My Biggest Embarrassment? I Am Terrified of Driving.
Getting behind the wheel for me is akin to telling my body I am about to fight a bear. The physical reaction my body has is so encompassing - my head heats up, I can’t breathe as easily, I can feel my whole system going into melt-down. I like to think of myself as a (mostly) intelligent person, but in the car I just can’t get a grip of my mind. Something as simple as remembering which side of the road to drive on becomes a genuine feat for me. And what makes all of this worse is that driving isn’t just seen as a skill - it’s a badge of adulthood. It shapes how people see you, and lacking said badge has started to feel like a very heavy mistake.
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Self-Aware or Self-Conscious: Are Performative Male Contests Evidence of Gen-Z Insecurity?
Dressed in wide-leg trousers, holding an oat flat white between painted fingernails, and reading a copy of The Bell Jar, it is: The Performative Male. You might have heard of this new label for men and seen various caricatures of it in competition with one another at a performative male contest in-person or on TikTok. The contests themselves have gained virality more than the male himself, but who exactly is the Performative Male?
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When the Veil Thins: The Story of Samhain and Halloween
Samhain, pronounced ‘SOW-in’ (as in ‘sow’ like a female pig and ‘in’ as in “I hope you are interested in learning about Samhain”), is a festival that was predominantly celebrated by the Iron Age Celtic people living in Ireland. The festival often crops up around this time of year, featuring in articles claiming it as the Celtic progenitor of Halloween or in films wishing to cash in on an extra layer of folkloric spookiness. However, the often-popularised claim that this festival is the origin of Halloween is, at the very least, an oversimplification of history. So, if that’s the case, then what is Samhain? And where did Halloween come from?
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When the Past Wears a Uniform: Trauma, Power, and the Unexpected Triggers of Survival
Before I describe my own experience, I want to pause on a word that often enters conversations about abuse: narcissist. It’s a term that has become almost casual in popular culture, tossed around to describe anyone who seems vain or self-absorbed. In the context of an abusive relationship, the word is much heavier. It names a pattern of manipulation, control, and emotional erosion that can leave deep, lingering scars. When I say my ex is a narcissist, it’s not a throwaway insult—it’s an attempt to give language to the experience of being diminished and controlled over time.
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How Hollow Knight (and All My Spectacular Deaths) Taught Me Resilience
You will die. A lot. My first time fighting Hornet was a real struggle. She’s fast, agile, and shows no mercy. I remember spending weeks fighting her over and over again only to fail. When I finally beat her, I felt this incredible sense of achievement. The failure I experienced just propelled me to keep going, so much so it became addictive.
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The Rise of Eating Disorder Influencers: How TikTok is Glamorising EDs
Aside from accounts directly promoting disordered eating, TikTok has seen a surge of ED ‘recovery’ accounts, with creators sharing their lives and, therefore, illness, online. The vast majority of these accounts claim to be there to display their journey to recovery, hold themselves accountable and to ‘inspire’ and ‘help’ others.
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Sex, Shame and Scandal - My Opinion on Bonnie Blue’s Documentary
The challenging-for-most Channel 4 documentary; ‘1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story’, has brought up many thoughts around hustle culture within the sex industry, and the potential harm she may be causing to young people. If there was ever a warning for your browser history, I think watching this documentary might just be it.
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How EMDR Helped Me Become Peaceful with My Past…But Left Me With Me in The Present.
My therapist shared that she’d recently trained in it and had it herself. Swore by it. So I did what most people do when presented with something to ease suffering. Sign. Me. Up.
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I Travel Globally with My Kids to Build Their Confidence—and Sense Of The World
So, why do I do this? Why do I take the trouble of travelling globally with two young children when I could have easily gone to the local park or tried my luck at a staycation?
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Should You Power Through The Ick In A Long Term Relationship? No.
By now, you probably know what ‘The Ick’ is, and you have probably had plenty of experience with it in your own dating life. It has likely derailed a first date or ruined several months of getting to know someone new. But does The Ick ever occur in a healthy and committed relationship, or one that has been maintained through love over many years? And is it really the deathknell that social media claims it to be?
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The Bullet and the Ballot: Is Violence Becoming The Dominant Language of Politics?
There’s not a lot to say in terms of reporting the events. This isn’t a voyeuristic true‑crime retelling. We all saw the video. If we didn’t see the video, we saw the photograph: hands reaching to close an already gaping wound. Within hours, the footage was everywhere, framed as another sign of “unprecedented times”. But America has been here before. Many times.
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Quiet-quitting: Why Are All The Twenty-Something's Leaving Their Corporate 9-5s?
Four months after working in recruitment, I had to admit three things: I did not like my job, I was burnt out, and I really, really, really wanted to quit. My colleagues were supportive; I did not want to leave. I wanted to brave it and make the most of the opportunity in front of me. However, midway through the fifth month I had a complete mid-20s crash out and thought “no more!”.
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Skims Have Released Shapewear...For Your Face: Why You Should Fear the Facewrap
The beauty industry is ever evolving into something more dystopian than before, and nothing supports this more than Skims' new shapewear…for your face. It does beg the question, what on earth is going on here?
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All My Friends Are Influencers... Why Personal Brands Are Part of Life Now
Not so long ago, the idea of having a “personal brand” felt… well, a bit embarrassing. It sounded like something for influencers or reality stars. Something reserved for people who wanted to be famous. Not something for regular people. Not something for me, or my friends, or the woman running a graphic design business from her kitchen table. But lately, I’ve noticed a shift. All my friends have personal brands now. Whether they’re calling it that or not.
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Changing the Narrative: How Independent Midwifery is Revolutionising Modern Birth Experiences & Reducing Trauma in the Birth-space.
The current narrative around birth serves no one, with almost half of mainstream maternity units being rated inadequate or requiring improvements, with national headlines showcasing that approximately 30,000 women a year leave their experience with trauma or PTSD (Birth Trauma Enquiry 2024). It creates a mechanism of fear that has many just grateful they have themselves and a baby at the end of it. Yet, women deserve to know that there are practitioners who see pregnancy and birth as normal life events that require skilled support, not medical management, who are safe, trained and experienced in this space and want to provide choices and alternatives to the mainstream measure of childbearing.
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Number 38: Turning My House Into Home After My Parkinson's Diagnosis
I live in House Number 38 with my husband and two little boys. We moved to Number 38 when my health began deteriorating rapidly and I was at the time unsure about what was wrong with my body. Personally for me, moving into this house brings back very difficult memories of struggle, chaos and constant change.
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Raving Isn't Just For The Youngsters: There’s No Shame in Being A Silver-Haired Regular on the Dancefloor
One friend, Jackie, who has raved ‘through pregnancies, bringing up children [and] going through trauma’, describes nights out as ‘losing touch with the stresses of life even just for a short time’. To rave then, is to heal.
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Disable Marriage Equality: Why Do I Lose My Benefits If I Marry an "Able-Bodied" Person?
If you get married, you and your partner are then viewed almost as one person, including that of your income. That will oftentimes then lead to your income and your benefits becoming intertwined with your partners’. If you’re a disabled person and you marry an able-bodied person, one who works a qualifying significant income, the disabled person in the relationship will likely lose their benefits altogether. If you live outside of the UK, not only are you left with the strict laws on benefits causing issues, but also your access to healthcare, such as insurance.
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My Name is Emily, I’m Disabled, and I’m A Benefit Claimant.
Anxious thoughts ran through my head as my laptop mouse hovered over the “proceed to check-out” button. There I was, panicking about buying a walking stick with my disability money… which is exactly what it’s for. But after reading the news, it’s no wonder I was so worried. All I could see and hear was the threats of benefit cuts from a government using disabled people, who are just trying to survive, as a scapegoat.
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Madeleine McCann Was Reported Missing in 2007. Why Are We Still Reporting On It?
In the eighteen years since this incident occurred, the case has rarely been out of the press. Despite the absolute tragedy that has occurred, it is hard to argue that the continued fascination on this case is uncommon. Similar cases of children going missing are not unheard of, but none have had a similar impact on the public and the media, especially in the UK. So, why is this the case?
And here-in, I feel, may be the issue and the answer.
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