work-life balance

What I Learned About Work Before I Ever Had a Job

What I Learned About Work Before I Ever Had a Job

I press the number 4 in the elevator, turn left twice, and I'm back in the corridors of my mother's workplace - a room full of women who built something real while somehow also building a life around it. When she retired, she asked me a question I still can't fully answer for her. This is what stayed with me after a conversation about flexibility this week.

The Mask That Slides Off at Night

The Mask That Slides Off at Night

I reached out to someone last week, in the middle of everything that’s been happening in Ireland. I asked: “Can I support you? What do you need?” They were surprised. And grateful.

We’re all getting very good at being grand. At wearing the mask for work, for the children, for the sake of keeping things together. But at night, it slides off — and there’s nobody there to hold us.

This post is for anyone who’s lying awake, not quite knowing how to be. The real face has been there all along.