Tim and I, along with our colleague Russ, have been working in a school over the last few weeks – recording podcasts, and this week filming TV, with some delightful primary school pupils. It’s been a long while since I have been able to spend this much time with children. Whilst [...]
I have now been single for one year. And, as I have written about before, I’m very content with that. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day… potentially a day that has a greater impact on single people than those in relationships. Whilst couples may exchange cards, gifts and messages of love (I just [...]
I’m leaving! I’m writing this blog with just 5 working days left with Sally here at the Happynesshub in our children’s television and emotional wellbeing bubble. What a delight it has been. For the past 15 months (minus the couple I was in India), I have learned more than I ever [...]
Worrying has always been easy for me ever since I was a small child. But a few years ago, my mindset shifted when I realised that being anxious was about trying to force an outcome over which I had no control. It also took away valuable mental energy I would need for problem solving. So I [...]
I’ve been having somewhat of a rollercoaster of a couple of weeks… On Friday 18th January I hopped on a train to Bournemouth to spend the weekend with around 50 of my relatives. On the 20th I returned to London, met Tim and got straight back in the car to head to Bristol [...]
It’s 3pm on the 1stof January. I have been horizontal for almost the entire day and we are half way through Four Weddings and a Funeral when my best friend Leah says ‘Shall I read you a poem Pandora Sykes has written?’ Pandora Sykes is a writer, journalist and podcaster (I am [...]
It’s that very funny time between Christmas and New Year. The ‘January’ sales have started (even though January hasn’t) and, for many, this is a time to spend with loved ones, whether they are near or far. And so, as a little follow-up from the blog I wrote a couple of [...]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!! Can you tell I really like Christmas? Well, I actually just really like December. London always looks so pretty (the Oxford Street window displays are at their finest), there’s that frosty bite in the air, there are decorations everywhere and people just become [...]
Reading fiction has always been a popular pastime but the benefits to one’s own wellbeing are hugely underestimated, I think. In this instance, I’m focussing on pure fiction, whether in the form of novels, plays, poetry and short stories - not manuals, autobiographies, history books etc, but works where a world [...]
"Mr Happy". I bet many people make this assessment of me when they meet me. And I am generally a happy person. But I can also be anxious and this makes me grumpy and hard to handle around my closest and most precious ones. For me, being happy has, and continues, to take [...]
