‘Don’t put it down, put it away,’ rings the voice inside my head. The domestic angel on my shoulder takes on a deeper voice than one might imagine: my father’s. I place my keys back onto their hook in the hallway, instead of the side table that beckons in the living room, and take off my coat.

Thanks Dad, I think.

Growing up in a family comprised of 5 humans, 2 dogs, 2 birds, 2 guinea pigs, 1 cat and 1 rabbit and 1 turtle meant that chaos would (and did) ensue if things were not returned to their proper…

First things first, let’s get it straight that dessert does not have to be healthy in order to be enjoyed. If you’re in the mood for dessert — any dessert — then you don’t need an article giving your permission in order to have it.

Health is not built on the basis of restriction, deprivation, or rules.

With that being said, it’s also perfectly okay to crave foods that are more nourishing for your body in the long-term (and ones that don’t also completely taste like gr*ss)!

In reality, over the past decade of my life, I’ve found myself trading…

Iresided in the deep south from the ages of 11 to 17; specifically I lived in Alabama, in a place about an hour’s drive away from the Georgia state line.

Alabama was where I went to high school, had my first kiss, lost my virginity, and left far, far behind when I moved to London, England, after graduation.

One thing about going to school in the south is that there still exists a de facto lack of separation between church and state; in other words, almost everything you come into contact with on a daily basis will find its footings…

I was watching a podcast the other day with Russel Brand and Matthew McConaughey — two figures whom, it’s worth noting, I find wildly entertaining but do not necessarily endorse the opinions of — where they proceeded to discuss the current state of politics and the problems with the discourse that surrounds it.

The subject of moderation, and the ever-elusive “middle ground,” soon arose, and the following interaction was brought up, something I think perfectly highlights the debate on the topic.

McConaughey: “Somebody said to me the other day, ‘oh yeah — meet you in the middle? You know what’s…

Ihad spent the morning criticizing myself in the mirror. None of the clothes I tried on were satisfactory enough, and my hair was completely refusing to cooporate. The stress of the new found financial independence from my parents, and what (at the time) felt like an aimless and confusing chapter of my career, likely manifesting itself as an attack on my appearance.

It was just one of those days.

Thankfully — the past decade or so of my life has been a powerful 10 years of working on happiness and mental health so as to minimize the number of these…

I’m a firm believer that the beauty of poems, much like any good joke, becomes completely diminished if it is explained.

You see, poems are a particularly poignant form of creative writing. They touch very deeply upon entire aspects of life in full, while remaining, by design, quite short.

For this reason, I won’t bore you by explaining what each poem means to me, or how it has impacted my life in a practical sense — instead, I suspect you’re quite happy to be left to it, and to decide the poetry’s meaning for yourself.

Here are 5 Poems That Changed My Perspective On Life, Death, Sexuality, And Everything In Between:

Design

I found a dimpled spider…

Yesterday I had an omelette for brunch, and teriyaki beef stir fry for dinner.

“I believe in the magic of preparation. You can make just about any foods taste wonderful by adding herbs and spices. Experiment with garlic, cilantro, basil and other fresh herbs on vegetables to make them taste great.”

— Jorge Cruise

Medium, I’m telling you — herbs and spices are where it’s at! Ask anyone from the southern hemisphere of the world and they’ll confirm.

The Egyptians have their Dukkah. The Indians have their Curry powder and Garam Masala. The North Africans have Ras El-Hanout, while people from the Middle East have their Za’atar. …