Welcome
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| Image via Pinterest |
Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and read some of my
thoughts on life. I love the use of a good
subheading so to introduce myself and this blog I will subhead away!
Who are you and why are you
writing a blog?
My name is Kate and I am a researcher in women’s health (among other
things). I live in Melbourne, Australia, with my partner and our cat, Feta. There
are three reasons that led me to begin this blog:
1) I am currently completing a PhD on women’s experiences of
endometriosis. Writing is one of the many skills required to complete such a
task. I see writing as a skill that one must continue to 'exercise' and thought that sharing my perspective of the world through a blog may be a great way of
doing this.
2) In my work I see much great research being conducted that could lead to
significant changes for the healthcare people receive and the ways in which
they may choose to live their lives. However, research takes a long time
to evolve into meaningful results for people. There are many reasons for this,
one of which I believe is that the findings are often ‘locked away’ in academic journals for only the
science and medical communities to see and understand. I hope by blogging about
what I see in my work can contribute to reducing the divide between the researcher and the researched (people).
3) Lena Dunham—one of the most intelligent, witty and beautiful people of
our time—perfectly sums up both my main reason for starting this blog and my
biggest fear for doing so:
“I definitely dealt with people
acting like being a woman writing about your own problems was somehow silly or
unnecessary or not contributing to the cultural conversation in a central way.
As trite as it is what I kept returning to was the idea that the personal is
political, and by sharing your own stories, you're essentially performing a
kind of activism that is very important…”
I was worried that what I have to say as a young woman doesn’t matter. But it does. It matters what all have to say but especially women because our voices have been silenced or ignored for much of recorded human history. Some may roll their eyes at that but they would only be proving me right. Sometimes when you try to silence a person they only get louder.
What will
you be blogging about?
Anything and everything! Given that much of my time
is dedicated to all things women’s health (particularly endometriosis) I imagine
many of my posts will be related to this. Other topics of interest to me
include men’s health, feminism, cooking, fashion, relationships, and general
social commentary.
For those who would like to know more about research
on endometriosis and other health related topics you can
follow me on Twitter (@Researcher_Kate).
How often
will you blog?
I will aim to have a new post every 2 weeks (maybe more if I'm feeling particularly inspired or less if I am busy with other things).
Why did you call it Tonic & Tea?
Why did you call it Tonic & Tea?
Because I love alliteration (repetition of the same sounds) and tea. I really love tea. And tonic is defined as "giving a feeling of vigour or well-being." I hope that what I write can contribute to the improved well-being of women in at least some small way.
I hope this introduction was helpful to you and that you enjoy some or all of what I will write.
I hope this introduction was helpful to you and that you enjoy some or all of what I will write.
Happy reading,
Kate xx
P.S. Creating this blog was partly inspired by a
fellow academic and her experience of having a blog. I urge you to visit it; she writes beautifully. You can find her blog here.