Life is a collection of Creations

Give yummy food to your tummy buggies...

2016-10-26T14:36:00.003+01:00

Morning!

This week, I'm sharing with you a recipe from 'The well-fed microbiome cookbook' I wrote about on MBAI here.

By Kristina Campbell

The recipes are divided in two phases: the first one is about repairing our gut, the second one about revitalizing it.
The following recipe is taken from phase 1. Recipes from phase 1 follow an adapted low FODMAP diet and are mostly for people with gastrointestinal/digestion issues such as constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and/or bloating, which are linked to IBS or IBD.

IBS stands for irritable bowel syndrome, and IBD for inflammatory bowel disease. IBD may be better known as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), two chronic diseases characterized by various inflamed segments of intestines (Crohn's), colon (both), and/or rectum (UC). IBS is a more obscure condition that is usually attributed when all other diagnoses have been ruled out.

This diet may help these conditions; however, they are not therapy replacement. IBD, as well as IBS, are serious conditions that need appropriate medical attention.

In the first part of the book, she does explain that healthy eating is a commitment and that it may be easier to sort out our cupboards before filling them with new ingredients. So I did, then I went shopping:

My well-fed microbiome shopping trolley

There was one recipe I had my eye on when I was preparing my menus and shopping list: fruity yogurt, nut and seed parfaits!
Please note that in this series, I'm not going to give out the recipe as I think it wouldn't be too fair on Kristina Campbell if I were to share her hard work for free, right? I do think, however, that her book is lacking a couple of pictures to show how the recipes are supposed to look like, so here are mine:

Soooo good!!

Miracle Cure for cold sores!! Tested and Approved.

2016-05-29T15:50:00.001+01:00

This is an exclusive sneak preview of Monday's new blog post on My Bugs And I and trust me it is a good one!!
My Bugs and I is a blog talking exclusively about gut flora and general microbiota. Articles talk about their impact on our diet, health, immunity, and sanity. Check it out over here.

A Miracle Cure of cold sores! There, I said it!

I know, I know, as a scientist, I should never think/say/write about miracles, but... After suffering from cold sores for 35+ years, this solution is nothing short of a miracle!
OK, rewind, let me tell you my own story!

When I started this blog, I also started a probiotics cure. My reasons for this were multiple:

I'm on a healthy diet path and the right microbial strains in your gut can help you digest your food nicely, whereas the wrong ones can extract more energy than necessary and store all in fat (if you'd like to read about this, follow here)
I'm lucky to be gut-healthy but a few of my family members are suffering from either IBS or IBD (the differences between these two diseases will be covered soon), I therefore may be carrying genetic predispositions to developing an auto-immune disease. Auto-immune diseases can strike a person with genetic susceptibilities at any age, anytime, following environmental random events (stress, medication, alcohol, ...); and a healthy gut may delay such impact (if you are interested in knowing more about this, please come back soon)
Last year, I was ill for 4 months non-stop as I was picking up bugs from my son's nursery; the right gut strains can help you modulate your immune system to fight illnesses (here)
If ever I should fall ill with cancer, a healthy microbiota would help me fight the cancer through helpful modulation of my immune system, help me with side effects, and help my chemo or else medicines achieve optimal efficacy (here)

I had no idea, however, what impact it would have - if any - on my weight, wellbeing, or health. This is the reason why I haven't mentioned probiotics yet as I was doing my own experiment.

The first time I realised a difference
A few months ago, I felt the usual tingle on my lip that is so typical of cold sores. As every cold sore sufferer, I carry my Zovirax everywhere so I was able to quickly dab a little bit on where I felt 'the dreaded' was going to appear.
Then, what happened? NOTHING... Nothing happened, no cold sore appeared!
I know that this happens to some lucky cold sore sufferers, but for me, never in my 35+ years of cold sores experience, have I ever managed to stop the growth of the virus. Zovirax helps the process go quicker but the pain, the vesicles, the scabbing, and the scar steps would always occur.
That's when I started to wonder if it had anything to do with my probiotics as I hadn't changed anything else in my life. Because life happens, I forgot about my miracle cure.

The second time confirmed my hopes
Last week, as I waking up, I felt the tingle again. Unfortunately, a few vesicles had already appeared and I had little hope I could stop the process. How wrong was I! After massaging a bit of Zovirax on them, the vesicles 'expired' after about 4 hours the way they usually do after 4 days. All I was left with was damaged skin that was going to scab and heal, so i used Compeed to speed up the process.

How I think it worked
Probiotics, Bio-Kult
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
What I didn't know though is that a certain strain present in Bio-Kult (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) has been shown to help activate macrophages to eliminate the herpes simplex virus type-1 (responsible for cold sore) (here). Macrophages are the weapons of our innate immune system and they have been shown to orchestrate a multitude of anti-herpetic actions during the first hours of the attack (here). This specific strain contained in my Bio-Kult is therefore boosting my immune system to produce natural anti-cold sore actions right from the start.
- Lactobacillus plantarum
Another strain contained in my Bio-Kult, Lactobacillus plantarum, has also been shown to stop the spread of the virus (here).

Zovirax
The way Zovirax works is well known: the active ingredient is 5% aciclovir. Aciclovir is a drug that transforms into a form that inhibits and inactivates the spread and growth of the herpes virus. The way different people respond to it is variable. In my case, I usually don't see much difference; with probiotics as part of my diet, I saw a massive difference as I think both actions of probiotics and Zovirax combined to completely stop the growth of the virus.

Compeed
Compeed contains a hydrocolloidal gel and is well known to accelerate skin repair.

My Miracle Cure recipe

Two Bio-Kult probiotics pills every day with water and food. If you are under antibiotics, it is advised to take four tablets of Bio-Kult per day but at different times than when you take your antibiotic (as your probiotics will be killed by the antibiotic if you take them at the same time!).
As soon as you feel 'The' tingle, massage some Zovirax. Repeat as advised on the notice. If you caught the tingle when the vesicles are already present, massage the cream until vesicles are flatten and 'dead'.
Dry the surface and apply a Compeed patch. Replace your patch as advised on the notice.

What have you tried for you cold sores?

Do you have any miracle cures you would like to share?

Feel free to share your stories in the comments here below, I'd love to read your tips.

See you soon,

PS: Please note the Amazon images are affiliate links.

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Thinkrolls - recommended tablet game for toddlers

2015-11-06T20:50:00.002+00:00

As a parent, I am always on the look out for new ways to stimulate my child's mind. Maybe because I have a boy who hates puzzles and crafts, I am desperate to find interesting activities other than train tracks and animal farms!

I came across this game on my kindle fire tablet because it was free! If I'm perfectly honest, I originally downloaded it for myself because it looked like a fun and pretty game, and - come on - FREE!!!

On a Eurostar trip back to London a couple of months ago, my son was a bit agitated so I gave him to tablet for the first time. I know at nursery they have iPad sessions so he knew how to handle ours.

Soon enough, he was hooked on the game. Most of you would say it's really bad to get them used to computer games and I would normally agree but hear me out.

Thinkrolls

Thinkrolls is a game of strategy for toddlers and children aged 3-8. My son was barely 2 and 1/2 when he started so they are definitely capable to achieve the first levels at that age.

The basics of the game are that each window screenshot is a maze through which you have to guide a funny character. Obstacles need to be moved or used to go through the right path.

The first levels are easy, you just need to eat biscuits or move boxes but as chapters difficulty increases, it becomes more and more strategic.

At later levels, strategic actions include moving a cushion to jump from to get out of hole, or fill the hole with the box, move balloons to clear access or extinct fires with ice cubes using moving platforms.

At the age of 2 and 1/2, my son is able to achieve all chapters at the easy setting which is for children aged 3-5. He can also achieve the first levels of the hard setting where observation and choices are the skills developed even further.

What Amazon says about it:

207 challenging levels with mind-sharpening puzzles
Easy mode for ages 3-5, hard mode for ages 5-8
Experiment with gravity, heat, buoyancy, speed, friction, elasticity & more
Enhance logic, observation, spatial cognition, memory
Track progress for up to 6 player profiles
22 hilarious super smart characters to play with
Original soundtrack and sound effects
Supreme design, eye-catching artwork
Language neutral game-play
COPPA compliant

Highly recommended!!!!

8 motivational tips for an enjoyable blogging experience

2015-09-30T15:29:00.002+01:00

This is a presentation I prepared for my colleagues who were curious about my blogging experience with my Science blog Science is So Sexy! I thought I would share it on this blog because through it, I managed to gather my thoughts on blogging!!

I hope you like it :)

8 motivational tips for an enjoyable blogging experience from Esmeralda Vermeulen

The Fabulous Door Monkey

2015-03-20T11:26:00.003+00:00

Hi everyone,

Today, I'm sharing with you an item that helped us sooo much in our cot-to-bed transition.
We were all dreading this moment: Is he going to sleep in a new bed, is he going to get out constantly and cry to stay with us, is he going to wake up during the night, creep up downstairs, open the door and run on the street, all on his own?
So many worries, apparently they are normal but that doesn't make them less perturbing!

The transition to toddler bed became quite a sudden need for us when our LO decided that his cot was too small and so easily climbable, why hadn't he thought of it before really.???. So in a hurry, I did a quick search on Amazon for a cheap but sturdy toddler bed he would like and enjoy.

The toddler bed

I think the choice was quite obvious for us as our son loves cars and trucks and the perfect cute one turned out to be the cheapest one too!!! yeahhhh So we purchased this:

Unfortunately because we had a cot and not a cot bed, we also had to purchase a mattress that fit this new bed!!! Eeeuurrgghhh

If you don't know what you have:

A cot mattress is 120x60
A cotbed or toddler mattress is 140x70

I'm very happy with the purchase I made, again on Amazon, the mattress is very soft and comfy but firm enough for a good night sleep:

So that was the bed sorted!! For about £140! I say: result!!!

That evening after we got all the bits and pieces, we tested it: I built the bed next to his cot and we asked our LO which bed he wanted to sleep in. He was so curious about the new pretty bed, he jumped on it straight away!! Relief!!!!

We read the story in his new toddler bed

He was soon fast asleep with his head firmly on the head board for orientation

The day after, we got rid of his cot and he never complained!!

Now the next issue was how to keep him in!!!!!!

The fabulous Door Monkey

We tried the usual gate but unfortunately as our LO is a little monkey he easily climbs over these!!
We thought about installing a bolt on his door but I thought that was a bit mean and I would feel like I am keeping my son in prison!

After a long search on Amazon for the right solution for us, I found the Door Monkey!!
It serves two purposes really:

1. Keep your child in his room
2. The finger proof design makes it super safe

At first, I was a bit worried that we would have to keep his door ajar and that would distract him because we've never done it before. But it doesn't seem to bother him. Also, it's so convenient when I want to check up on him: I don't need to be super careful with opening the door, it's already open!!!!

When he wakes up and he wants out, he tries to open the door but can't, if he wants to close it, he can't either so his fingers are safe!!
My LO is quite strong and the house a new build (=not solid) but he hasn't broken anything yet. The Door Monkey is equipped with soft rubber grips so when your LO goes crazy on the door, it keeps it quiet :)

So comforting to know that your child is safe in his room at night and not wandering about!!!

If you are wondering how it works, you just have to clip it on the door, takes 1 second to place it or remove it!! It's that good!!!

How do you do to keep your LO inside his room and in bed?

See you Soon,

7 easy steps for pretty follow icons

2015-03-20T10:14:00.002+00:00

Hi guys,

In a Blogging-labeled post, I'm sharing with you how to add those pretty follow buttons I added on here. The recipe and cute buttons come from HERE.

Because I work on blogger, this is how I did:

To place follow buttons

Go to Layout
Add a widget where you would like it to appear
Choose the HTML box
Copy Paste the code below
Delete the icon html you don't want e.g. Delete the first piece of code if you don't want to include a FB follow icon
Replace my info with yours
Save

Code

<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScienceSoSexy"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/facebook_zpsb26b221f.png" /></a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/Esmeraldave"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/twitter-old_zpsed6a6572.png" /></a>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+EsmeraldaVermeulen/posts"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/gplus2_zpsfce09a67.png" /></a>
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/esmeraldav/"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/pinterest_zps694c9c90.png" /></a>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeraldavermeulen"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/linkedin_zpsef7a43e4.png" /></a>
<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3279425"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/like_zpsc31b21ed.png" /></a>
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/LifeIsACollectionOfCreations"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/rss_zps1b6f59bd.png" /></a>
<a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=LifeIsACollectionOfCreations"><img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll208/lyndsayjohnson/email_zpsd1be2389.png" /></a>

Let me know how it goes,
I'm not a pro in blogging tips, I'm just like you trying to build up a nice blog (or 2) so I'm gathering the tips I find so I don't forget about them lol

See you Soon,

Popsicle puzzle

2015-03-15T13:40:00.000+00:00

Hi guys, thanks for dropping by,

Today, I'm sharing a super easy toddler activity that you can prepare in 5 minutes using wooden sticks, glue, and a printer.

Cartoon Popsicle Puzzle

Everyone loves a good puzzle, the thrill of finding the right fitting pieces and the sense of satisfaction when you look at the end result... an odd feeling of completion

Toddlers are exactly the same! However, sometimes, they may feel pushed by parents or carers (nursery, childminders) to start and finish a puzzle and may reject the game altogether. I know it for a fact as it is what happened with my son.

This easy puzzle is a bit different so it may attract your child by its simplicity while still achieving the fine motor skills you are expecting him to learn while playing with a normal puzzle.

Material

I purchased a big bag of Jumbo popsicles so if you have been following me recently, you probably have them too so no need to spend extras. if you haven't, here is a reminder of the ones I chose, along with the cheap glue I bought:

Method

Find a nice image from Google image or else to print out. It's best to choose a landscape type of picture as opposed to portrait so it's longer than it's wider. NB: Bear in mind the copyrights!
Copy paste it on a power point slide so you can guesstimate the size of it
Print it out on a quality paper, so when you glue it on the wooden sticks it doesn't tear the paper
Prepare as many wooden sticks as required on a line
Sellotape them together on one side to keep them in place
Paste the other side with glue, making sure that there's no glue between wooden sticks otherwise they will be stuck to one another
Place your image carefully on the wooden sticks and wait for it to dry
Optional: You can draw lines or patterns on the rest of the sticks to help with correct placing
Remove the Sellotape from the back
Separate the wooden sticks by carefully cutting between them using a scalpel-type sharp blade
Optional: You can write the numbers at the top of the sticks

What your toddler will learn

Recognise the image pattern
Learn how to associate colours
Learn numbers
Fine motor skills by adjusting the sticks next to one another

Let me know if you do it and how your toddler received it. It would be interesting to know everyone's reaction.

See you Soon,

Toddler fine motor skills popsicle activities

2015-03-02T12:35:00.002+00:00

Hi and thanks for visiting my blog.

Today, I would like to share with you an activity for >2yo toddlers. You may have seen my previous post on cartoons popsicles.
So naturally, having purchased a big bag of wooden sticks, I'm looking for more amazing activities to do with my son that are using those.
For this activity however, I purchased the Jumbo sized wooden sticks because I thought that it would be easier to handle for my son.

Note: that the previous article could also be based on these Jumbos.

Toddler fine motor skills popsicle activity

I'm happy to report this is also made from only 2 things: wooden sticks and velcros!!

If you purchased the Jumbos sticks from the previous post, then you only need to buy one thing, the velcros - if you don't already have at home!
That's how good this activity is!
If you purchased the thin wooden sticks, then I would recommend buying the Jumbos ones simply because the smallest velcros I could find are the perfect size for the Jumbos and would be too big for the Thins (I tried cutting the velcros in 2 and sticking them to the Thins but the velcro grip is a bit flimsy and does not work as well).

Material

What your toddler can learn

He can learn the colours of the wooden sticks
He can explore the two different textures of a velcro
He can observe and work out how to use a velcro
He can learn to build shapes
He can learn to name shapes
He can associate shapes to single-coloured wooden sticks
He can learn to be quiet at a restaurant while playing with this unconventional and educational home-made toy ;)

Method

The only thing there's to do is stick the velcro on the sticks! :)

Now, because you can do pretty much anything, you can actually stick the velcros anywhere you want.
I did mine the simplest way you can:

A soft velcro on one end and a grip velcro on the opposite end but same facing side.
A soft velcro on one end and a grip velcro on the opposite en but reverse side.

My original plan was to stick them all on one facing side but it turned out I couldn't close the triangle, ah ah!

But if you have older kids, you can try sticking velcro on the half-length to make more complicated shapes.

I tested these yesterday afternoon when we went to a pizzeria:

I took a box of his favourite toys, including the godforsaken Woody and BuzzLight, and our Velcroed Popsicles!
To my delight, he played with them more than any other toy that I had brought for him. Result!

I showed him how the velcro textures were different on each side of the sticks and how they stick together, and how - of course - they make weird noise when you try to separate them.

He was mesmerized by the magic glue, but then his 2 and 1/2 yo spirit took over and the shapes became weapons to dismantle while making big gestures and funny faces.

I loved watching him play with this oh-so-simple toy and it gave me the confidence that I can find, and easily make, educational and fun activities for him.

What do you do to keep your LO busy when out at a restaurant?

Easy Cartoon Popsicles for toddlers made up of only 2 things

2015-02-27T17:17:00.003+00:00

Thank you for dropping by and visiting my creations blog.

Today, I'm going to start a new label called Toddlers Craft!
As my boy is now approaching the evil age of 2 years and 1/2, I need to start thinking about fun activities for him to do that are educational as well as interesting.

Unfortunately my boy is not exactly the crafty type of person like his mum is, he absolutely hates anything messy so there hasn't been any chance of painting, drawing, water playing yet.

He's not too much into his toys, as expected for his age and despite rotating them, but he absolutely loves TV stuff. OK, my own fault for introducing him to Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Noddy and Peter Rabbit. But let's admit it, we can't survive without TV, if only to tame his hyperactivity!

In my rare moments of free time, I like to browse Pinterest for anything exciting including crafty things to do with Nuno. That's when I found a lot of crafts made of wooden sticks!

Usually, I absolutely hate wooden things because it makes my teeth grind! I know, weird! Some people have this with Styrofoam.

Cartoon Popsicles Made with Only 2 things

Material

Method

1. Wooden popsicles

I purchased my wooden sticks from Amazon, you have the choice between normal size ones (ice cream style) or the Jumbo ones (like at the doctor's), natural colour or rainbow coloured. I bought both sizes but used the smaller ones for this activity. And of course I chose mine rainbow - obviously ;):

2. Print outs of your toddler favourite cartoons
My boy is in love with Disney and CBBies characters!!

I copied-pasted images from Google Image onto PowerPoint because it was easier to guesstimate how big they were going to turn out. I then printed them out on thick drawing paper and loosely cut around them.

=> I then glued them onto the popsicles with a bit of PVA craft glue.

Et Voila:

My boy absolutely loves them. When I first showed them to him, his eyes sparkled with recognition. It was a special moment!

See you Soon,

Book Highlights - The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

2014-12-16T11:49:00.000+00:00

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

Review from Amazon comment by Megan ReadingInTheSunshine

Ellen works as a hypnotherapist and loves her job, she enjoys seeing her clients and helping them. But the one thing that is missing in her life is a man, someone she can love who will love her back. And when she falls in love with Patrick, she feels her life is complete. The only problem is the fact that Patrick has a stalker - his ex, Saskia, but this doesn't faze her in the slightest, in fact, she is intrigued by this. But what Ellen doesn't know is that they've already met and she's been posing as one of Ellen's clients...
It is told from two different perspectives: Ellen's and Saskia's. I particularly liked this as we are able to see things from Sakia's point of view, find out what happened between her and Patrick, how it ended and how she came to be in the position that she is today. We also get a glimpse of Saskia as a person and not as `the stalker' which I found very interesting.
The Hypnotist's Love Story is a complex but very gripping story exploring obsession and love among many other things. There is a lot of suspense and drama, but also well-thought out and developed characters with depth to their personalities and feelings. It is emotional, well-paced

My highlights

She couldn’t control what was about to happen, only her response to it.

Of course, it was to be expected that she thought of them. For a while, each had been the person who knew her best, who spoke to her every single day, who knew where she was at any particular time, who would have sat in the front row at her funeral should she have tragically died. It sometimes seemed so peculiar and wrong to her that you could be that intimate with someone, to go to sleep with them and wake up with them, to do really quite extraordinarily personal things together on a regular basis, and then, suddenly, you don’t even know their telephone number, or where they’re living or working, or what they did today or last week or last year.

You weren’t meant to admit, even to yourself, how badly you wanted love. The man was meant to be the icing, not the cake. She was a bit embarrassed by the depth of her happiness. Thank goodness no one could see the champagne corks popping in her head.

This was the problem with being friends with someone who knew you when you were a teenager. They never quite take you seriously because they always see you as your stupid teenage self.

It had taken a long time for her to reinstall her personality after he’d systematically taken it apart, making her doubt her every thought. He was a selfish, pompous, egocentric, nasty man and yet she had loved him desperately.

He seemed to think collecting luggage was some sort of test of strength and agility, as if he had to crash-tackle his bag the moment it appeared and wrestle it to the ground. It always made me laugh.

From the moment we’re born everyone is hypnotizing us. We are all, to some degree, in a trance. Our clients think we’re ‘putting them to sleep’, but our ultimate goal is the opposite. We’re trying to wake them up.

He’s the star of his own life and I’m the minor character.

Having a baby had been like starting a demanding new job and beginning a passionate love affair and moving to a new country with a different language and culture all at the same time.

Book Highlights - Little lies by Liane Moriarty

2014-12-16T11:42:00.000+00:00

Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Review from an Amazon comment

Jane is the newcomer; she's a young, single mother with a young son called Ziggy. Jane is very different to most of the other mothers at the school. She's not obsessed with her appearance, or by money, she doesn't have a husband who earns a huge salary. She's desperate to be accepted though and is delighted to find friendship in two of the most powerful mothers in town. However, things begin to go very wrong for Jane and Ziggy after an incident in the school playground, and suddenly mothers are against mothers.

Little Lies is a very clever story. The reader knows from page one that something terrible happened at the School Trivia Night, we know that someone is dead, but we don't know who it is, or who the murderer is, or why.

Liane Moriarty expertly weaves this story. Hooking the reader from the start with the big whodunnit and then skipping back a few months to gradually build up both the plot and the characters. There is a real credibility to these characters and the development of their relationships are excellently done. The author expertly portrays what appears to be a perfect life on the outside whilst allowing the reader glimpses into the sordid and often violent secrets lying below the surface.

My Highlights
Madeline had told her children that if they were naughty Santa Claus might leave them a wrapped-up potato, and they would always wonder what the wonderful gift was that the potato replaced.

‘Every day I think, gosh you look a bit tired today, and it’s just recently occurred to me that it’s not that I’m tired, it’s that this is the way I look now.’

Every child was looking straight ahead, little backs straight, enthralled by the spectacle in front of them, and every parent had turned to look at their child’s profile, enchanted by their enchantment.

Nothing and nobody could aggravate you the way your child could aggravate you.

‘I mean a fat, ugly man can still be funny and lovable and successful,’ continued Jane. ‘But it’s like it’s the most shameful thing for a woman to be.’

It seemed to her that Jane’s mother had probably helped lay the groundwork for Jane’s mixed-up feelings about food. The media had done its bit and women in general, with their willingness to feel bad about themselves, and then Saxon Banks had finished the job.

‘He’s not sharing!’ screamed Chloe. ‘Sharing is caring!’ ‘You get what you get and you don’t get upset!’ screamed Fred.

There were so many levels of evil in the world. Small evils like her own malicious words. Like not inviting a child to a party. Bigger evils like walking out on your wife with a newborn baby and sleeping with your child’s nanny. And then there was the sort of evil of which Madeline had no experience: cruelty in hotel rooms and violence in suburban homes and little girls being sold like merchandise, shattering innocent hearts.

Book Highlights - 'What Alice forgot' by Liane Moriarty

2014-12-16T11:36:00.001+00:00

What Alice forgot by Liane Moriarty

Synopsis

When Alice Love wakes up on the floor of her gym, the last thing she expects is to be told she's a 39-year-old mother of three in the middle of a divorce, particularly since Alice thinks she's 29-years-old, happily married and pregnant with her first child. It appears that Alice has had a large bump on the head and has lost the last ten years of her life. As Alice comes to terms with the fact she's not who she thinks she is, she realises she doesn't like the woman she has become. Can Alice recapture the spirit of her 29-year-old self and more importantly, can Alice recover her memories of the last 10 years of her life?

My highlights

Elisabeth once said – very definitely and severely – that the right man didn’t complete you, you have to find happiness yourself, and Alice nodded agreeably, while thinking to herself, ‘Oh, but yes he does.’

Any troubles in their relationship could always be fixed with a few hours in separate rooms, a hug in the hallway, the quiet sliding of a chocolate bar under an elbow or even just a gentle, meaningful poke in the ribs that meant, ‘Let’s stop fighting now.’

Actually, I don’t think he has any self-consciousness whatsoever. He is a man without vanity. He’s just not a talker. He has no small-talk ability whatsoever.

We talked once about doing something with the partners, but it never eventuated.

Had each argument, each betrayal and nasty word built up into an ugly rock-hard layer covering what was once so tender and true? Well, if it had they would just chip away at it until it was gone.

Now it seemed like she could twist the lens on her life and see it from two entirely different perspectives. The perspective of her younger self. Her younger, sillier, innocent self. And her older, wiser, more cynical and sensible self.

There is nothing more patronizing for an Infertile than to hear a new mother complaining, as if that will make you feel better for not having your own baby. It’s like telling a blind person, ‘Oh sure, you get to see mountains and sunsets, but there are also rubbish dumps and pollution! Terrible!’

How to add your home-made Tweet This Call to Action?

2014-11-26T13:16:00.002+00:00

Hello Beautiful Creatures,

Welcome back to our new blog label Blogging. Under this label, I collate all my blog posts that relate to blogging, tips and tricks, html codes, etc...

In this previous article, I explained why and how to add an automatic Tweet This Call to Action. In this new article, I cover how to make it yourself!Don't you worry, I promise you it's not that complicated!!!

Today is about How to create a home-made 'Tweet this' Call to Action!

When you want to tweet an article, you always wonder what you will write within your tweet. You think maybe you should read it more intensively just to make sure you don't tweet crap! And similarly, you are worried that your readers won't know what to tweet and won't tweet as a result!

Well, now you can choose what you want your readers to tweet, either to make sure that your info is reported accurately or to help your readers tweet your content easily.

Tweet This - How to add your home-made Tweet This Call to Action?

As you can see here above, I've just created one! Go ahead, try it, click on Tweet This and you will be automatically redirected to your twitter page with a ready-made tweet ready for you to tweet! How wonderfully easy!!!

3 steps away from creating a Tweetable content

For you to make a similar super easy Call to Action on your own blog, follow these simple steps for maximum tweeting engagement from your readers:

1. You will see that when you are being redirected to Twitter your URL looks like this:

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How+to+add+your+home%2Dmade+Tweet+This+Call+to+Action%3F+-+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1EziU25+%23blogtips+%40esmeraldave

2. We can deconstruct it into chunks

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How+to+add+your+home%2Dmade+Tweet+This+Call+to+Action%3F+-+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1EziU25+%23blogtips+%40esmeraldave

It will look like this:

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=

How+to+add+your+home%2Dmade+Tweet+This+Call+to+Action%3F

+-+

http%3A%2F%2F

bit.ly%2F1EziU25

%23blogtips

%40esmeraldave

3. How to replace with my own values?

The first line stays as it is

This is the content you would like to be tweeted. Don't forget to replace spaces and symbols by appropriate codes

This is the hyphen that separates your content and the URL (optional)

This is the code for http://

This is your URL after the http chunk

This is hashtag for Twitter

This is the @username on Twitter

I need codes for my punctuation and symbols

The ones I use most often are these ones:

space +

? %3F

, %2C

# %23

@ %40

If you'd like more codes, you can have a look at this list, this is the one I work with too.

How do I shorten my URL?

If you'd like to shorten your URL but don't know how to do, the easiest way is to use Bit.ly

And here you go my beautiful creatures, how to create a tweet this call to action for your own beautiful blog :)

How to add an automatic Pin it! button to your blog images?

2014-11-11T16:46:00.000+00:00

Hi Beautiful Creatures,

If you'd like to connect your image to Pinterest, the way I see it you have two choices:

1. You upload the image on Pinterest, take the URL from pinterest in repaste it within your blog image html.

Your readers will be redirected to your Pinterest board, and will have the choice to follow your board, and repin your image.

2. You can add an automatic Pin It! button to your images.

Your readers will be able to pin your image directly to their board. It is less time consuming than 1. but the downside is that you are not promoting your own Pinterest board.

However, I found that since there are so many follow buttons everywhere, it is good to be able to automate some of your work!!!

Tweet This - How to add an automatic Pin it! button to your images?

Tweet This - How to help your readers tweet your content? - See more at: http://creationsesmeralda.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/how-to-add-automatic-tweet-this-on.html#sthash.OjoUskbv.dpuf

To do so, it is surprisingly easy!

How to add an automatic Pin it! button on your images?

What Pin button shall I choose? A quick google search will help you, or you can make up your own like I did it for my Science So Sexy blog using power point.

Upload your chosen pin button on a server. You can easily do this by inserting a new image on a blog post then stealing the image URL in the html viewer.

How to find a URL for an image that is not on internet yet

Automate the Pin it! button when your reader's point hover your image: The beauty is that you need to do this step only once!

1. Go to your Blogger Template
2. Open your html
3. Search for </body>
4. Paste the code below before the </body> (click on the link below the image to be redirected to where the code is)

From HERE

Customise it Don't forget to customise the code above with your own information:

* Replace the purple URL with your own pin button URL
* Replace the green button position to the value you want:

"Center" will position your Pin it! button in the middle of your imag;

you can replace this value by BottomRight, BottomLeft, TopRight, TopLeft

See you Soon

How to add an automatic "Tweet this" on blogger?

2014-11-11T14:10:00.000+00:00

Hi Beautiful Creatures,

I don't know about you but I'm always working on my blog! My Science So Sexy blog, my private son's one or this one! So far, Life is a collection of creations has been a collection of posts around my personal life and creations. But since blogging is getting quite complicated now with a comment box here, a pin button there, I've decided that I really should also list what I learn since my memory is so crap, I easily forget!

Today is about how to create a 'Click to Tweet' or a 'Tweet this' Call to Action!

Tweet This - How to help your readers tweet your content?

For you to make a similar super easy Call to Action on your own blog, follow these simple steps for maximum tweeting engagement from your readers:

6 STEPS to creating the perfect CALL TO ACTION

Go to Click to Tweet website and sign in with Twitter
Type the content of the Tweet you would like your readers to share and the link of your page, traditionally separated by a -

The Click to Tweet Website
Click on 'Generate link'
Click on the link provided - In this example, the link generated looked something like this http://ctt.ec/Cs1Q9
When you click on that funny link, you are being redirected to Twitter. Where I got the information from, it was mentionned not to use that link! I don't know why, but to copy the URL that appears in your navigation bar - In this example: https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How+to+help+your+readers+tweet+your+content%3F+-+http%3A%2F%2Fcreationsesmeralda.blogspot.com%2F2014%2F11%2Fhow-to-add-automatic-tweet-this-on.html&source=clicktotweet&related=clicktotweet

You will be redirected to Twitter
Come back to your blogger and Use this URL as the Link under which you want it - In this case, the URL redirecting to twitter is under 'Tweet This'

That's it! How easy was that?

Now if you'd like to keep this as a memo, why not tweet it to yourself?

Tweet This - How to help your readers tweet your content?

Coming up will be how to construct your own URL without having to rely on a third party website that only provides a limited number of links before asking you for money!

Thank you for dropping by,

SoreThumbThinking #4 - The Scientist

2014-11-04T15:29:00.000+00:00

Re-blog

I've always wondered if being a scientist isn't closer to being an artist than most people think! What I mean is that we have to be incredibly creative in our experimental designs and particularly imaginative when we analyse data and need to find a meaning out of black and white lines!

I’ve always found that scientists despite their geekiness and nerdy looks could be super creative. When I was one of them (actually, I still am a scientist, it’s a way of life really…), I would see countless videos of fellow scientists parodying songs to depict the true life of lab researchers.

But of course, this goes completely against what we all know, which is that the left brain is the analytical, practical, organised and logical (i.e. Science) side; and the creative, passionate, arty part sits on the right side of the brain.

How do we then explain why scientists spend hours and hours pouring their hearts out and losing their minds over scientific enigmas if there is no passion and poetic craziness involved?

Although there is some truth to the left brain/right brain distinction, there is undeniably a more complex relationship between both sides of our brain.

(If you have time to watch it, this is a very interesting video… and his voice is very addictive!)

For example, on the neuroscience of creativity, latest findings by neuroscientists have now shown that the entire creative process – from preparation to incubation to illumination to verification – consists of many interacting cognitive processes (both conscious and unconscious) and emotions.

Depending on the stage of the creative process, and what you’re actually attempting to create, different brain regions from both the right and the left side are recruited in large-scale networks to handle the task.

So if we accept that science is not just the left side of the brain and can be interlinked with the artistic potential of an individual, could it be considered as a mean for influential creativity?
From my own definition: “Influential creativity is about connecting with an audience on a personal, emotional or practical level; it is about understanding their lives, getting comfortable with them and letting them know that you are there to make them feel better, or be better, or make them question themselves by providing them with an emotion, an ideal, a service, or a product.“
I do think you could apply this definition to the concept of science by saying: “Science is about connecting on a practical level, understanding lives, and it is there to make us question ourselves by providing us with both emotions and product i.e. knowledge.”
What do you think? Is it too farfetched?

SoreThumbThinking #3 - Hypnotize

2014-10-23T15:18:00.002+01:00

Hello Beautiful Creature,

This post is a Re-blog from my company's employees' blog. I would like to share with you what I write over there. Feel free to visit it as well :)

Hypnotize

Have you ever read a book that makes you enter a trance and nothing can quite get you out of it?
I’m into such book at the moment. In fact, I have been for a month or so, ever since I discovered Liane Moriarty’s novels. I already devoured 3 of her books, am famished to finish this one and cannot wait to feast on her earlier titles!
Enough with the eating metaphor and let me tell you about the one I’m reading at the moment which is about hypnotherapy!

I e-read so, very conveniently, I can highlight sentences whenever I’m wowed by her insights – which happen to be quite often with her! One such quote I recently highlighted was the following:

‘From the moment we’re born, everyone is hypnotizing us. We are all, to some degree, in a trance. Our clients think we’re “putting them to sleep” but our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

And that is one of those things that made me stop reading!

'From the moment we are born, everyone is hypnotizing us' - TWEET THIS

I got out of my own reading trance, my neurons firing new messages, telling me I should think about that for a minute.
Now I’m reading this sentence through my copywriter-in-a-healthcare-advertising-agency’s eyes and I’m reminded of the BIGGER PICTURE:

‘Our clients think we’re “putting them to sleep” but our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

As a creative agency, we are trying to shake our clients up, hypnotize them into unreservedly trusting us to create better advertising for their drugs. Why? Because

‘Their clients (GPs, HCPs, etc…) think they’re “putting them to sleep” but their ultimate goal is the opposite!’

‘Yes, there is a lot of money involved but here is a drug that can save more lives or increase quality of life, you do whatever you want with this information but please make the right decision by your patients, because

Your patients think you’re “putting them to sleep” but your and our ultimate goal is the opposite!’

At the count of 3, you will wake up and feel refreshed, 1… 2… 3… Discuss!

(The title of this post refers to a song, can you guess what it is?)

See you Soon,

SoreThumbThinking #2 - Roses Are Red

2014-10-23T15:16:00.001+01:00

Hello Beautiful Creature,

This post is a Re-blog from my company's employees' blog. I would like to share with you what I write over there. Feel free to visit it as well :)

Roses are Red

I’m new to the advertising world.
Not that I’ve never watched/been intrigued/shocked/appalled by TV adverts… But now, it’s my job to transform complicated medical data into appealing, exciting, influential information while being uncompromisingly scientifically accurate!!!
To do the best job possible, ideally I need to come up with ‘fresh’ ideas, to quote John Hegarty. However, as he explained his book:

‘Your idea only exists in relation to another idea’
‘In fact, the value of an idea is in how it draws its inspiration from the world around us and then reinterprets it in a way we haven’t seen before.

‘Hegarty on Creativity’ by John Hegarty

So naturally, I’m looking around… I am more attentive to ads on TV, on the tube, the bus, youtube, etc…
And what I came up with recently is that in the advertising world, we can encounter dramatically opposite messages that would still appeal to anyone and everyone in this day and age:

1. SUPER FRESH: The Coca-Cola ad on the Social Media Guard

2. Fresh-ish EE’s Kevin Bacon “It’s a no Brainer” advert
‘It’s a no brainer’ is the perfect opposite to the above Social Media Guard.
While EE and Kevin Bacon promote the possibility of accessing the same network whatever device each family member uses, Coca-Cola promotes bringing people together by guarding family members from the restricted view of a cyber world.

3. Not so Fresh (once you know about 1. and 2.) Vodafone Power to the family
Vodafone latest TV advert is all about sharing important moments with family thanks to our increasing inter-connectivity. Power to the family encourages multi-generations to work better together, stay open about those all-important family values ie. stay “connected”.

Somehow, all three of them could appeal to anyone because although we think that we all need a reliable internet broadband, we also would like to respect traditional values.

Now, the tricky question: would you be able to choose the one that appeals to you the most? Did the execution determine your choice or did the message?

The title of this post refers to a song, can you guess which and why I chose it?

See you Soon,

SoreThumbThinking #1 - Imagine There's No Right Track Baby

2014-10-23T15:12:00.002+01:00

Re-blog

When I asked my mum and friends about what influential creativity meant to them, they all said something different; my mum said “Oh well, it’s advertising, isn’t it?” whereas my friend who’s a professional singer confidently said “It is Music!”

Have you ever asked yourself what influences you in this world?

Are we even aware of what influences us? Some of us will say “Yes, that’s why I’m taking control of what I put on and in my body”. But even then aren’t we influenced by a new movement that dictates us to lead a more natural way of living?

And this is my point, influential creativity is all around us, from everything we see and hear. People who want or need to creatively influence you will go about doing it differently depending on their own surroundings and influences, and will choose a certain vector they will be comfortable with to convey their message.

For example, music is a big influence in my life. From the beat to the lyrics, I feel and love songs for different reasons. Some songs are more influential than others, either to me, you or the world. I associate songs to moods and life events. And when I have to recall events, I’ll usually first remember which songs I was listening to at the time.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one to do that though, am I?

Some songwriters are more influential than others for different reasons, and sometimes for reasons we can’t even explain because we weren’t touched by the message or weren’t the targeted audience.
An example of influential songwriter could be Stephanie Germanotta.

How many of us knew of her existence when she was an unremarkable-looking piano player and not the Lady Gaga we now know?

She wasn’t getting her messages across so she chose to alter her looks and do all sorts of attention-seeking stuff to draw us within her world of music. I’m not saying there are hidden messages in her songs, but even if she’s not your cup of tea, you can’t deny that through her extraordinary attires and catchy tune “Born this way” she was trying to use influential creativity to make us feel and behave differently… Beyond the act of buying her album.

In earlier days, other songwriters didn’t have to go to such length to achieve a similar goal. I’m thinking about John Lennon and his iconic song “Imagine”.

The goal of “Imagine” was and still is to make you think about what the world could be if we stopped focusing on borders, religions, and material possessions. Is it working? Obviously not at the moment but John Lennon’s song still appeals to people because we all want to live in peace, it’s an ideal we would all like to reach. John Lennon used his influential creativity to make us question ourselves in the hope that it would make us behave differently.

How we use creativity to influence our surroundings through music, art or advertising, to me, is about connecting with an audience on a personal, emotional or practical level; it is about understanding their lives, getting comfortable with them and letting them know that you are there to make them feel better, or be better, or make them question themselves by providing them with an emotion, an ideal, a service, or a product.

And there you have it, what influential creativity means to me!

But what about you? What are the first words that come into your mind when you hear “influential creativity”?

(The title of this article is a mash up of 2 songs, can you guess which? Clues are in the post)

SoreThumbThinking

2014-10-23T15:09:00.000+01:00

SoreThumbThinking is a independent blog by employees of PAN Unlimited..., the healthcare advertising agency branch of Creston Health.

The Blog started a few months ago and as a blogger and employee of PAN, I was invited to write for it.
I was a bit skeptic at first: I'm good at writing crap on my life, and smart things on Science but never had to write essays-like article on advertising and influential creativity.

When I went through the interview process for this job, I had to prepare a presentation on what influential creativity meant to me. It was an exhilarating thing to do having so far only written on Science subjects!

To keep a record of my writing efforts for that particular blog, I'm going to re-blog my articles.

Triple Chocolate Peekaboo Cake with a Vanilla Chilli Pink Surprise!

2014-08-31T07:56:00.002+01:00

Wow I hadn't baked for years and years and then BANG!

A month after starting my new job, a baking competition was announced, sort of a friendly Great British Bake Off!

Perfect opportunity to test that new oven, shape some sugar paste, try that chocolate ganache recipe AND most importantly try a PEEKABOO cake!!!!

Oooh but hang on, shouldn't I make a decision on what technique to use first before getting too excited?

Nooooo, let's do them all!

On one cake!

So I set my heart on attempting a chocolate peekaboo cake, the inside cake being a vanilla, chilli, and pink cake in the shape of my company's name.

It would then be covered in chocolate ganache and I would use some sugar paste for the decorations! Quite a grand project for someone who hasn't baked for a while, and never decorated anything - apart from my friend's cake (see post below).

Because we have this new thing about Vine, I made a Vine video! If you'd like to follow me, I'm HERE

Here are a couple of pictures here below:

First Cake, pink, vanilla with a hint of Chilli was baked, cut and frozen before being re-placed in the baking tray

I could have added more chilli, it was almost imperceptible within the chocolate cake

Peekaboo cake before the ganache. I cut the top because it had risen too high. Notice my installation: cake on top of its own baking tray, on top of a tupperware to catch all the extra ganache

After pouring the ganache, setting in the fridge

Decorations time. Strawberry-flavoured sugar paste, rolled out on some icing sugar, shaped and sprayed with a golden sparkle

My company's motto

I decided last minute to add some sugary flowers. The chocolate ones are ganache and the white ones are butter mixed with icing sugar. All were sprayed with the golden spray

Admittedly I'm a bit disappointed with how it turned out, the PAN letters are not very visible, I should have used a ARIAL police instead of keeping as it is on top of the cake. But for a first attempt, not too bad!! I'm still victim of my pet fear though which is to underbake, so naturally it was overbaked and a bit dense

I will finish this post asap with the recipes.... To be Continued...

Book review #23 - The Husband's secrest

2014-08-17T14:55:00.000+01:00

The husband's secret by Lian Moriarty

I had this book on my kindle for a while but never took the time to read it. Now that my job is at the other end of the capital, I have PLENTY of time for reading!!! And what a read! I have since downloaded all the author's other books! I just love her way of writing! It's messy, it's straight out of the character's head, but there is intelligence behind the story, things are not as they seem, you think you guessed the outcomes, you doubt a lot. The end of the story is a mix between "And they live happily ever after..." and "OMG this tragic event CANNOT be the end!"

The story itself is difficult at times to get your ahead around because it focuses on 3 different families. At the beginning you don't understand the links between them as it slowly unfolds. Each family story is so plausible, at the beginning, but then it turns into a drama, which you don't expect.

Overall, this book made me smile, laugh, cry, cringe, think and I can't wait to read all the author's book because that will surely be the best books I would have read in a long time!

My notes:
"For Pete's sake, the girl went back to work three months after Jacob was born"
= It made me smile because in my natal country, it is normal to go back to work after 3 or 4 months. It would be unimaginable to stay at home for longer. When I said to my family that I was gonna take 1 year to look after my little one, and that it was normal in the UK, they were shocked.

"It was the Easter Hat Parade and the St Angela's mothers were out in force, dressed up in honour of Easter and the first truly autumnal day of the new season"
= That's when I realised that the story was not set in my hemisphere! This is such a foreign concept to me as I've never been far away from home for too long and experienced jet lag or season change!

"One of the nuns had tried to make her write with her right hand and Ed had gone up to the school and said, 'Sister, with all due respect, who do you think made her left-handed? God did! So let's leave her that way.'"
= That is something I need to remember, even though I'm not religious and it would be inconceivable to anyone to try to change someone in that way anyway!

Toddler calendar

2014-08-02T10:01:00.000+01:00

My BFF's daughter is of the same age as my son. They are so cute together! They really enjoy each other's company which is quite amazing since my son is usually very competitive with all his friends. However, her daddy has gone to Afghanistan for 4 months. This little toddler is particularly smart for her age so her parents were very open with her and prepared her for 3 weeks ahead of the big goodbye. When it was time for the last hugs, she bravely waved daddy goodbye.
For her 2nd birthday, her mum - my BFF - asked me to create a calendar for her to understand when her daddy would be back.
My BFF has always had a lot of confidence into my creative and crafty skills when I personally wouldn't have considered myself out of the ordinary. It's partly thanks to her that I took the decision to step into the creative world of healthcare advertising!
Here is what I came up with: an interactive and educational toddler calendar whereby each day's task is to decorate daddy's pix with today's sticker and each day's learning lesson is to practice 1 colour and 1 shape. The top line is L M M J V S D which are the initials of the weekdays' names in French. Each line is therefore 1 week. There are no numbers so Mum can start anytime 12 weeks ahead of as yet unplanned daddy's return. Within the calendar is a hidden message to stick on the photo. The overall aim is for her to visualize how time works and understand how long she has to wait until daddy's return

A 'French' interactive and educational toddler calendar

Daddy didn't go by himself, his daughter gave him her Maya soft toy

To do this, I used all crafty material from my Tesco: A pack of shiny coloured soft cardboards, stickers, letters, felt decoration, craft glue.

I'm quite happy with my work although you can never be 100% satisfied, a project remains a project forever!!. I could have gone simpler with a simple calendar and golden stars stickers but there was nothing exciting in that project and I was thinking that just sticking a sticker might not be enough activity for a toddler and she might want to stick them all in one go hoping it would bring daddy home sooner. With this calendar, there are 3 actions: unstick a sticker from the right place, decorate daddy with it and learn 1 colour and 1 shape.
I think it will also be useful for Mummy, I'm pretty sure she knows colours and shapes but it will help her visualising when her hubby is coming home!!

Update October 2014 - And here is job done, daddy is now back with baby!:)

Sugar shapes

2014-07-23T10:21:00.000+01:00

For my BFF's daughter's 2nd birthday, my BFF wanted to create a Maya the bee sugar shape to place on top of the birthday cake.

Influential Creativity

2014-07-07T09:57:00.002+01:00

What influential creativity means to me

Last month, I bought a set of plastic cups for my toddler to drink from a glass. However, my son found that plastic cups could be used in a wide variety of ways other than their primary destination; such as for example stacking them, or throwing them on the floor. To me, using influential creativity in the advertising world is not a dissimilar process.

Your target audience can either accept the information and drink your every word, or accept it without processing it, or he can refute the information. That’s when the danger of losing the attention arises.

Influential creativity is about choosing the right vector to convey your message:

Music is a big influence in my life; from the beat to the lyrics, I feel and love songs for different reasons. Some songs are more influential than others, either to me, you or to the world. One of my favourite songs of all time starts with the lyrics “Mama, I just killed a man, put a gun against his head, pulled the trigger now he’s dead”. I don’t like this song because of its lyrics, and I doubt anyone does. This song has had a massive impact on, not only a whole generation of musicians, but also on the general public. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the song that has been recognized so many times as the best song of the past few decades for its sheer craziness and arrangement, which influenced the evolution of music. Another song, also one of the best of all times, but with dramatically different lyrics is “Imagine all the people living life in peace”. “Imagine” makes you stop and think about what the world would be if we stopped focusing on borders, religions, and material possessions. John Lennon‘s song appeals to people because we all want to live in peace, it’s an ideal.

From the advertising world, we can also encounter dramatically opposite messages that would still both appeal to anyone in this day and age. The Coca cola advert on the “Social Media Guard” and the EE’s Kevin Beacon “It’s a no Brainer” advert couldn’t be more different. Kevin Beacon promotes the possibility of accessing the same internet network whatever device each family member uses, whereas Coca-cola promotes bringing people together by guarding family members from social media. Somehow, both appeal to everyone because although we all need a reliable internet broadband, we want to respect traditional values.

Last week, I was invited to an art installation called I am not the Cancer. It was about combining art and information on advanced breast cancer. The art installation consisted of 6 TV screens showing face and back of the head of 3 silent patients suffering from advanced breast cancer. Opposite each TV screen was a comfortable armchair; and above each armchair was a speaker from which you could hear their devastating story. So to hear their story, you had no choice but to sit in this armchair and look in the eyes of this silent patient on the TV screen (not a comfortable thing to do). The point of this art installation was to make you realise that, however uncomfortable it is, that’s how we should support friends and family as opposed to using escapism as a coping method. This art installation was created to make you feel differently; like John Lennon’s song, to question yourself in order to make you behave differently.

Influential creativity is all around us, from everything we see, everything we hear, which ultimately leads to how we feel and behave. How we use creativity to influence our surrounding through music, art or advertising is about connecting with an audience on a personal, emotional or practical level. It is about understanding their lives, getting comfortable with them and letting them know that you are here to make them feel better, or be better, or make them question themselves by providing them with an emotion, an ideal, a service, or a product.

As a science blogger of Science is So Sexy, I use influential creativity to connect with my readers, the tone is light - I don’t write the same way I used to when I wrote academic presentations and my thesis for example - and I assume a Sexy persona in order to feed scientific information to my readers without them using the usual escapism method that most people employ when hearing the word Science. I know who my readers are, what they expect when they come by my blog and what I can do to retain their attention. The best blogging tip you will always find on any blogging blog, is “amazing content”. But once you have your amazing content, you have to dress it up using the right fashion tools so people will want to read and see more.

Last but not least, I cannot forget that I am a job applicant trying to convince you to offer me a job in your company. Job interviews are also all about influential creativity: how do I answer competences questions such as where do you see yourself in 5 years or what is your biggest weakness without sounding boring and common. I am the product and services. What are your needs? How can I fill those needs? Using my personal and professional experiences, we want to make sure we fit together and we can build the best team.

Like the cups, I need to make you drink my every word, I can’t be on the pile of boring candidates and I certainly don’t want you to throw away my application. If I managed however to retain your attention and make you want to see more of me, that’s also what influential creativity means to me!