Photo by Nathan Anderson  on Unsplash   There’s a quiet tension over the Christmas period, a time marketed as joyful and restorative, impossible to avoid lifted spirits through ritualistic cheer, but this doesn’t quite ring true for everyone. In fact, the festive season is not universally joyful, but can be a catalyst for psychological distress; a wellbeing test disguised as a holiday. When we look deeper, as research by Randy and Lori Sansone, 2011, suggests, the cultural na

Photo by Tyler Delgado  on Unsplash Optimised calendars. Optimised parenting. Optimised relationships. Even love must now justify its return on investment. But what about repetition? Tradition? According to new research, we are not bound together by efficiency, novelty or constant improvement, but by ritual. It’s families bonding together over the same meal, routine, walking route, a joke told by the same uncle every year  – rituals that look suspiciously like stagnation –

Photo by Soroush Karimi  on Unsplash We are not the autonomous, self-contained individuals we assume to be, not psychological, emotionally or even neurologically. New research in Neuroscience poses inquisitive understanding about the advantages of human connection, or true mutuality. This is connection not through physical touch or reassurance, but from understanding. When we feel deeply understood by others, our brains react differently to danger.  Going beyond attachment th

Photo by charlesdeluvio  on Unsplash It’s a simple truth: when someone is authentic, people trust them. Yet the fallacy is that authenticity is not a trait, or a leadership style, or even a value, it’s a relationship.  As a valued characteristic of business models, we love to promote authentic leadership, employee wellbeing and organisational ‘values in action’, but what happens to these values in times of crisis? Under strain, the unfiltered and sometimes painfully honest tr

Photo by The Cheeserom  on Unsplash How do we understand the concept of ‘sharing’? Is it that humans are naturally generous? Or perhaps it’s a value inherited from family that allows collaboration to blossom? Or is it a fictional story allowing us to mistake comfort for care and exchange for generosity? It may be the case that most of what is defined as sharing isn’t actually sharing at all, but a soft moral language to smooth around contracts, expectations and power dynamics

Photo by Jon Tyson  on Unsplash When an organisation says, ‘we believe in cooperation — your voice matters,’ should we believe them? It sounds progressive, considerate and fair. Mutuality, as an example, is a valuable tool to understand others, gain perspective and influence new creative directions. Great, right? But what if this perceived enlightenment is simply disguising a tool for power? What happens when the ambiguity is more powerful than the practice itself, when the

Photo by Andrew Moca  on Unsplash We tend to gravitate toward authority, the experts who tell us what to know, but sometimes the voice we’re taught to trust disguises a power imbalance. In global mental-health, it has been the same for decades, institutions in the global north set an agenda, design interventions and deliver to the global south, but whose knowledge really counts? Who has the authority to shape what counts as evidence? In order to challenge the power dynamics,

Photo by Christopher Ruel  on Unsplash What is manifestation? People gravitate towards the belief that desire itself bends the cosmos, that wanting becomes a force. Manifestation culture has become it’s own unofficial religion, especially for the ambition driven, using daily affirmations, gratitude journals and vision boards; when it’s wanted hard enough, the universe will provide. Yet there are dangers present, a truth of the repercussions of overconfidence in one’s own pers

Photo by Edz Norton  on Unsplash How aware are we of our own duality? As a professional, as a leader or, in fact, for any individual, while navigating the demands of life, there may be misguided confidence that we know ourselves… but what about the part that does not show? People search for meaning in the tangible, the performance of what should  be, rather than what is. One part of the persona is fully lit, the elements someone wants to show on full display; competence, int