I can’t answer for you but I can share the lessons I’ve learned in the year since my life was turned upside down. In May 2018, I collapsed in the street. For months I couldn’t trust my body to do the most basic things like stand upright and walk in a straight line. In the... Continue Reading →
From cynic to fan: discovering meditation
I’ve flirted with the idea of meditating lots of times. I even went to a silent retreat in Thailand years ago (and committed the cardinal sin of trying to befriend someone…) I never got it. I always fell back on one of these excuses. Meditation is for calm people ... and monks. Meditation is for... Continue Reading →
Disability makes you angry, but it can also make you brave
Hands up. I’ve done my fair share of the angry reaction to my disability. I remember, in the early days, when I was trying to adjust to this new and alien noise in my left ear, I’d often fly off the handle. I’m ashamed to admit that one day I got so angry with the... Continue Reading →
“The most important opinion a person will ever hold is the one that they hold about themselves”
That quote is from the American personal development expert Tony Robbins. He has a documentary on Netflix at the moment called I’m not Your Guru. He’s pretty Marmite, especially to British sensitivities, but it you can get past the melodrama and the fawning fans, Robbins speaks a lot of sense. His quote has rung true... Continue Reading →
The Podcast Prescription: How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
I think I have a new girl crush. Elizabeth Day is a journalist and author and runs a podcast called How To Fail. I-tunes link I've binge listened to it over the last few weeks. I was a little wary at first of the cut-glass Oxford accent, but was quickly won over - it's a genius idea... Continue Reading →
Passion is overrated
When it comes to our careers, most people buy into a simple equation. If I do a job I’m passionate about and I work hard at it, then I’ll be happy and satisfied with my lot in life. It’s an equation that’s fed to us on repeat. The media is full of stories of people... Continue Reading →
Brain on overdrive? … Try this
Do you ever feel worn out by the tide of thoughts swilling around in your brain? Thoughts that never seem to reach a conclusion no matter how much thinking time they take up? The dreams: One day I’ll set up my own business The questions: Should we move out of London? Should I change career?... Continue Reading →
A Big Decision
“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted”. At the end of November, after an unrelenting month of vertigo attacks and dizziness, I was curled up in a ball on my bed recovering from the latest attack when I let out an involuntary, guttural howl. I... Continue Reading →
I’m ditching New Year’s Resolutions this year
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein. For years, at the start of every year, two of my closest friends and I each wrote five New Year’s Resolutions and shared them between ourselves. In a bid to encourage proactivity, we tallied our success rates at the end... Continue Reading →
Everyone needs a coach
A few weeks ago, on a whim, I signed up to two-day life coaching course. It was free, so I was more than a little wary. But I was also intrigued. As the first trainer kicked off proceedings, we were taught that the first rule of coaching is that you don't give advice. A coach... Continue Reading →
The Fear of Crying
Last night, eight of us were at a friend’s house for our Christmas do. I’d been looking forward to it all week. Everyone was in high spirits. I was trying to chop up some red chilis when I sensed the warning signs of an impending vertigo attack. A friend was asking me questions and I... Continue Reading →
The article I wrote for the Meniere’s magazine, Spin
Menieres has been like a rollercoaster ride that has scooped me up and flung me about and turned me upside down. I’m currently in the middle of a relapse and I can’t work, but I wanted to write a positive article about how I try to keep living a happy and fulfilling life, despite my... Continue Reading →
I can’t even do rebellion …
11.46pm Wednesday night. Shit day. Shit week in fact. The pinnacle was a vertigo attack on the tube on Saturday afternoon. I was in the middle of talking to my friend when a loud screeching noise, the kind you hear on the tube all the time, set me off. I felt the fear first; my... Continue Reading →
Penguin slide into podcast recommendations
Another day, another spin. At lunchtime on Saturday, as I was talking to one of my oldest and dearest mum friends, I realised I had started propping myself up on the kitchen surface to steady myself. Later as I cooked dinner, the spin hit. Humour me for a minute and imagine a kids book full... Continue Reading →
Who are you?
Fear not, I'm not about to go all deep on you. But this has been the weirdest 24 hours. It started with some wooziness at lunchtime yesterday, which is par for the course, but developed into a full blown spin that left me lying prostrate on the floor, thirsty, but unable to get up because... Continue Reading →
