Love Yourself, Love Your Body

Love Yourself, Love Your Body

Happy New Year! I generally enjoy the opportunity to reflect as the years tick over. But one of my pet peeves are the messages that come screaming out in abundance on Jan 1. “New Year New You!” or even worse – “Get a new body for 

The Life-changing Magic of Saying Thank You

The Life-changing Magic of Saying Thank You

You may have heard about a tidying-up phenomenon known as Marie Kondo. Marie is a Japanese lady who wrote a book about throwing away things that don’t “spark joy“, and rolling up your socks so you can have a pristine sock drawer. I have to 

Why I’m Done with Impostor Syndrome

Why I’m Done with Impostor Syndrome

So a couple of months ago I got an email from a stranger. He’s a radiation oncologist from the USA. He is “really impressed” by the research I’ve been doing and wants to connect and collaborate. I did what every academic worth their salt does. 

A Love Letter To the Working Mum On the Bus

A Love Letter To the Working Mum On the Bus

It was 5pm on a busy Monday evening and I heard children. They sounded a lot like mine. You were waiting in line for my bus, with two toddlers and two strollers. You got on the bus and stood the entire way home because there 

The Struggle is Real, and How To Lean Into It

The Struggle is Real, and How To Lean Into It

This year, I feel like the Queen Elizabeth II that year when Fergie broke up with Andrew, and life in Buckingham Palace was generally falling apart. The queen remarked that she was having an annus horribilis. I’m having my own version, minus the papparazzi. I found 

Seven Years A Mum: Things I Have Learned Since Having Children

Seven Years A Mum: Things I Have Learned Since Having Children

Exactly seven years ago, my life as a self-assured, fresh-faced, pert thirty-something who spent her weekends blissfully attending Friday night drinks followed by yoga and pilates classes on Saturdays came to a sudden, screaming, abrupt end. Oh, how I thought I had it together at 

How Not To Be A Superwoman

How Not To Be A Superwoman

I have recently been appointed to a new, more senior role. This role both terrifies and inspires me, and it appears to terrify others as well. When I talk about what I do and what I plan to do, colleagues and mentors invariably respond with 

What I Think About Work-Family “Balance”

What I Think About Work-Family “Balance”

  “I wanted to ask you how you manage to balance it so beautifully” she asked shyly. “Work, family…”   I felt like a fraud when the young PhD student said this to me. (Yes, I suffer from Impostor Syndrome at home too.) I don’t 

RU OK? Here are some resources that can help if you’re not

RU OK? Here are some resources that can help if you’re not

It’s RU OK day, a day to remind us of the importance of good mental health, a day to think about the people we love who might not be ok, who might be struggling with untold depression or even suicidal. This post is written not 

You Are Not Alone

You Are Not Alone

I have a dark secret. Perhaps not a secret, as I do pour out my heart and soul in this blog. But here it is. I’m not perfect. I’m imperfect. Like those knobbly apples and pears that sell for $3 a kilo less because they