I have been working as a designer for nearly 10 years, holding different positions along the way but one thing is forever the same. The feeling of unease and uncertainty, regardless of how strong you seem. To be a good designer is forever to doubt yourself and know you can always do better, which can sometimes feel the opposite to everyone else. In a professional office setting, you tend to find that everyone is working with definite information. Whether it’s requirements or data, they have a defined set of guidelines to follow to achieve their goal. …

Why LinkedIn is my social media of choice

A few months ago I set up focus mode on my phone to minimise distractions from things that do not add to my life. Like everybody else, I found myself being sucked into hours of useless scrolling and dramatisation. Focus mode is a new Digital Wellbeing tool on my google pixel (android).

You can choose the apps that distract you (like social media) and add them to a list that will be silenced while focus mode is on. If you try to open one of your silenced apps, you will be shown a message that lets you choose a timeframe…

Imposter

A person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others, especially for fraudulent gain.

Imposter Syndrome

The persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.

“I feel like an imposter”

‘Imposter’ by definition, is negative. It portrays the assumption of being deceitful for unsavoury reasons.

In a conversation with one of the talented young designers I work with, she expressed the feelings of imposter syndrome. I find that this is a common theme of conversation throughout every level of a role and organisation. …

To hear or to listen

Oxford languages define listening as ‘giving one’s attention to a sound’, while the Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries both define listening as ‘to give attention to someone or something in order to hear him, her’. I find this distinction really interesting and important. Listening as a word in the English language means to hear a sound, whereas the act of listening is so much more. The act of listening involves cognitive ability, understanding and sometimes empathy.

The way I think of this is like having a conversation with someone about the weather. That’s fine, right? Easy enough, we‘ve all done it……

Let’s start with a clear statement — Mental health and mental ill-health are not to be confused. If you have a brain, you have mental health.

The problem

From a young age, we are taught how to be kind, how to love and how to show up… for everyone but ourselves. We are taught that putting ourselves first is selfish. For some reason we are not taught to build a relationship with ourselves, to get to know yourself so deeply that we know what we want and more importantly, what we need. This lack of self-awareness coupled with hiding anxieties and insecurities…

Ever watched those ‘epic fail’ videos on youtube? Where people fail and usually fall in all kinds of spectacular ways. Are you like me and wince every time it happens, like you actually feel it yourself. When it happens you grab whatever part of the body they dramatically injured. I mean, I think we have all seen men grab their crotch when a child accidentally manages to get some purchase on a football and it hits with some speed. Well, this is empathy…

Empathy is our ability to understand and feel the experience of another from that person’s frame of…

Pride Month

In the early hours of June 28th 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York City police raided a gay club named the Stonewall Inn. This raid started a riot among bar patrons and neighbourhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighbouring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.† …

What is CBD oil?

CBD stands for cannabidiol, it is one of 113 identified cannabinoids found in marijuana and hemp and accounts for up to 40% of the plant’s extract. The effects of marijuana, when smoked or ingested, are split into two — psychoactive (THC) and non-psychoactive (CBD), therefore CBD will not make you ‘high’. Basically, it’s the part of marijuana that makes you feel relaxed.

The Human Body’s Response

The endocannabinoid system is a molecular system that exists within the human body that is responsible for regulating and balancing many processes, including immune response, communication between cells, appetite and metabolism, memory, pain and more. It is a…