Challenge completed!

March was supposed to be the month I walked 10,000 steps a day.
    I’ve raised more than £150 for Cancer Research UK and - although I had days when it was impossible to reach my goal, my monthly average was a little over 11,000.

    Now, my goal is to keep up my level of fitness. My daily average for 2019 is approaching 10,000. This is a huge improvement on last year, when I had seven months of feeling really under the weather (you don’t need the gruesome details!), and the most fit I’ve been since before the whole car-crash-broken-arm-frozen-shoulder-and-double-stomach-tumour-operations period of my life.

    It feels like real progress.

    Meanwhile, if you’d like to contribute, please click here

A weekend of pampering - without the potions

Not a fluffy robe in sight, I enjoyed a weekend of genuine me-time. Anyone who knows me in real life will know that appearance is one of the last things I consider - either in myself or in others. So me-time really is about soul-searching.
    Saturday was spent in the London offices of PwC, but the event was more about the individual than the corporate.

What a panel!

     Let’s talk about ‘M’ was all about focusing on the stuff that matters in life - mental health, men, marriage, mindset, money and mates. Led by a team of highly professional (and yet friendly) presenters and facilitators, the day asked some potent questions and led to some important insights.

Round table discussions were helpful and we even won prizes!

    The stories the presenters told were heart-felt and humorous. There was plenty of time for discussion around the table and across the room. It was a happy, productive environment that gave plenty of food for thought.

    Sunday (for me) gave way to an Afternoon of Conversation, with discussions led by the marvellous Wajeeha Amin, who had also been one of the co-organisers and presenters of Saturday’s event.

Wajeeha is an inspiration!

    Passing a box around the room for everyone to take a small, rolled-up piece of paper, Wajeeha stressed the discretion and informality of the event. The questions ranged from the simple to the complex and all were thought-provoking.
    At first glance, my own question was straight-forward and easy to answer. “What is not on your bucket list” was quickly answered with “jumping out of a plane or on the end of a bungee rope.” On later reflection, I realised the importance of the question to me. A few years ago, I didn’t think I had time for a bucket list. I certainly had no energy or will to go anywhere near a plane. An operation or four later, I did have a bucket list. And a determination to complete it.
    Actually, my bucket list is constantly evolving, but you get the picture. Asking me what is (or isn’t) on it opens a can of worms that encompasses gratitude and relief that I’ve been given time to tick some things off it.
    And so, this was a weekend of dropping stones into thought and watching the ripples spread. It’s been a week and I’m still considering my responses to some of the issues raised.
    And no, I wouldn’t have swapped it for a weekend at a spa.

Inside the lair of a bibliophile

Someone recently asked me if I have more than one bookcase. Of course I do. When I thought about it, I realised how important my books are, and their importance in my home. They’re daily reminders of the knowledge that I’m constantly acquiring. I love being able to pick up a book I’ve not read for years and turn its pages once more.
    So, this is a few of my bookshelves.

Developing skills

Science was scary at school. Despite having some great teachers, I never really allowed myself to enjoy Biology, Physics and Chemistry. It became easy to say "I'm rubbish at science".
    It came as a surprise, then, to find myself writing about science professionally, soon after leaving university. My father was working with a company called Quest International, who made flavours and fragrances to go into some of our best-known household products. I began writing for their in-house magazines, both internationally and locally around the UK. Truth be told, I blagged the science stuff.
    Now, I’m writing once again for the same business, which is part of Givaudan, with sites all around the world. I’ve been writing again, mainly for their fragrance division, and still knowing a lot more about words than I do about science.
    Which took me to my third course with FutureLearn. ‘Discovering Science: Science Writing’ was brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable.
   The course itself was accredited by the University of Leeds and covered topics that were familiar and some that were definitely new. I was pleased with my 96% average test score.
   The certificate was a great surprise and this feels like a major achievement.

International Women's Day 2019 and the Rose Review

It was interesting to read some of today's NatWest Rose Review report on female entrepreneurship.
    As it was International Women's Day, I found myself in NatWest's own Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub in Milton Keynes, surrounded by dozens of other business women. There was some great networking and a couple of interesting speakers.
    "The UK is the start-up capital of Europe, attracting more venture capital than any other European country, yet only one in three UK entrepreneurs is female. In comparison with 15% of women in Canada, almost 11% of women in the US, and over 9% of women in Australia and the Netherlands, only 5.6% of UK women run their own companies."
    Some of the stories you hear about the responses to women's business ideas - often from potential investors - are reason enough why women don't want to become entrepreneurs.
    It was interesting to be in a room with women who just want to get on with business. We don't think we're better than men. We don't even feel sorry for ourselves - we simply want to get on with doing what we do, alongside other people. If we are treated badly, we will deal with it.
    The Rose Review says: "access to funding, risk aversion, primary care responsibilities and perception of skills are among the barriers female entrepreneurs need to overcome. And in order to do that, she recommends eight initiatives the private sector (and parts of the public sector) can take forward, including: increased funding; support from private investors; the expansion of mentoring and networking opportunities; and accelerating the rollout of entrepreneurial courses to schools and colleges."
    Two hours of networking today didn't actually bring me any new business, but it opened up some new opportunities and helped me develop some existing relationships. We all need more of the same, whoever we are, and we need to encourage women, wherever they are.

Planning some festival fun with Love Supreme 2019

Some big names have been announced for Love Supreme in July and I, for one, am making plans to check out the amazing Chick Corea. His 500 Miles High is one of my all-time favourite jazz tracks.

    The Love Supreme Festival has just announced another wave of acts confirmed to perform at this summer’s event, which returns to Glynde Place in East Sussex from 5-7 July 2019.

    For this, Love Supreme's seventh year, they'd already confirmed - alongside Chick Corea - Ms. Lauryn Hill, Gladys Knight, Jamie Cullum, Snarky Puppy and Kamaal Williams.

    The lineup now includes Grammy Award-winning Louie Vega, who will perform with his full Elements of Life band following a triumphant Royal Festival Hall performance earlier this year, Parisian electro-swing collective Caravan Palace, fiery New Orleans five piece Tank and the Bangas, Grammy-nominated pianist Christian Sands, soulful Australian quartet The Teskey Brothers, and two acts from the forefront of the thriving Chicago scene; drummer and producer Makaya McCraven, and trumpeter Marquis Hill’s Blacktet.

    There's also the brilliant Gogo Penguin, Mahalia, Brand New Heavies and Joe Armon-Jones. I'm also intrigued to hear vibraphonist Orphy Robinson, who will recreate Van Morrison’s seminal Astral Weeks album.

     All in all, this promises to be a great start to a musical summer.