Holding space.

This date – the 24th May – in more normal times – seems to be the day of amazing things as Facebook memories reminds me today. 6 years ago I started my proper rehabilitation from the first wave of being super sick and not having any energy outside of going to work & doing the

3,500 miles, 14 states, 2 provinces, lessons learnt: We are not built to do big things alone, we are built to do them together

Today’s been my last full day in NYC, and in America. And I’m a bit sad about it. This nearly month trip has been a blast and an inspiration. It’s been a frank reminder that our time is too valuable to let a moment go to waste. We need steal as much life as we

A New Way. Can You Help Some People Who Mean Alot To The World, and To Me?

Throughout our lives, we will come to find ourselves in a lot of different places. A lot of different rooms. A lot of different corners. A lot of different wheres. Those wheres will be unexpected. They will surprise us, scare us, change everything, change nothing, and break our hearts. I’ve found myself in some pretty

The Year of Zinc

I’ve not blogged in ages. I keep reflecting, but it’s stored in hidden word documents on my laptop – sometimes making an appearance at a conference, or on my Facebook – in the safety of friends and not just the internet-public. But I’ve been thinking about getting to 30. Alive. I really can’t believe it. On

This is a wonderful way to think about friendship

“the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are—not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving—and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how

Hoping for a 2016 where we open the doors wider and take care of each another

I am hoping for 2016 to be a year where we open the doors wider and take care of each another Susan Sontag wrote in her “Illness as metaphor” (1978) essay , “Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well

Getting sick was (is) the worst thing that ever happened to me, but

Last week Facebook memories reminded me that the exact week in 2012, I wrote on my Facebook status that I was finally seeing a NHS haemotologist oncologist after my crazy USA medical adventure. I have certain dates etched into my collective memory, which feel like I’ll never be able to erase , even if I

Time: Before I’m Gone

Time. Time fascinates me no end. I’ve read a lot of theories about time. Can you remember when the 6 week summer holidays used to feel so long and hazy and hot? And now, before you know it, it’s already summer when it was only just Christmas. And you’re left thinking? Whoa, time!? I just

Constantly Lucky: 26 years

It’s my birthday in about 48 hours. I used to hate getting older because, well, I always thought i’d have my life way more ‘together’ by now. Like, I thought that maybe I would have met someone special. Maybe I’d have what my mom calls a “proper job” (by that, she means oppressed, clock your

Hoping for 2015 to be a year where we open the doors wider & take care of one another

Whoa, 2014. You were such a supremely bittersweet year. Full of opportunities that I am endlessly thankful for and hardships that are unspeakable. You’ve made me even more grateful for every moment of grace and love that we get. I saw my mom get married, my bro move out for the first time & find