We’re all very familiar with the ongoing mental health crisis (the cultural one, yes, but perhaps our own one, too). We’ve never had more access to wellbeing tools, yet we’re still aching. Still searching.

The call to prayer rings out as the sun rises out of a rose gold sky and lights up the minaret of Koutoubia Mosque. I sip my mint tea on the rooftop of my riad and watch the city of Marrakesh float out of the dawn haze, the peaks of the Atlas Mountains soaring in the distance.

The idea of a four-day week has been front-page news since the 1960s. With more companies introducing pilot experiments utilising a reduced-hour working model, could this finally signal a shift in the modern workforce or is it just another continuation of the saga?

Culture has long been considered a vital part of society; a shared experience that brings people together through music, film, theatre, creative endeavours and art. However, as ticket prices soar and the cost-of-living crisis tightens its grip, a question arises: is culture becoming a luxury that only the privileged can afford?

Silence is unsettling.

It’s why we fill every pause in a conversation with half-thought-out words. Why we scroll mindlessly while watching TV. Why we blast music, stick on a four hour podcast, or declare we “need background noise” as we get on with our day.

We talk about slowing down, mindfulness and presence, but we’re constantly going, go, go - mentally, digitally, audibly.

We've been together for five years. We have a baby…so why does the world make me feel silly for wanting a Valentine’s Day gift?

An exploration into how viral clips of a Ukrainian rendition of the musical Cabaret led to blissful ignorance amongst TikTok fans.

Do we destroy the places we love by sharing them on social media? Are we inadvertently contributing to the demise and over-development of destinations? Simply put, are we loving places to death?

February, though the shortest month, somehow feels double. This is the month people start waking up from the winter daze and making plans for brighter days. The spring and summer calendars have started filling up. And what’s happening here? We’re grasping at the promise of better days ahead, stuck in a seasonal limbo that asks more of us than we have the energy to give.

Money. We love it, we hate it and we’re not so hot at talking about it. In this day and age, should discussing money still be something draped in red tape? I think not! I went on a mission to talk to my social circles about the topic of money; the main question to them being, ‘How do you split your finances with your partner?’  The responses garnered opened up discussion points around gender roles, girlboss feminism, and toxic masculinity. 

We all know how this goes: you sit down in December to reflect on the past year, maybe you revisit resolutions that you’ve already forgotten; and suddenly, you feel the urge to create a new self. A version of you that is much better than your present self, more disciplined or polished, capable:  someone who checks all of the boxes from the long list of ideas about this better version of you.

51% of industry workers are burnt out from the holidays, so is it a holly-jolly Christmas after all? Overworked, understaffed, and high expectations. What’s going to give?