The Jessica Project

Photo: re-visiting childhood stomping ground, Waiheke Island, Summer 2016. 

What makes your heart sing?

How are you going to save the world?

What makes you feel at peace? 

What would you do if you had one billion dollars?

What do you believe in? What do you hope for? What do you love? 

Silence the blaring sounds of your daily existence, what everyone else has to say, your rational mind. 

Listen to your heart and connect to the wisdom of your soul.

Let go of all the fear, embrace all the love. 

You are right where the universe intends you to be.

Trust the universe. 

Trust yourself. 

Photo: Sunrise from the window seat, somewhere over Northland, NZ. 

Identity capital is what we do to invest in ourselves. It is a cumulation of all parts of our lives and adds up to what we have to offer to potential employers, friends and partners.

The term was coined by Dr. Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist based in Virginia USA. You can watch her Ted Talk Why 30 is not the new 20 here. 

Ideas on how to build identity capital: 

Originally hailing from Nelson, Broods - siblings Caleb and Georgia Nott - now appear to be calling Auckland home. That is, at least, according to BBC Radio 1 and their SoundCloud profile. 

The sibling duo are the latest Kiwi music sensation to be working alongside Joel Little, the dude who can lay claim to a Grammy in producing Lorde's album Pure Heroine. 

Whilst Bridges has received significant airplay through the back end of 2013 in NZ, the disc jockeys at BBC Radio 1 have been testing the waters with another of their songs, Never Gonna Change. There's no doubt they're a talented pair, so here's hoping the world will pick them up and press their little iTunes purchase buttons!

After an afternoon of wandering The National Gallery and admiring Monet, I went hunting for a cup of tea (so very English of me). A quick Google search and a short wander later, I found myself at Maison Bertaux, London's oldest patisserie. This 19th century institution was a delight - the tables adorned with fresh daffodils and purple ribbons and the crazy decor would have got me in the door without even a glance at the cabinet. Until I glanced at the cabinet.

Sweet Mary Mother of God. Everything looked spectacular. I ordered an English Breakfast Tea and a baba au rhum - I was in afternoon tea heaven. Not being much of a bakery/patisserie goer in the past, it was the fresh fruit atop the baba au rhum that caught my eye. Little did I know what I had ordered - a small cake saturated in rum, accompanied with custard, cream and of course the fruit. The best part? The sole promise of spring in a water glass, sitting on the table. 

Rose Leslie.