A Special Pain Called Growth

My best friend at university had this massive, daunting, 400 page long astrology boo. It had us hunched over with wide eyes and exclamations of “that’s so accurate!” on many pizza-fuelled sleepless nights. Each page of this book was titled a different date of the year, followed by a detailed explanation of what people born…

Why Your Choices Shouldn’t (Always) Define You

“And how exactly does that benefit people?” was my doctor’s smug answer, his smirk growing with every word, when he asked what I did for a living and I replied with something that starts with “Youtube” and ends with “music”. No, this wasn’t a therapist, so no, he did not have any professional right to…

What Drip Coffee Taught Me About Myself

At 18, I thought I’d figured myself out. Away from the norms, my home, the grey, navy and white uniform; I felt free to find my own form in a sea of tie-dye and blonde dreadlocks. I would become a ‘creative’ – And, so I created. Mimicking the steps, sounds and actions of those who…

Sobriety In the City: In a Place Fueled by Alcohol, What Do You Run On?

It only takes a few months of being a 21+ adult in Dubai to realise that the answer to the standard end-of-the-week small talk question: “Any exciting plans this weekend?” is a tediously repetitive one: “Drinking.” While this is also standard behaviour in nearly every other city from London to Lisbon and beyond (who wouldn’t…