Hi Maha

Thanks for the link, and this lovely post. I am constantly finding myself at the shops with my daughters not actually wearing shoes, and certainly before I was a parent I thought Home Alone was a comedy, but now I know better: it’s a documentary.

I just wanted to pick up one of the issues you’ve raised here, about differentiating between what we do that’s good for us, and what we do that’s harmful, and then trying to see this beyond ourselves. This is important for me at the moment. I’ve been on sick leave from my overworking academic job for six months, and one of the things I had to figure out what was to do about staying in touch with the world outside cancer, while genuinely taking leave.

I’ve maintained my own blog and Twitter, and I’ve been pretty selective about work related email. I’ve done the odd professional thing here and there that I was asked to do that felt within my capacity, and additionally felt like it was good for me to do it. But I had to spend a lot of time explaining this to friends who are also colleagues, as they wanted to block all mention of work from me (cancer is a weird forcefield this way), which meant I had to keep pointing out that sitting at home thinking about cancer instead wasn’t such a great outcome. On reflection, I feel like I’ve managed this all in a way that worked for me.

But yesterday when I questioned a senior colleague who had announced that she was going on personal leave but would of course be available to us all on email, she pointed out that I had done more or less the same thing. And this is where my thinking is stuck a bit: I think we have to recognise that our personal choices are also political, and also part of the way that we’re collectively creating work practices that benefit institutions while increasing the pressure on those around us. So today I’m thinking about how creating boundaries around work isn’t just about what works for me, but about the signals I send to others.

This is a real dilemma. I don’t yet know how to resolve it, and I’d really welcome your thoughts.

Kate