Pause and Reflect

The sun starts to seep through the windows of my room. I slowly inch open my eyes and, as I start to regain my senses, I realise that I'm not waking up in the comfort of my London flat. There is no luxurious duvet keeping me warm. No soft carpet to cushion my feet when I stand. Instead, I awake and see that I'm encapsulated by a very small mosquito net, scattered with holes, which negates the point of using the net in the first place, but the thought of some sort of protection, despite its flaws, still provides me with a sense of security. I fumble my way out of the bed and search for my flip flops to provide some respite from stepping onto the cold, concrete floor. I look out at the room and see the boxes which clutter my room, behind which I am certain I have some sort of lizard room mate, based on the sounds I remember hearing throughout the night. I scutter over to the corner of the room and grab my wash bag and some clothes from the temporary table I have made using one of...

I have never really been an avid reality TV follower. Ask me to name all of the Kardashians and I would struggle. And don't even bother asking me anything about Love Island. Ask me about one of my favourite music artists, however, and I'll know all of the latest gossip and releases. I'll sit through the Grammys and read every online review of the performances of artists I like. Whoever you are, there is some form of entertainment that interests you and you will follow it intently. Being entertained is a crucial part of our society. It allows us to escape the reality of our day and focus on something else for a while. This isn't a new concept. Think back to Medieval Times and the involvement of jesters at large banquets. We have always had a desire to be regaled. As I look around now, though, I wonder if our society is facing the consequences of putting too much emphasis on entertainment. To put this in context, a jester in Medieval Times would not have been paid incred...

The more I travel the world, the more I realise how special London is as a city. I love the beauty of the place. The way that the streets of London carry stories from days gone by. It's easy to picture the horse drawn carriages which used to ride down Park Lane, or to see the darkness in East London's once gang ruled streets. There is a history that lives through every nook and cranny of this city. What really makes this place special, though, is not the history, but the diversity that currently ripples through it. Whichever tube line, bus, or road you walk to get to work in the morning, there are people of all genders, all nationalities, all ethnicities, all sexualities. London is a diversity champion. And I love it. Diversity has become one of those buzz words everyone loves to use these days, but do any of us really think about why it has become an echelon of success? Why is this something companies are constantly seeking? I am fortunate to lead a diverse team. I have men,...

I don't think that I will ever forget the 2015 photograph of 3 year old Alan Kurdi's body laid out across a Turkish beach, following his family's failed attempt to reach European shores from Syria. It is a haunting image of the consequences of desperation to reach a better life. More recently, it has been difficult to watch some of the emotionally charged videos of children being reunited with their parents on the American border, after their families were torn apart when they illegally entered the United States. The immigration debate is in full force across the Western world. In Europe, Italy's new, right-leaning government are the first to close their shores to migrant ships. In the US, the debate that started with the deportation of Dreamers has since turned into the morality of detention centres, filled with Latin American children caged and crying out for their parents. Whichever way you slice it, it is hard to recognise this world in which we now live. Once...

I have always known my path in life. I have always known that I would study hard, go to university, get a good job, meet someone, and have a family by the time I was 30. Life was going to be easy for me because I knew exactly where I wanted to go and how I was going to get there. Well, that's what I always thought anyway. Everyday I continue to learn something new about myself and the world. It's obvious to me now that life isn't as easy as my younger-self had naively thought. No matter who I am, or what I have done, there will be both easy times and hard. There will be both laughter and sadness. And ultimately, any plan that I have for myself is unlikely to unfold exactly how I envisaged it. Experiencing life's difficulties can be scary and unnerving, and it has taken me a lot of time to see the positive side of difficulty. We all remember those older family members telling us that we'll learn a lot about life and ourselves as we grow, but it's hard to really...

People always say that your thirties are your best years. I never fully understood this; when you're in the midst of the fun, care-free partying of your twenties, it's hard to see how anything can get better. Surely it all goes downhill at 30 when you're married with kids and living the boring, suburban life? Now, at 32, I am starting to see what people mean. I truly feel like I'm finally waking up to myself and enjoying the journey that it's taking me on. It happens gradually; as you edge towards the big 3-0, you start to feel a shift, a greater understanding of what makes you tick and how to deal with your personal demons, a clarity around the type of people that you want to be around, and this realisation that actually not everything is black and white, like you always thought. The world is made up of grey. Lots of it. When I was younger, I thought life was simple. You study, you work hard, you make your success. If you did something wrong, it said something abo...

The sound of Ed Sheeran gently wakes me up to a cold, dark morning. It's 6am. I roll over and reach for my phone. A quick check of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp and I feel up to date on my friends' lives. I open a few articles on my news feed about another Syrian atrocity to which the world is becoming alarmingly accustomed. My heart aches. As I glance at my clock and realise 15 minutes have passed, I sigh to myself and finally pull myself out of bed for another day at work. This has become my routine every morning. I have a wonderful life and I should be grateful for the trajectory that my career is on and the opportunities that brings. However, like other millenials, this often doesn't feel like enough. My grand visions of building schools in India seem so far away. Whilst I'm helping the feminist agenda, breaking glass ceilings in the corporate world, and trying to be a role model for young women, part of me yearns for more. Some days that is the desire to do som...