It’s January. The festive season is over. The Christmas tree is back in storage. For many of us, it’s time to step out of the December slumber and back into reality. It’s Monday blues on steroids.

There is something about the new year approaching that wipes out reality. We are mentally projected into the the new year and thoughts from that imagined future infiltrate our minds: both good and bad.

Expectations, I’ve concluded, are like ‘brain weeds’: they implant themselves in our minds and take over the way we approach - and eventually experience - something.

Natasha Azzopardi Muscat worked hard to get to where she is today - the Director Country Health Policies and Systems at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. She shares her feel-good formula and talks about the choices she made and what motivates her.

This Christmas I am trying to tell myself to simmer it down - to what really matters. I’m trying to get rid of the fancy ingredients that stress me out during the holidays and focus on what really matters: being present.

Dependency. Such an uncomfortable word to this generation. In our parents’ generation, this was the norm. But this generation is one that was nurtured to study and build a career which meant getting a full-time job and salary.

Grief is not a nice emotion. It hurts. It’s painful seeing loved ones suffer. But we can’t protect them from it. We can, however, be there and try to find our courage together.

Here’s a question I find myself struggling to answer as a parent: How much should I push my child? Counselling psychologist Stephanie Borg Bartolo helps uncloud this question.

Sarah Calleja has become more and more established in the local art world. The young mother-of-two, who is an architect by profession, has been building herself up to be a recognised and respected artist while juggling everything else. She talks about what inspires her to keep at it… and how she does it.

The other day, while I was driving home from work, I thought back to a series of different conversations I’ve been having with several friends who have kids. I realized that many parents are currently going through some kind of beginning-of-school-aftershock. Let me explain.