Living with mental illness (my own and that of my husband), I am bombarded with jingoistic slogans like ‘R U OK?’, parroted by gurus of ‘Mindfulness’, and by their minions who wave yellow balloons in my face, or consultants who advise employers to host endless parties, or feign empathy in exchange for docility, or friends who assume we need an ideological revamp. If wellbeing crusaders really cared how we felt, they would be quieter and let us have our contemplation; or ask a complete sentence with rounded vowels, including the last two letters of ‘you’. If a person cannot ask ‘How are you feeling?’ without abbreviating it into an acronym, clearly they have no time to hear us. If we had the power to define mental health, perhaps it would differ from current expectations? Who would the ‘sick’ ones be then?

While most of us claim to be rational beings, so many disputes in our society are about self-interest. In that context, it seems evidence is only acepted where it serves those interests. Can we change that way of thinking, or is it just a necessary part of being human?

Life in a democracy is presented as a level playing field where we can make rational, informed choices, but our fate is sealed by social norms. The cost of going of rallying against means that many won’t even question the possibility.

We drive cars, heat houses, cook, manufacture and do many other things which make the earth hotter. We should be concerned about things that heat the earth other than the greenhouse effect.

Because climate change is talked about hundreds of times a day and the meaning of the term and issues tat need to be talked about are at odds. It is simply incorrect use of the english language, in a similar way to the use of ‘cement’ when referring to ‘concrete’!

People keep repeating the same mistakes despite a fairly good recording of historical events and I wonder if this is an aspect of our biology we seem unable to address.

In many professions gender inequality is evident by the lack of female leadership at top levels. This is in part attributed to the divergence during mid career progression when women are likely to begin having families. Would the gender inequality debate be flipped on it’s head if men were the ones who got pregnant?

Find out if the food admin & the drug admin have correlated their ‘facts’ on PG. What ‘safe’ means, when talking about this petroleum-based substance: PG is a preservative in nearly all over food, drinks, self-care products, medicines…

So. Many. Festivals.

New parent myself – but more importantly in light of the Syrian refugees placing their children in scary waters in the hope of providing their children a better life in Europe.

This is the current internal debate I am struggling with as a student about to graduate and go out into the competitive and soul-crushing work force world. There is often this moral vs. wealth and success debate when thinking about the person I want to be and whether I can truly make an impact in this world. How can we break free from the ideals in place by our society and comfortably be ourselves without giving up certain parts of who we are and how we think?