20/08/2026
18 August 2018.
This photograph was taken while I was standing in a doorway—and looking back, that feels exactly right.
My family was enjoying a beautiful day by a lake in Lithuania. I was doing something rather less relaxing: sitting my IELTS exam after more than ten years away from academic study.
I cannot tell you whether it began as a dream, ambition, an idea, or simply a refusal to stop becoming. Probably all four.
I passed the exam and earned my place at university to begin a nursing degree. Then came the call that my dad was critically ill. I left everything and went home. That degree did not happen, and I lost my place.
I told myself: next year.
Then life happened again. COVID arrived. Somewhere along the way, I stopped counting the delays, restarts, sleepless nights and moments when walking away would have been easier.
But I did not walk away.
Today, I am booking tickets to my graduation ceremony. 🎓
This achievement may have my name on it, but it was never built by me alone. It belongs to my family, my friends and every remarkable person I met along the way—those who carried me, challenged me, believed in me and made room for my growth.
You helped me become a better person—not only for myself, but for my children and for the people and communities I hope to serve.
I did not study mental health and wellbeing simply to collect a degree. Knowledge means very little if it ends with the person who earned it. I want mine to travel—to support, connect and help people live better, recover, grow and feel less alone.
I care about this from the bottom of my heart and with every gloriously neuroplastic connection in my brain. ❤️
So, cutting a very long story short: you will soon see a graduation cap flying high—and a Master’s degree in Psychology is already cooking.
Watch this space if you would like. I will be sharing honest, practical recipes for mental and physical wellbeing. If you do not need them, that is perfectly fine too.
But today, just congratulate me.
I worked bloody hard for this.
