At a dinner party recently I heard the motto, ‘ Be interested, Be interesting’. I liked this, but felt it needs to be extended to, ‘ Be interested. Be interested in others. Be interesting’. This will be my mantra for 2024. This will replace my usual New Year’s resolutions of : getting fit, reading more,…

In 2023 the world was in turmoil, but what good news was there? Think of the joy of the 135 million births in 2023. Of the fun and laughter during the (estimated) 2.2 million marriages. Then 8 billion of us had a birthday celebration. Memories of our : great holiday’s, new jobs, promotions at work,…

I don’t know about you, but I have always suffered from recurring nightmares. I can’t say why these happen, but they often show themselves at times of stress. Just as I think I am about to mess up that important business deal, a fierce, teeth baring lion jumps on me in the middle of the…

‘Change’ dominated my thoughts this week. Not, how to change my lifestyle, my work or my hairstyle, but how we can change the big social issues of the day. Such important social issues that need rocket propelled change. How will we do this? Two events this week, ‘set me off’. Firstly, the Resolution Foundation Report…

It’s no secret that I would like to pursue a career in Anthropology. This raises two questions in people’s minds ; ” what the hell is it?”, and for those that can get past the first question,” what work could she possibly do in this field?”. If I said, answering the second question, ” Shopping!…

Like many people, I am increasingly concerned about the Internet. Can we believe what we read? Where is the balanced viewpoint? Lurking in its dark corners, greedy people are profiling you to sell you something that is, more often than not, bad for you either physically or mentality. So it was exciting this week to…

Truthfully, I find it easy to get out of bed in the mornings, but I can’t say that I always get dressed….Somedays, I can stay in my pyjamas covering them with a big woolly sweater only to find, at the end of the day, that the sweater is removed and I’m back in bed, ‘déjà…

Only last week I received a WhatsApp message from a friend in Australia, asking if it was true that I had retired. Although, marvelling how quickly news can travel over such long distances these days , I was also stung by the question. Why stung? What is it about the word, ‘retirement’ that makes me…

…here I am adding to my blog. Something I will attempt to do at least once per week, although mindful that the theme is ,’ grasping nettles’ that sting and need soothing with ointment, not smothering with aloe vera that soothes and sends you to sleep. I asked family and friends for feedback on the…