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Contemporary art collage, modern design. Summertime mood

Our Niall was asked to design Dr Em Mardlin's latest book cover, 'Quackers In Love', and our followers often ask about design concepts, so here's some thoughts on his thinking and process...Designing this cover was never about spectacle. It was about restraint. In publishing, restraint is often the hardest discipline because it demands confidence; confidence in the message, the reader and the silence between elements. This cover was built deliberately to feel like it belongs in that silence. The palette begins with a warm parchment background rather than stark white. White can feel clinical. Cream feels human. That distinction matters for a book about relationships. The tone sits somewhere between paper, skin, and candlelight subconsciously signalling warmth, reflection, and sincerity. The red heart is the only strong colour on the cover. That choice is intentional. By limiting saturation to one element, the symbol becomes the emotional anchor. It doesn’t shout. The title uses a serif face with classical proportions. Serif fonts carry intellectual and historical weight; they whisper credibility rather than demanding it. For a book grounded in values and reflection, that visual voice matters. The subtitle, by contrast, uses a clean sans-serif. This pairing creates tension and tension creates interest. Serif says wisdom. Sans-serif says clarity. Together they say trusted guidance. Spacing was treated as carefully as the letters themselves. Wide tracking in the subtitle slows the reader’s eye, forcing attention. It makes the words feel deliberate, almost meditative. Nothing overlaps. Nothing crowds. This creates psychological ease. Readers don’t consciously analyse spacing, but they do feel it. Balanced alignment tells the brain: this book is organised, thoughtful, reliable. Whitespace isn’t emptiness. It’s authority. The heart is not an ornament. It is the thesis statement. Placed slightly above centre, it becomes the visual hinge of the composition. The soft shadow beneath it grounds the image, giving it presence without theatricality. The effect is subtle but important: the symbol feels placed, not pasted. This cover avoids the most common trap in relationship titles emotional exaggeration. There are no gradients, sparkles, or cinematic flourishes. Instead, the mood is calm, reflective, steady. That calmness communicates something powerful before a reader ever opens the book: this is guidance, not hype. Good covers are not posters. They are emotional thresholds. When someone looks at this design, the aim is not that they think that’s pretty. The aim is that they feel something quieter: This might actually help me. That moment of recognition is what design is for. The strongest covers rarely look complicated. They look inevitable as if they could never have been anything else. That is always the goal: remove everything unnecessary until only meaning remains. #BookCoverDesign<figure id="figure-dzivsbsggmll49ae1" data-full-width=""><img id="dzivsbsggmll49ae1" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/dZkB3oIvT0wH6cfqpTKiNfuW9yDLuWgh3SOEkWXyX8kjGBicCI6ant4GhORLyuTx.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 1/1; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="1:1" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="true" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/dZkB3oIvT0wH6cfqpTKiNfuW9yDLuWgh3SOEkWXyX8kjGBicCI6ant4GhORLyuTx.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 1/1; object-position: center center;"></figure>

Book Cover Design. 'Quackers In Love'

Book stacking. Open book, hardback books on wooden table and blue background. Back to school. Copy space for text.

Analysis of John Ennis's Book, "Going Home to Geatland"Going Home to Geatland, a 2015 collection by John Ennis, serves as an intertextual synthesis of mythology, history and contemporary geopolitical conflict. Ennis utilises the framework of Old English epic (specifically Beowulf) and various global "hot zones", including Gaza, Afghanistan, Darfur, and Syria, to explore themes of dehumanisation, the cyclical nature of warfare, and the solitary mind’s confrontation with collective crisis. Given the current state of geopolitics a decade on, it's worth revising this book.&nbsp; Overall, the book attempts an expansive scope that links the past to the present, often juxtaposing high culture (Shostakovich, Messiaen, Lorca) with the brutal realities of modern combat and systemic oppression. A significant portion of the text is dedicated to the Palestinian struggle, specifically the "Gaza Ground Zero" section. The book is dedicated to Yaron Caplan, "resisting the forces of de-humanisation."Let's have a look at some of the core themes and philosophical framework.Mythological Archetypes and "Geatland" The title sequence uses the Beowulf narrative as a lens through which to view contemporary struggle, aging, and the seeming inevitability of confrontation. The Hero’s Return: Ennis employs Old English terminology to describe the hero’s internal and external battles. Key terms include Mearcstapa (wanderer along the borders), Hringsele (hall where spoils are dispensed), and Ece Raedas (eternal counsels). The Failure of Leadership: Figures like Hrothgar are depicted as "ultimately powerless" and "living in cloud cuckoo-land," allowing monsters to hold the centre stage while the nation suffers. The Persistent Dragon: The "dragon" represents the final, unavoidable conflict that must be faced "all over again" regardless of previous victories or the "gloss of victory" wearing off.Geopolitical Crisis and Dehumanisation Ennis provides a visceral examination of global suffering, focusing on specific individuals and localised tragedies to represent broader patterns of violence.Gaza and Palestine: The section "Gaza Ground Zero" is an incisive critique of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, focusing on the human cost of the occupation. In Memoriam: Jihad Shehada al-Jaafari, a 19-year-old killed in 2015, serves as a central figure for this section. Ennis chronicles the "undying wail" of his mother and the blocking of ambulances by soldiers. The "Yoblands": Ennis uses this term to describe a culture of celebration surrounding destruction, where soldiers take "quickies" of dogs attacking children and social media users respond with "Likes" and "LOLs." Environmental Destruction: "Even the Olives are Bleeding" details the destruction of ancient orchards by settlers using chainsaws and bulldozers, highlighting a 3,000-year history being uprooted.Afghanistan, Darfur, and Tibet. Moor Mahomed Taraki: The assassinated President of Afghanistan is memorialised in a poem that links the destruction of Kabul to global interests in gas pipelines. Ennis contrasts the billions spent on military destruction versus the World Bank’s reconstruction efforts. The Plight of Women: Here, Ennis highlights the extreme rates of female suicide in Herat and the kidnapping/rape of children (e.g., Sorava in Kunduz) under warlord rule.Darfur: Described through the perspective of a deportee in "H-Block Khartoum," Ennis details torture with electric cables and the systemic failure of the UN and IMF to provide meaningful aid. Tibet: The poem for Kunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang focuses on the "grinding torture" and the "forgotten prisons" in the "attic of the world."&nbsp;Art as Resistance and Historical Witness Ennis highlights the role of the artist in times of "barbarism," citing figures who maintained their integrity under totalitarianism or amidst war. Olivier Messiaen: Composing Abyss of the Birds in a field near Lille as a prisoner of Nazi war. Dmitri Shostakovich: Survives to "command that advancing infantry of double bases" while remaining "precarious in [his] own space" under Stalin. Federico García Lorca: Ennis reimagines Lorca’s final moments and his relationship with La Pasionaria, emphasising the "quick-limed cage of bones" that his death became.Mastering the Lexicon of Geatland: A Guide to the Poetic Motifs of John EnnisThe Power of Archaic Language: Why Old English? In the poetry of John Ennis, the use of Old English, the alliteratively dense, consonant-heavy tongue of the Beowulf poet, functions not as a mere stylistic flourish, but as a linguistic palimpsest. By over-writing the modern landscape with archaic Germanic phonology, Ennis forces the reader to confront the "consonantal friction" of history; the ancient suffering of the Geats is revealed through the rubble of modern conflict. This "Geatland" framework provides the necessary grit to describe realities that modern euphemisms attempt to sanitise. Ennis adopts this framework for three primary reasons: *Linking Mythology to History: By invoking the mearcstapa (the border-walker), Ennis suggests that the monsters of legend are identical to the "Grabbers" of modern geopolitics. Myth is not a fantasy of the past but a template for the present. *The Solitary Mind and Collective Problems: The internal resolve of the hilderinc (fighter) reflects the broader societal struggle. The individual’s "weariness of heart" serves as a microcosm for a nation under siege. *Bridging Past to Present: The cycle asserts that whether in the gleaming hall of Heorot or the "Gaza Ground Zero," the fundamental human experiences of fate, virtue, and the threat of obliteration remain unchanged across twenty centuries. This lexicon provides the structural "backbone" required to navigate a world where modern sonorities often fail to capture the visceral nature of survival.The Landscape of Fear and Fate Ennis synthesises environment and psyche through a grouping of terms that describe a narrative of crushing pressure and eventual departure. *Atelic egesa (Soul-sapping fear): This is visualised as a "cold, marsh-like fog" rising to the belly. It is the atmosphere of being "tracked" and "obliterated," a fear so heavy it threatens to "stave in the chest like a heart attack." *Helrunan (Hellish whisperers): These are the voices in the sulphur, those who wait in the shadows to profit from destruction, the "beneficiaries" of a hero's demise. *To brimes farode (To the way of the wave): This signifies the final, solitary movement toward the sea after the "work is done and dusted," representing the ultimate departure of the individual.Within this landscape, the concept of wyrd (fate) functions not merely as a death sentence, but as a "staying" force for the survivor. In the poem "Aet brimes nosan," fate provides a respite, an "Indian Summer" warmed by a "Zen garden", allowing individuals to endure even as the "flotsam and jetsam" of a working lifetime swirl around them.Kings, Queens, and the Council of "Wise Men" Social structures in the Geatland cycle serve as a vehicle for Ennis’s sharp critique of modern political "sonorities." Snotera ceolras: Wise men in council; decoders of the future. Hringsele: The "hall of rings" or spoils, which Ennis transforms into a place of "collapsing rubble." In the poem Snotera ceolras, Ennis portrays these "wise men" as a "brave-arsed brigade" sitting round an oval table. They are ineffective decoders who offer nothing but "sonorous ramblings" and "fair words" while the individual "goes down." He critiques leaders like Hrothgar, described as a shadow of substance with "indigo gills," whose backbone has been "long filleted from him," leaving him to sway in the wind of his own delusions.Virtue and Legacy: The Heroic Mindset The survival of the individual depends upon internal virtues that Ennis compares against their real-world outcomes. These archaic terms provide the necessary "backbone" for understanding the weight of modern suffering. Ennis frames tragedies like "Gaza Ground Zero" and "Syria" not as ephemeral news cycles, but as recurring chapters in the human experience. The "filleted backbone" of a failing Hrothgar finds its modern echo in the "rubble" of cities where "flesh fries" and "kristallnacht for a kid" is enacted.To master the lexicon of Geatland is to find the only language robust enough to name the "soul-sapping fear" that connects the ancient Geat to the modern survivor. In Ennis’s Gaza poems, social media serves as a tool for the dehumanisation of victims and the trivialisation of extreme violence, transforming atrocities into a voyeuristic digital spectacle. Ennis portrays it as a medium where ancient hatreds are performatively updated for a modern, often indifferent audience. Let's dig into this a little deeper.&nbsp;It's worth alluding to the specific roles of social media highlighted such as: Trivialisation and Entertainment: In the poem “Why Am I Smiling?”, Ennis describes soldiers taking a “quickie” video of their dog mauling a Palestinian child. This act is done for the “amusement of Facebook Friends,” with Ennis noting the chilling presence of “Likes” and “LOLs” from “smiling everyday tanned faces” watching the footage. This portrays social media as a space where human suffering becomes a source of casual entertainment.Narcissism and Performance: In “To a Young Israeli Praying on his Tank in Gaza,” Ennis questions whether a soldier is praying not for spiritual reasons, but so the “TV camera will record his selfie” for the folks back home to see. Here, the act of war is reframed as a curated performance for personal or nationalistic validation.The Contrast of "Texts": Ennis juxtaposes ancient, “resplendent texts” with modern “tweets”. By placing tweets alongside scriptures, he suggests that modern technology has become a new vessel for the same “myth-ridden minds” that have fuelled conflict for centuries, while also highlighting the brevity and superficiality of modern communication regarding life-and-death struggles.Global Voyeurism: The poems refer to “shattered infants on our screens” as a routine occurrence. This implies that social media and digital broadcasting have made the visceral reality of Gaza a constant, yet often ignored, background noise in the lives of the global public.By highlighting these digital interactions, Ennis critiques how social media platforms allow individuals to distance themselves from the moral weight of conflict, turning “human collateral” into digital content.The fact that these poems were written over a decade ago is profoundly sad when one looks to what has been happening in Gaza since October 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas led a surprise attack on Israel, in which 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed and 251 were taken hostage and Israel retaliated with such devastating and unrelenting force to that area. As always, the innocent, on all sides, continue to suffer at the hands of warmongers and evil regimens and this is much wider than Gaza as noted across the poems, which makes Ennis's book more important as a legacy statement. &nbsp;*Publisher: Book Hub Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-9932256-2-8.<figure id="figure-8tqd9ck40jmldvhkq4"><img id="8tqd9ck40jmldvhkq4" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/32quzG4HE8o1RkREUE6zRMlOBoQwFRBCJ3PXO3WtVwxJrwIe4S4aWnIXKYIh1qKq.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/32quzG4HE8o1RkREUE6zRMlOBoQwFRBCJ3PXO3WtVwxJrwIe4S4aWnIXKYIh1qKq.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;"></figure>

An Analysis of John Ennis's Book, "Going Home to Geatland"

Open book resting on a cozy sofa, reading in a comfortable living room environment, spending quiet time at home

About This Book &nbsp; In the face of life’s inevitable challenges, we all search for the key to resilience, success, and well-being. We often look outward for solutions, but what if the most potent force for change was already within us? What if the simple act of shifting our focus could physically reshape our bodies and tangibly alter our world? As the saying goes, "Mindset is everything." The thoughts you think and the beliefs you hold are not just fleeting ideas; they are the architects of your reality. They shape your health, your success, and the very life you lead. Our core mindset is paramount because it makes anything possible, even the seemingly impossible.<figure id="figure-fz5wd8uxjlmlc4h928"><img id="fz5wd8uxjlmlc4h928" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/37NuXrl8GbXKajesLVP9ZYipodiMGftmtLjURe4POF6Bvd2Obo38XMU13ZNs3NSU.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/37NuXrl8GbXKajesLVP9ZYipodiMGftmtLjURe4POF6Bvd2Obo38XMU13ZNs3NSU.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;"></figure>This is the radical premise proposed by UK based Dr. Em Mardlin, a mind-body expert with a remarkable personal history of overcoming extreme adversity - from a serious coma to an emergency tibia amputation. The central theme woven through her takeaways is undeniable: our internal world of beliefs, focus, and mindset is not a passive observer of our life but its active creator. From our physical health to the opportunities that appear before us, the foundation is built first within our own minds.In this book, she courageously details an actionable framework for harnessing the mind’s hidden power. Her core message is a principle that echoes through every experience: ‘where focus goes, energy flows’. This book provides a comprehensive framework of what Dr Em calls the "G.R.E.A.T. Mind-Set," where the core thesis posits that mindset is the paramount factor in shaping an individual's life, health, and success. The G.R.E.A.T. mindset is presented as a collection of five essential attributes that, when adopted, guarantee the ability to overcome any obstacle, achieve extraordinary outcomes, and manifest a desired reality. A big claim for sure.&nbsp; &nbsp; Importantly, the framework is supported by scientific concepts, case studies, and extensive personal anecdotes from Dr. Mardlin, who details overcoming severe health crises, professional challenges, and life-threatening situations through the application of these principles. Central to this concept is the development of a "zone zero" personality; one that is unafraid of fear itself and operates without a conventional comfort zone. &nbsp; The foundational argument is that mindset is the definitive element shaping an individual's reality. It dictates life paths, health outcomes, and ultimate achievements. A powerful mindset is described as essential for mastering thought processes to create new opportunities and overcome challenges with ingenuity. The book asserts that all experiences, including traumatic ones, serve a higher purpose by contributing to resilience and personal evolution. This perspective fosters an ability to trust the process of life, even to the point of being grateful for challenges due to the wisdom they impart.&nbsp; &nbsp; The ultimate goal is to align with one's "core blueprint" to create a desired life, turning the seemingly impossible into reality. This potential is not limited to a select few but is accessible to anyone who adopts the correct mindset, as exemplified by a "zone zero" personality—an individual who appears "lucky" but is simply operating with a specific, powerful mindset. &nbsp; So, what’s it all about? The framework is structured around five critical components, which are consistently observed in individuals who achieve remarkable success against the odds, recover from incurable conditions, or attain phenomenal wealth. &nbsp; The G.R.E.A.T. mindset is presented by Em as a definitive, actionable system for achieving profound personal and professional transformation and advocates that success is not a matter of luck but the direct result of a consciously cultivated mindset built on five pillars. By mastering these attributes, we can all unlock our innate potential, overcome any perceived limitation, and actively manifest the life we desire. The core message is one of empowerment, asserting that the capacity for extraordinary achievement resides within everyone, waiting to be activated through a shift in belief and a commitment to these principles. Remember, everything you need to succeed is already within you, waiting to be unlocked. Your journey begins not with a giant leap, but with a single, conscious step toward thinking differently. Embrace your potential and take action today. As you move forward, hold this powerful idea close: &nbsp; "Instead of merely dreaming about your goals, cultivate expectations, manifest them, and relish every moment of your journey." &nbsp; -© Dr Niall MacGiolla Bhuí, January 2026.&nbsp;* A G.R.E.A.T. Mind-Set by Dr Em Mardlin with Dr Niall MacGiolla Bhuí will be published in February 2026 and available on most global book retail platforms.

Introduction to 'A G.R.E.A.T. Mind-Set' by Dr Em Mardlin

Beautiful monarch butterfly isolated on white

Pervasive Anxiety After Covid: Why It Lingers and What Actually Helps When pandemic restrictions lifted, many people expected a psychological reset. Instead, a quieter phenomenon emerged: persistent anxiety without an obvious trigger. Not panic. Not crisis. Just a constant sense of unease; in meetings, decision-making, social settings, and daily life. This experience is widespread, and it isn’t a personal failing. It is a predictable response to prolonged collective stress. And I notice this everywhere I go now.<figure id="figure-i3xntsy87cml2i86ey" class=""><img id="i3xntsy87cml2i86ey" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2173565714/photo/abstract-xec-variant-of-coronavirus.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=PxNSfY0TObYB0oR-MxeCPBcQAtXlUHT7KKRkwyDJh_E=" alt="Abstract XEC variant of coronavirus" title="Abstract XEC variant of coronavirus" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2173565714/photo/abstract-xec-variant-of-coronavirus.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=PxNSfY0TObYB0oR-MxeCPBcQAtXlUHT7KKRkwyDJh_E=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> The Problem: A Prolonged Stressor Rewires Baselines Covid-19 was not a single traumatic event. It was a multi-year period of uncertainty, threat monitoring, disrupted routines, and social isolation. Research in neuroscience and psychology shows that when stress is chronic rather than acute, the nervous system recalibrates its baseline. Heightened vigilance becomes normal. The stress response remains partially activated even when the original threat subsides. And this is unwelcome. The concept of allostatic load explains this process: the cumulative physiological “wear and tear” caused by repeated or prolonged stress exposure. Elevated allostatic load has been linked to emotional dysregulation, fatigue, impaired cognition, sleep disturbance, and increased vulnerability to anxiety and depression. This helps explain why many individuals report: Persistent mental fatigue; irritability or emotional flatness, difficulty concentrating; exaggerated responses to minor stressors and a sense of “not being back to normal.” Boy oh boy are we not back to 'normal' whatever that was. In professional contexts, these symptoms are often misread as disengagement or burnout. In reality, many people are still physiologically unwinding from sustained survival mode.<figure id="figure-nu75g2av4dml2i918n"><img id="nu75g2av4dml2i918n" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2193361532/photo/middle-age-sad-woman-at-home.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=5xTHxRdMThlgxZ7QV-t0ngIW3vr3cMFjvQuVuTRJqX4=" alt="Middle age Sad Woman at Home" title="Middle age Sad Woman at Home" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2193361532/photo/middle-age-sad-woman-at-home.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=5xTHxRdMThlgxZ7QV-t0ngIW3vr3cMFjvQuVuTRJqX4=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> The Insight: Post-Pandemic Anxiety Is Often Residual, Not ReactiveOne of the most important reframes emerging from post-Covid mental health research is this: anxiety does not always reflect present danger. Instead, it often reflects stored stress. The nervous system learns through repetition. During the pandemic, unpredictability and threat cues were constant; infection risk, social separation, financial instability, and continuous media exposure. Over time, the brain adapted by increasing vigilance and reducing its threshold for perceived threat. Neurobiological research shows that fear and stress conditioning are acquired faster than they are extinguished. This means that even when external conditions improve, internal stress responses may lag behind. This explains why reassurance alone rarely works. You cannot reason a nervous system out of patterns it learned experientially over years. Regulation occurs through repeated signals of safety, predictability, and connection, not simply through cognitive reframing.<figure id="figure-bth89mkvoml2i9s71"><img id="bth89mkvoml2i9s71" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2226784825/photo/frustrated-man-barista-and-laptop-with-mistake-for-fatigue-eye-strain-or-company-bankruptcy.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=_AruMH82jbNVrEYrJiHv21rARFqMi7w7-hyoNkq4OTI=" alt="Frustrated man, barista and laptop with mistake for fatigue, eye strain or company bankruptcy at restaurant. Male person, bartender or overworked on computer for fail, loss or debt at indoor bar" title="Frustrated man, barista and laptop with mistake for fatigue, eye strain or company bankruptcy at restaurant. Male person, bartender or overworked on computer for fail, loss or debt at indoor bar" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2226784825/photo/frustrated-man-barista-and-laptop-with-mistake-for-fatigue-eye-strain-or-company-bankruptcy.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=_AruMH82jbNVrEYrJiHv21rARFqMi7w7-hyoNkq4OTI=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure> The Solution: Re-establish Safety Through Consistency, Not Intensity Research on stress recovery consistently shows that nervous system regulation is cumulative and gradual. There is no single intervention that “switches it off.” Effective recovery focuses on restoring predictability and reducing unnecessary threat signals: Stable routines and structure lower cognitive load and uncertainty; Physical movement supports stress hormone regulation and vagal tone; Social reconnection counters isolation-related hypervigilance; Boundaries around media exposure reduce chronic re-activation; Realistic pacing of change prevents repeated stress cycling. Organisational research mirrors these findings. Psychological safety, predictable workflows, and emotionally intelligent leadership are associated with improved wellbeing, engagement, and sustained performance. From a leadership perspective, clarity, calm decision-making, and regulated communication act as stabilising signals for teams. Nervous systems co-regulate, particularly in hierarchical environments. The Takeaway We Are in a Recovery Phase, Not a Regression. The pandemic may be officially over, but its psychological effects are still resolving (and this takes time). What many people are experiencing now is not regression. It is delayed processing after prolonged strain. Historical research on collective trauma including war, economic collapse, and natural disasters consistently shows that recovery unfolds over extended periods, often years rather than months. Covid-19 was global, prolonged, and psychologically immersive. A gradual recalibration is not only expected. It is human. Let's take it a littler easier on ourselves. <figure id="figure-t6vy3u33sejml2iafe5"><img id="t6vy3u33sejml2iafe5" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1444137971/photo/student-anxiety-and-woman-in-busy-college-campus-with-depression-sad-and-mental-health.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=FPgsDkouWTxdKt9vFJTVKF3HvsCSPEgVZlb64xBHjag=" alt="Student, anxiety and woman in busy college campus with depression, sad and mental health problems. Burnout, stress and tired girl thinking about exam, assignment or project deadline at university" title="Student, anxiety and woman in busy college campus with depression, sad and mental health problems. Burnout, stress and tired girl thinking about exam, assignment or project deadline at university" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1444137971/photo/student-anxiety-and-woman-in-busy-college-campus-with-depression-sad-and-mental-health.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=FPgsDkouWTxdKt9vFJTVKF3HvsCSPEgVZlb64xBHjag=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>The key takeaway is this. Pervasive anxiety after Covid is not a sign of weakness. It is evidence of adaptation. And adaptation can be reshaped. Individuals and organisations that recognise this moment as a recalibration phase, rather than a failure to “bounce back”, are far more likely to build sustainable resilience. We do not move forward by pretending nothing happened. We move forward by acknowledging what did and supporting the nervous system’s return to balance. Useful References McEwen, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338(3), 171–179. (Foundational paper introducing allostatic load). McEwen, B. S., &amp; Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual: Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153(18), 2093–2101. Holmes, E. A., et al. (2020). Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(6), 547–560. Pfefferbaum, B., &amp; North, C. S. (2020). Mental health and the Covid-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 383, 510–512. Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. New York: Viking. (Widely cited synthesis on how stress and trauma persist physiologically). Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory. New York: Norton. (Explains nervous system regulation and safety cues). Shanafelt, T. D., Ripp, J., &amp; Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA, 323(21), 2133–2134. WHO (2022). Mental health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact. World Health Organization. ©Niall MacGiolla Bhuí, PhD. January 2026. (Niall wrote his doctoral thesis on the theme of resiliency. His latest co-authored book is also on this theme).&nbsp;

Pervasive Anxiety After Covid: Why It Lingers and What Actually Helps

Close-up little hand of child baby holding hand of mother, A newborn holds on to mom's, dad's finger, Love and relationship with infant, Care and support, Dreaming and protection

The Moment Every Parent Knows... At some point, every parent has stood in a doorway at night watching their child sleep and thought: 'Am I doing this right?' Not the Instagram version of parenting. Not the highlight reel. The real one. The messy, loud, exhausting, beautiful responsibility of shaping a human being while still trying to figure yourself out. Parenting isn’t a role you master. It’s a relationship you grow into. The Problem. Modern Parenting Is Louder Than Ever Today’s parents are navigating more noise than any generation before them. Advice floods every screen. Experts contradict each other. Social media turns ordinary family moments into silent competitions. And beneath it all runs a constant pressure to optimise childhood...the right school, the right activities, the right milestones, the right emotional vocabulary. The result? Many parents aren’t failing. They’re overloaded. Overthinking replaces instinct. Comparison replaces confidence. And in trying to do everything “correctly,” we risk missing the simple truth: children don’t need perfect parents. They need present ones. The Insight? Children Grow Through Connection, Not Perfection Research across child development consistently points to one stabilising factor: secure connection. Children thrive when they feel seen, safe, and emotionally anchored. Not because every decision is flawless, but because the relationship is reliable. They don’t measure parenting by curated routines. They measure it by everyday signals: Did you listen when I talked? Did you stay calm when I made a mistake? Did I feel safe coming to you?Connection isn’t built in grand gestures. It’s built in micro-moments: eye contact, shared laughter, repaired conflicts, predictable presence. Parenting is less about controlling outcomes and more about modelling resilience, empathy, and emotional repair.The Solution. Shift From Performance to Presence A powerful shift happens when parents stop asking: “Am I doing this right?” and start asking: “Am I showing up consistently?”Practical ways to anchor parenting in presence: *Create daily rituals: small predictable moments (bedtime talks, car conversations, shared meals) that signal stability. *Repair quickly after conflict: children learn emotional intelligence not from the absence of mistakes, but from witnessing reconciliation. *Name emotions openly: this normalises feelings and teaches regulation. *Protect attention: even 10 undistracted minutes can outweigh hours of half-presence. Consistency beats intensity. Children don’t need extraordinary parents. They need emotionally available ones. The Takeaway. Parenting Is a Long Conversation Parenting is not a test you pass or fail. It’s an evolving conversation between generations. You are not raising a perfect child. You are raising a future adult who will remember how it felt to grow beside you. And what children carry into adulthood isn’t a flawless childhood. It’s the memory of being loved in an environment where mistakes were survivable and connection was stronger than pressure. If parents focus less on performance and more on relationship, the rest tends to organise itself. Because at its core, parenting is not about control. It’s about trust.<figure id="figure-w0wtd8zxlml10g17o"><img id="w0wtd8zxlml10g17o" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/24Z9ulmP04RFL5h0k651ehXaMn1miZQw3JGCeefcaxjUfqhTs1QUxeGcR3vjHzfi.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure> Now that you're read the above, why not commit to a fuller understanding and pick up a copy of LJ Jones fabulous new book 'Become The Parent you Needed' which we're launching on Sunday coming...in Bangkok no less. An exotic location for an enthralling book. -Conor MacGiolla Bhuí, MSc ©January 2026.

The Moment Every Parent Knows...

Book Review: Duty of Care by Dr Dominic Pimenta Dr Dominic Pimenta’s 'Duty of Care' landed at a strange, raw moment: early September 2020, when the UK had lived through the shock of the first wave but hadn’t yet metabolised what it meant. We were still doing the emotional maths of “cases vs deaths”, still arguing about masks like they were a personality trait, and still hoping (quietly, superstitiously) that the worst of it had passed. The book was published by Welbeck on 3 September 2020, with royalties directed to the charity +HEROES, supporting healthcare workers. It's now six years on so let's take a step back in time. A crazy, topsy turvy time indeed.&nbsp;<figure id="figure-xfhsfc62wqmkvoapjq"><img id="xfhsfc62wqmkvoapjq" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/akpTWaSOVmnqkAepU9tmazhwRjQMAZZ4vawyVDsT04V8QjuXX0iEQBiUkj6ubexl.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/akpTWaSOVmnqkAepU9tmazhwRjQMAZZ4vawyVDsT04V8QjuXX0iEQBiUkj6ubexl.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>My initial reaction in reading the book was this isn’t a detached policy history of the pandemic. It’s a frontline memoir: a clinician’s-eye account of the UK’s early Covid period, told through lived experience rather than graphs. And I welcome this. Pimenta charts the speed at which normal medicine becomes crisis medicine; the psychological whiplash of walking into hospitals that feel increasingly like disaster zones, and the moral weight of decisions nobody wants to be qualified to make.&nbsp;As I'm currently back editing another book on Covid for a client, I feel the best way to read this book is as a contemporaneous document: a “this is what it felt like while it was happening” record and this matters, because crises get rewritten in hindsight. 'Duty of Care preserves' the confusion, the adrenaline, the dread, and the grim practicality of trying to keep people alive when the rules keep changing. Day by day. Hour by hour.&nbsp;Pimenta writes accessibly and urgently, with enough clinical specificity to feel real, but not so much that it turns into a boring textbook one feels compelled to read. The voice is humane and direct. The kind of narrative that tries to do justice to colleagues and patients rather than using them as mere scenery for a heroic arc. For me, that restraint is one of the book’s strengths: it’s not a victory lap; it’s a witness statement. We need these more and more in today's political climate.&nbsp;At its best, 'Duty of Care' captures the texture of early Covid: the sense that everything is simultaneously too fast (the spread, the admissions, the deaths) and too slow (the systems, the supplies, the decisions). One can feel the fatigue accumulating, the stress becoming baseline, and the way compassion becomes both fuel and liability. Who are the heroes and who are the villains? Ah, do we even know that for sure at the start of 2026?&nbsp;Plenty of pandemic books veer into either sainthood or cynicism and Pimenta largely (though not totally) avoids both. The courage here doesn’t come wrapped in swelling music; it comes with fear, frustration, gallows humour, and the dull ache of repeated loss. That emotional honesty is what makes the book useful and not just moving.There’s also a quiet thread of annoyance: not performative rage, but the kind that forms when frontline reality repeatedly collides with institutional inertia. It’s the anger of people who don’t have the luxury of debating whether a fire is “really that bad” while they’re carrying buckets of water to try to quench it.Now, a core question is, is it an accurate representation of Covid? If you mean, “Is this a fair representation of what it was like for many NHS staff in the early pandemic?” then from talking with colleagues in the UK, yes, in the sense that it’s grounded in first-wave clinical reality and written close to the events themselves (not years later with the balance and gift of a narrative polish). Accounts like this are inherently partial; one doctor, one set of hospitals, one trajectory but that’s not a flaw; it’s the point. As an editor who frequently edits memoirs, I'm all-too-well aware that memoirs don't have to prove the whole truth of something like a pandemic, but it can tell the truth of a lived slice of it.If you mean, “Does it accurately predict what Covid became?” It couldn’t, because nobody could. And that’s one of the book’s accidental achievements: it details for readers the early-pandemic mindset, when outcomes were uncertain, treatments were evolving, and the future still looked like fog.The State of Play Today in January 2026What’s happened since publication and how it changes the reading? Reading 'Duty of Care' now (in 2026) is like opening a time capsule from the “before we knew” era. Several major developments since 2020 radically changed the Covid story: Let me look at just a few of these for context.&nbsp;1) Vaccines changed the risk landscape The UK began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December 2020 (famously with Margaret Keenan as the first recipient), and vaccination became the biggest single shift in outcomes and system pressure. (england.nhs.uk) That doesn’t make the book outdated. Rather, it makes it historically precise. It captures the period when prevention was mostly behavioural (and political), not biomedical. How quickly things changed, eh?&nbsp;2) “Living with Covid” became official policy By February 2022, the UK government’s “Living with COVID” strategy removed key legal requirements such as mandatory self-isolation for positive tests (in England), signalling a move from emergency footing to managed endemicity. (House of Commons Library). This reframes the book’s intensity: it reminds you that what later became “background risk” once felt like an incoming meteor.3) The global emergency phase ended but Covid didn’t In May 2023, the WHO Emergency Committee process moved Covid away from the “public health emergency of international concern” framing (the WHO statement marks that shift), even as the virus continued circulating and evolving. (World Health Organization) That distinction is important: Duty of Care is about the emergency phase, the period of acute uncertainty and system shock, rather than the long tail of ongoing transmission, repeat infections, and uneven impacts.4) Accountability and lessons-learned have become formalised The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has since produced major reports (and continues its work). Its findings have been blunt about early decision-making and preparedness, including criticism of delay and lost time in early 2020, and modelling suggesting a significantly lower death toll with earlier action. (UK Covid-19 Inquiry) This doesn’t “validate” every emotion in the book, but it does provide a wider structural frame for the kinds of frontline frustrations Pimenta describes: staff were often absorbing the consequences of systemic choices made far above them.The book’s limitations (worth knowing going in) It’s not a balanced policy debate. If you want a multi-angle account (care homes, education, economic policy, public health ethics, devolved governance), you’ll need other books alongside it. Further, its scope is early-pandemic heavy. Later phases; vaccines, variants, shifting public behaviour, long Covid policy fights etc are largely beyond its publication window, by definition. It’s also emotionally close to events. That’s a strength, but it can also mean you’re reading the heat of the moment rather than a cooled-down synthesis.<figure id="figure-ldyybr8c1mkvobl4n"><img id="ldyybr8c1mkvobl4n" src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2173565714/photo/abstract-xec-variant-of-coronavirus.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=PxNSfY0TObYB0oR-MxeCPBcQAtXlUHT7KKRkwyDJh_E=" alt="Abstract XEC variant of coronavirus" title="Abstract XEC variant of coronavirus" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2173565714/photo/abstract-xec-variant-of-coronavirus.jpg?b=1&amp;s=2048x2048&amp;w=0&amp;k=20&amp;c=PxNSfY0TObYB0oR-MxeCPBcQAtXlUHT7KKRkwyDJh_E=" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>'Duty of Care' works as a knowlegeable book because it refuses to let the early pandemic become an abstract historical montage. It brings you back to the frightened, exhausting, high-stakes reality of the NHS frontline when Covid was still new, still poorly understood, and still crashing through systems not designed for that scale of shock.As a representation of the first-wave experience, it’s compelling and credible not because it claims to be the whole story, but because it’s honest about the piece of the story it can tell. And in the “since then” context of vaccines, policy normalisation, and official inquiries, the book becomes even more valuable as a primary emotional and clinical record of the moment when our modern world tipped. And, it looks like we will be returning to such a world...©Niall MacGiolla Bhuí, PhD (January 2026).&nbsp;

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Book Review: Duty of Care by Dr Dominic Pimenta