‘Laughter is contagious’ is the theory behind my new laughing dog song for our children’s mental health project. So as I drove to my composer’s studio, I pondered on how little I’d been laughing recently, and wondered if I was really the right person to be doing this final mix with [...]
It had been a difficult day. Suffice to say I had burst into tears twice amongst many other goings on, and I had been left with a feeling of hopelessness and exhaustion. Not a good mix. As I packed the picnic for our trip to Hampton Court Palace, I consciously made [...]
Ever since I was young I haven’t really liked walking. I always wanted to be running, racing, swimming, cycling, competing. Walking felt too passive, like I was doing nothing. And I am a doer. As I got older, I tried to embrace the joy of a gentle amble with a friend, [...]
I walked out of the hospital and I really had had enough. I should have been happy - the news was not bad - I ‘probably’ didn’t have cancer. ‘Unlikely’. Some tests. But, for me, the news was also far from good… ‘You have a complex condition’. ‘Not sure we can [...]
I woke up Monday morning feeling unwell. And then some concerning news arrived. I was worried, and an abundance of other negative memories, past events, comparative scenarios flooded my brain. I’d planned to do a few emails and some work from home, yet I felt a need to inject something positive [...]
We make 35,000 decisions a day – so say some sources. And these can vary from what to eat for dinner to the more serious and heavy-weighted, what feels like in the moment ‘life-changing’ decisions. So as my TV series drew to a close a few weeks ago I felt that [...]
When I was young I remember climbing trees without fear, swinging the swing in my garden so high I thought it would circle all the way round and doing wheelies with such zest and zeal, there was no chance of a fall or crash. I was a bit of a tomboy, [...]
‘The bumper is smashed,’ said my Dad. I hadn’t even left home, how could a new rental car have been damaged on my drive? And where on earth was the petrol cap lever? I would need gas en route. As I googled rapidly, Archie barking in the back of the car [...]
I am having lunch with a friend and I am running late. I’ve written multiple emails on my phone on the tube in, used it to navigate myself to the coffee bar, sent a last-minute text from the loo before I go to the table - and as I sit down, [...]
