There is no substitute for a fantastic professional person to person massage, however, if you suffer from chronic neck and back pain, you could do worse than buy a Homedics Shiatsu Pillow for the price of a massage (you can find the Deluxe version here) – currently ranges from £34 – £40.

Due to having previously broken my shoulder in three places and my spine in two places, it often doesn’t take much for my body to go out of alignment. You begin to notice that every way you sit, move, carry things etc all have a specific effect on each of your bones and muscles, that you would most likely go your whole life taking for granted. Therefore, being able to get massages once or twice a month is important, but can be expensive (you’re looking at around £40 in the UK per session), so having the ability to work out some of the pain, tension, tightness and knots anytime and from the home is a massive benefit – as much as I welcome the OH’s massages, I can’t expect him to do them everyday for the res of our lives!

I’m only 5’2″ so many of the full chair massage options don’t fit my frame very well. What I appreciate about this pillow is the ability for me to move it around to different locations as needed. It can be used for my lower back in a char or seated position – on the couch, at work if wanted/needed; my upper back and neck lying on the couch or in bed. The pillow offers two different directions for movement and the option of heat – which really helps the muscles and tension to release.

I was apprehensive at first, because I’m a bit frugal and once the package was opened I wasn’t allowed to return the product unless it was faulty. I was jet-lagged and impulsive and just went for it and I’m glad I did. I made a point of reading reviews when I got back home, before opening the package and found them to be quite varied, but nothing that was a deal breaker – and to that point, I found a few of the issues other people have had, I’ve still not experienced.

Overall, if you suffer from neck and back pain of any kind, I would highly recommend this device. Not to permanently replace real massages, but definitely a helpful and budget friendly alternative or in between solution.

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This is a post looking for some help. I’m asking each and every one of you for a favor and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

This blog began on blogger years ago when it was still a relatively new thing to be doing. I wrote about the design and advertising industry, sharing great pieces of work, not so great pieces of work, dipping into the archives of my brain with the help of sites like YouTube to share where my love and passion for the industry began.

Over the years it’s moved platforms and topics have become quite varied. After my accident a lot changed and I began to document my recovery, gym sessions, health learnings and a bit more about my personal situations – but just a bit.

On from this you have my career in digital, which means that many things I may have written in the past were then written about via my agency’s blog, or I just kept them to myself as now my words can be attributed to my company and projects, even if they are for whatever reason, not on the same page.

You’ll currently find a mix of content. Images, reviews, tech related, digital related or non-existent. Like many things in my life, I’m stuck in-between a variety of options for what the next step or stage will be. Because of this, I have a form of writers block. I want to write, I want to share, I want to voice my options and thoughts, but within reason of a public forum and with respect to those in my life – therefore a fully open personal blog will have to stay anonymous, but I’m willing to post here within reason.

So here is my question to you: What would you like to see from this blog moving forward? Do I go back to the original judgement and sharing of digital, design & advertising? Do I begin evangelising about the world of digital, my ‘expert’ opinions like a million others? Do I share my health issues, trials, cures and quirks? Do I delve into the life of a thirty-something professional female expat and what that entails? Do I write for aspiring youths on how I got to where I am and all the learnings along the way? Do I keep it as random, whatever I’m in the mood for concoctions, regardless of regularity? Is there another route I’ve not thought of or… or, do I put it out to pasture?

Img is a screen grab of Portents Content Idea Generator

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Amanda Palmer. Wow. I’ve heard about her for a few years now. I’ve seen people obsessively tweet about her, discuss her; I’ve followed her success through the interwebs. I was even at The Scottish Ruby Conference and sat in the next room while she performed to group of technical, geeky superstars from all over the globe (yes, I should have gone into the room and watched her do amazing things with digital and music, but we live and learn”.

I still hadn’t listened to her music. Last week people were tweeting about her Ted talk, and I saved it and got around to watching it at the gym the other day. Amazing. It’s absolutely brilliant and beautiful and put tears in my eyes whilst sweating and peddling in front of 50 other sweating people.

Inspiring and definitely worth a watch. Also, her description of her music “punk with a bit of burlesque” means that I will be buried in every tune at work this week, as that sounds right up my street.

Embrace and enjoy.

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After falling into a coma at 17 years old, and waking up 17 years later with a fully functioning mind, Karen was asked:

“…how do you feel being here now? After so long. I mean, not just what’s new and different, but what does now feel like?”

Karen’s response, which resonates to today, even though the book was first published in 1998 (almost 17 years ago):

“There’s a hardness I’m seeing in modern people. Those little moments of goofiness that used to make the day pass seem to have gone. Life’s so serious now. Maybe it’s just because I’m with an older gang now… I mean, nobody even has hobbies these days. Not that I can see. Husbands and wives both work. Kids are farmed out to schools and video games. Nobody seems to be able to endure simply being themselves, etiher — but at the same time they’re isolated. People work much more, only to go home and surf the Internet and send e-mail rather than calling or writing a note or visiting each other. They work, watch TV, and sleep. I see these things. The whole world is only abou work: work work work get get get…racing ahead…getting sacked from work…going online….knowing computer languages…winning contracts. I mean, it’s just not what I would have imagined the world might be if you’d asked me 17 years ago. People are frazzled and angry, desperate about money, and, at best, indifferent to the future.”

Sounds familiar.

Excerpt from Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland

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View and participate yourself on the Topshop website and a great in-depth article from Fast Company about the project.

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