Category: Healthy

Fewer Choices, More Time

January. The long morning-after. A time of mad diets, tentative declarations of sobriety, and a communal wish to be anywhere but here and now. January does something evil to those of us in a cold climate: it’s so bad, so unrelentingly bleak, that it begins to feel like a judgement from on high. A smackdown. […]

George Michael: My Hero

So this is Christmas. We are divided, between those who are easily swayed by the mob mentality (Chrrriiiistmas they scream, eggnog drunk), and those who deem this season a massive waste of time and money. I would fall in to the latter (because I hate spending money and group projects are the absolute worst) except […]

‘Whatever Gets You Through the Day, it’s Ok’ – Self-Care Strategies for Realists

Have you ever looked back upon a time in your life and thought is that me? It can’t be. I’ve been daydreaming about my summers during university, when I worked part time and wrote sprawling essays and stories for my own enjoyment. I mean, really? I did that? I sat there in that kingdom of […]

Would You Like a Long Life, or a Good Life?

When faced with a choice between two things, I think its’s always sensible to check: can’t I have both? A long life or a good life. Well, one of the reasons I gave up alcohol and cigarettes is because I wanted more of the good stuff and less of the bad (mornings full of nice […]

The Friday Happy list – 5th May 2017

Ahoy! Tis Friday. For us nine to fivers, it’s time to really let loose, strike out and seize the means of production go on a jolly weekend bender. If you are anything like me, you have been getting through this working week with a heady mix of coffee, sugar and confused shouting. I’d like to […]

In Praise of Having a Rest

Sometime in the dark midwinter I was scrubbing at a blue-black stain on my living room carpet for ten minutes before I realised it was actually a shadow. I wanted to cry. It was past my bed-time and my nervous system was crackling with stress. I’d had about eight cups of coffee since 7am that […]

This is What Happens When You Stop Drinking

If you look for it, there is a deluge of confessional articles on the internet about the dark tarnished glamour of alcoholism. You know – the good bit? The bit before it all falls apart, the bit about being Kate Moss and a rock star and not caring. Euphoric, dazed, crashing headlong into the end. […]

Be the Bear, and Other Mantras to Get You Through Winter

If you could hibernate through winter, would you? Find a nice cave, fill it with biscuits, put on a jumper, and sleep? Sleep lavishly. Slumber in an absolutely unreachable state. I know I would. I’ve written before about my annual sad feelings which always come around just in time for Christmas, and the things that […]

Autumn is Better Than Summer

Summer. It’s such a lie. Grey drizzle prevails throughout June. The sun makes a cameo appearance one icy, blustery day in July, and everyone in Scotland takes off their clothes. We shiver stubbornly, on beaches and in parks, across hills and glens. We go swimming in lochs, and get out quickly and pretend that we’re […]