Pleasures and Crossaints

Hey-hey-hey!

Long time no writing, but that's no news! Sorry anyway, and just so you know - I have new exciting plans, which will also likely lead to more regular as well as clearer posting.

Namely, I want to start a new website for sharing health advice - one which I hope will be much more interactive, so that you can ask whatever might concern you and I can do my best to write about these topics. Hopefully a nice and simple place where one can get credible, science-based advice, with no fuss or confusion, where I promise that I will say if I don't know something and not try to cover it up by sharing vague or otherwise strange tips. Also, where one is not judged because of asking something that "everybody should know".

The truth is that I haven't been posting anything here recently, because while I was busy graduating my MSc and with that my 7-year health-learning-journey, I was also (too) busy getting ever-increasingly frustrated with the "health" world.
I think it was in 2012, where I wrote in a post that "health industry only exists because it doesn't work. Or what?" and mind me, at that time, I think there must have been only half as many online/social-media health advisers and apps available as there is now.
And it really seems to me that the number of advisers and the number of different advises available is growing simultaneously. To an extent, this is of course understandable, but taken that it all is (or should be) based on the same science, we'd expect that increased means of communication would only mean more voices speaking the same thing. But I guess as we all have noticed, this is not the case.
And then, out of respect to my own field (and also with a bit of fear as a freshly graduated job seeker) I did not want to write about this. But as I wanted this post to somehow conclude my 7-year all-blogged-up-health-studying-journey, I could also not write without mentioning it.

So my two big conclusions are:

1) I am frustrated with the current arrangements in the health promotion/science/industry. I think that science is doing a good job figuring out what is healthy for us and also in how to undertake a healthy behavior change. Or even not figuring out, but just proving, since it has shown (for a long time already) that our bodies just want to live like they are used to - eat fresh foods and not sit all day long and that this is also good for our mental health. So..as humans we all already know what is healthy and now science has proved that too. And even health science has moved on from that long time ago and is nowadays concerning itself with all new aspects or further insights.
Yet, the sharing of this knowledge, seems somehow not to have succeeded and instead, made a whole big mess out of a simple thing. Sometimes, for example, I forget something I have learned and try to google it, and looking at all the information that comes up, it is no wonder that people are so confused still. One almost can't expect there to be any health knowledge that "everybody knows", just because there are so many sources with so many different "advises". And even when something seems to be logical and science based and clearly communicated, there will be so many comments claiming that it is wrong and giving their own advice. I mean, how is one supposed to know anything? So, when I forget something, I don't google but pubmed. But then again, not everyone is meant to be able to figure out their answer from pubmed results. So, it seems to me, that while currently health promotion is the most important place to be for a health professional, it is also the most challenging one.

(I'm not sure if this link works, but if it does, then I think maybe this could well apply to a large part of the contemporary health promotion: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSeeMore/videos/2615240601857161/)


2) I don't know how to blog here, because it is confusing, being a blog about my personal life and also about what I think of health. Especially nowadays that this blog somehow suddenly has so many readers (even when I dont post new things :O?!) and I have no idea who they are or if they(you) want to read about me or health.

Therefore, having solved my professional dilemma between science and health promotion by finding myself an amazing place at a company, developing and providing scientific DNA-based health-advice to general population and athletes, I have also decided to try and improve health promotion by myself with my new (soon to come) website.

I haven't started it yet, but I think that it will be nice. It will be called Healthyway, to illustrate the focus on both the physiological health as well as on the mental side, or the "way" to get there. Both of which, I hope that I can now help you with, using the knowledge I've gained along the way. I'll make sure to update you here and on FB and maybe even in real life as soon as its all official :).

This blog can then, meanwhile, continue as my own personal blog for not necessarily science-based thoughts, which hopefully will improve both the writing and the reading experience ;). Of course it will have to be a little bit about health, because that's the topic I think most often about and also, simply because I have one (:D), but I also have a whole bunch of other thoughts that I'd like to write about, which will hopefully seem more in place once the focus of the blog is not anymore the health-student-life of Kirsi Kaups.

But to end this symbolic post, I present you a historic overview of all the major graduations of my life. So luckily always surrounded by the same happy people <3 <3.

This is actually my birthday, but I got 7, so it counts as kindergarten graduation ;)

Basic school :)

High school

BSc
(I think one can see from our faces that Agnes is taking the photo :D <3 <3. 
And I also, for the same reasons, think the first one is taken by mom ;D <3) 

MSc

...

Whether or not there will be a PhD or will my new job be too much fun, only time will show ;)

All the best,
me!

p.s. in case you still wonder - the heading did not have anything to do with the post itself indeed. I just returned to my old, but never forgotten habit of random once more. And it went so well with the blog name.

...I wasn't planning to wait 4 months, but it looks like I still am - the blog has to be on summer holidays until I am not.

Breaking the silence aka 4 months of adventures in one post.

Harooo!

Yees, taken how I so excitedly wrote that I could have my thesis ready in only one month here, it is funny that I now say that I haven't written so long, because I have stillll been busy with finishing my thesis. And maybe it reflects a bit the re-made priorities that I described here, and suggests/examplifies that yoga and me are indeed not the perfect match in this driven and efficiency-focused world. Yet, in fairness, the thesis project in itself experienced many difficulties and rearrnagements and I, meanwhile, undertook many other exciting adventures, so the thesis is also not the only reason that I've temporarily grown apart with this blog. (And yogaing and focusing on happiness in general, rather than just filling a lot of duties, is not the only reason why I haven't finished the thesis, so i'm sticking with the re-made priorities ;)).

I am still finishing the thesis and will dedicate an entire post on all what I've found out, once its done. In relation to that, as well as my life's other recent developments like the start of my internship, I have also thought more of the arrangements of the health science/industry and myself within them, and I would like to write of that too when the time arrives. 

But meanwhile, since I am ill this week and at home and since there indeed has been long silence in blog, but not in life, I will post a little, picture-filled update of whhatsuppppp :). So, with no further ado - a picture-overview of the first four months of 2017 in life of Kirsi.

After good and long Christmas time with friends

and family :D

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the new year started how all best years are meant to start - with Miili. Even with quite a lot of Miili :). 

Before other duties started calling again, I also managed to make some more great jokes with mom, with whom its always fun :D.

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I also demonstarted to her, how to have a two in one holiday - be happily home with family, but on the same time also spend time under palm-trees with boyfriend

After a happy reunion with everyone at Wageningen, we travelled to Copenhagen, where Luka could spend a lot of time with two sweet and very well-behaved midgets

and since we were so sweet, then Luka treated us to Danish Italian sandwiches and cake, which we so appreciated

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We travelled together with Katerina, who was visiting her best friend Angeliki, but forgot to take pictures :(. Here, they are having good time with us outside of the photo

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We also met Helen, who is already well-known in this blog as a star-runner, both in team-sports and survival runs, a talented young scientist and an amazing birthday-supriser. But again, we forgot to capture the moments for later virtual proof.

When the Copenhagen adventure was done, we returned to Wageningen, where sweet young Buck turned 24 and we celebrated with cake

and ice-skating :)

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On the following week, our already experienced road-trip team travelled to Leiden, so that I could discuss a possible internship at immunometabolism at LUMC with my potential supervisors. We were all very exited

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In fact, evrything on that day was so amazing, that I decided to accept the internship immediately. Then we were even more excited and even fed birds and read books in the middle of the street.

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Then followed February and March, during which Luka supersuccessfully finished his thesis and an additional course, while me and Katerina continued wroking hard and met for wine-evenings much less frequently than we would have liked to, and then worked hard not to talk of theses; but no-one took photos.
Almost before we could notice, it was already mid-March and it was time to leave the containers (after 5.5 years for some of us ) and move to Leiden. It was strange how dear these odd little-selfcontainers and their inhabitants had become from since I moved there only (already?!) 1.5 years earlier. But surely, Wagningen deserves its high reputation at sustainability and the friendships formed there, will be sustained well and with care.

Leiden is very very beautiful and we felt at home almost instantly, even just by the looks of our first guest and the closeness of sea it suggested.

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And the seaside, which turned out to be only one pretty 10-km bike ride from our home, was so beautiful

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After a week in Leiden, I went back to Wageningen to give the final presentation of my thesis. This went very well, and I could also get a good burst of laugh when noticing the meanwhile-developments of our cleaning ladies:

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In addition, I could strech toes, catch breath a bit at good old familiar surroundings

and I received my favorite ever pack from mom for my birthday the following day. Of the day I again forgot to take pictures, but it was the calmest birthday that I've ever had, with breakfast lasting until late lunch, a bought cake and no curls, which all perfectly fitted my new more grown-up (yes?:)))) being.

When finalizing the last things of the thesis report, often at odd hours between internship and sleep, the new appartment in Leiden lets me observe the prettiest sunrises

while enjoying the best coffee, which I can now make at home, thanks to our great Wagneningen-found Italian buddy Leonardo, who left me his old coffe machine. And like with good things ever - it turns out, the older the machine, the better the coffe :). I am not quite as good at making coffe as Leonardo was, but I think that the machine helps to compensate for my own relative inexperience, so me and the machine together make quite an amazing coffe-making-team :). 

We have also blessed in our home with a big Easter egg fight. My house-wife skills caused laughter for days when I super enthusiastically managed to color a bunch of originally white eggs to the color as if I had just bought brown eggs

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But no doubt about it, Luka and his Master Warrior Egg are the champions of this years "egg beating". Here, the happy champion

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That what happens in Wageningen does not stay in Wageningen was shown by our second guest here, who was Akhil :). And while the appartment awaits for the next visitors and future adventures in real life, it also already updates me that all is alright with them.

Here, for example, it can be seen on the bedroom wall how me and Katerina are having wine, while Sarah on the same time, is enjoying life in New-York.

Or, I can turn the side and enjoy a while in Paris

or, as it just turned out (:D) go to balcony and observe what seems to be a very extensive/intensive wedding party :D

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So by the looks of the first guest and by the artwork in the apartment, it really looks like this place was already waiting for us. In addition, and most importantly, we also both really enjoy our internships and are happy with our decisions. While further description of the internship and my future plans must await for another post, I can already show, that I am learning great truths of life:

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And with this, I would like to finish my update. Already reached today's date anyway, so no more is possible. However, as ever, I am much looking forward to all that may come and I am also not planning to wait another four months until the next blogpost. Enjoy and have fun and live the life to the fullest! 

My bestest regards,

Kirsi