How I got here: and how the less obvious and unconventional journeys are often the most worthwhile

The phrase “it’s about the journey, not the destination” is cliche for a reason.

Photo by Anatoliy Kidun via iStock

When people ask “what I do” I always have to take a deep breath before answering. Because to be honest, I am still figuring out the best way to actually explain my work. The elevator pitch, so to speak, is still in development.

My love of the brain… and wanting to learn about it.

Now, this isn’t because what I do is all that complicated, it’s because I am so excited about it that I could talk someone’s ear off for an hour… even two.

See, I used to be in research. Neuroscience research to be precise. I loved it. I loved learning about the brain and how it works. And I particularly loved learning about the pathology- that is brain disorders, and what we can do to fix them. I think this stems from having a brain pathology myself, as a stutterer. This means that I sometimes have a hard time getting words out. But more on that later…

Ten plus years into my research career I was at a crossroads. I’d lived in 3 foreign countries doing research in all three and completed two Masters programs (yes, I might be an overachiever) and was still struggling to find my path. I knew I didn’t want to get stuck in the the publish or perish cycle of academics, so I decided not to pursue a PhD. And this was the first lightbulb. If I don’t want to do a PhD, then what am I doing in research?

The realities of research

What I realized was that research is stuck in it’s own bubble. There is so much amazing information that only gets back to other researchers. It’s like a twisted feedback loop where all the information is just kept in this exclusive club, even though the goal is to share with others.

I thought this was kind of messed up.

What’s the point in having all this amazing information if it’s not getting shared with the people in a meaningful way? So I starting looking into how I could change this. I wanted to find a way to get people engaged in science. Be excited about it like I was (well, ok maybe not that excited) but at least interested.

The big shift

So, this is where the new adventure begins. I shifted away from research and into the science communication world. I work with clinicians, researchers and other science focused organizations to create content that distills complicated science and research in a way that their audience understands.

Science has a bad wrap for being scary and intimidating. I blame the medical jargon scientists tend to use making articles difficult even for other scientists to understand *cough, cough*. This doesn’t make it very user friendly.

What you’ll find in this blog

My goal here is to write and share cool and interesting science in a fun and engaging way. You get some of my musings and thoughts along with some real science. You’ll find all topics brain related: neuroscience, neurology, mental health, integrative health, biohacking, nutrition, mindfulness, yoga and anything else that you want to see.

I hope that this will spark some interest in the research process, what science is about and teach you some cool thing about the brain, mental health and bits about me.

I’m excited to start this unconventional journey with you!