough to […]