About Theo

☼ a mad scientist by day ∙ a little free spirit by night ☽

Welcome to my world – this is my journey to inner peace, self-acceptance, freedom and happiness 🌿

When I was little, I dreamt of being a princess. Just like Mia from The Princess Diaries, a long-lost distant relative would show up at my door step one day and hand me a jewelled crown. Or a real-life Prince Charming would arrive on a white horse, and ask my father for my hand in marriage.

Then when I was a bit older, I hoped to move to New York City, settle in the Upper East Side and perhaps open an art gallery. Like Blair Waldorf in the Gossip Girl novels.

Between then and now, here are some things I have done

• laughed (a hell lot)
• cried (even more)
• ate a burger (well more than one obviously)
• read a few books
• had several jobs
• watched sunsets, sunrises and pulled many all-nighters
• travelled abroad (even though I really hate planes)
• got drunk and tried to speak in Spanish*

Instead of my grand ambition of moving to NYC or living the Cali dream, I eventually moved up to Yorkshire and that was the best decision I have ever made. I also spent some time travelling across Europe and South East Asia, volunteered in Central America, did an internship with a multinational bank and got a masters degree in Electronic Engineering.

As for now, I am studying for a doctorate in an area I love (somewhere between entomology and software engineering); but at the same time, I am in the process of healing.

In a game of Jenga, you start off with a perfectly formed tower – it stands upright and there are no gaps in between blocks; as the game goes on, the tower grows taller but the base is loosen; and the game finishes when tower falls.

Only that should not be the end of the story – you have to rebuild the tower so all the blocks go into the box nicely.

Learning to stand up after a fall isn’t fairy dust and glitter balls, sometimes this means allowing yourself to have temporary time-out when needed, or having that extra snack when your stomach is growling – it is a journey, and slowly but surely I am falling in love with my life again.

It doesn’t matter if you have good days and bad days – everyone does. What truly matters is what follows the darker times. I know there are better things to come, and when that day comes, I’ll look back at this and smile – because I didn’t give up.

(You can read more about my story here)

As for you, yes you, if you’re reading this,

I just want you to know that you are beautiful and amazing – please don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, and even if you fail to see this at times, YOU ARE FABULOUS (I know you are)

Shine bright, my little stars

* FYI that was in Costa Rica, so that wasn’t entirely out of context, and I did spent three years learning Spanish

(Manzanillo, Costa Rica)