The 2nd half of the year has begun!

Since May, I am also officially now a septuagenarian – a poignant moment for me.

Indeed, I arrived on planet Earth 70 years ago 👶🌍.

No-one is immune from upsets, and the difficulties life throws at you – me included. Thankfully, the positives outweigh the negatives.

It’s timely to add a few wise words and a bit of humour.

‘Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it, it doesn’t matter.’ – Mark Twain

‘You don’t stop laughing when you grow old. You grow old when you stop laughing.” – George Bernard Shaw

I’d like to share one of my own sayings. (See image 😊)

To words of wisdom and moments of mirth 😊.

So where to from here?

Expect consistency from me and a few more surprises…

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 16/6/25

This year to celebrate a special personal milestone I chose a long-weekend in a large wooden cabin surrounded by trees and big enough for my immediate family – husband, grown up children and spouses, my young grandchildren, and a family dog.

Nestled in an idyllic forest setting 2025

This very special Spring holiday was organised for me by my family.

Forest bathing, family, and fun activities for all.

A large forest close to home in the UK.

We don’t always have to travel afar to have a wonderful adventure ❤️🌲🌳

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 05/6/25

This month at ‘playtime’ I have been making memories and putting life in perspective. I have been experimenting with home-made movies. I thought I’d share my discovery of some joys of Nature and the Wild.

These days, there are of course some superb films, documentaries, and communications.

However, here is my humble playful attempt at home-made moviemaking (May 2025). It’s only 30 seconds long but enough for a blog.

‘Wild and Wonderful’ the movie.

At least I know it’s my own real experience 😉 – and it was fun to make 😊.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 22/5/25

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(I have used clips from videos I took 10 years ago this month from a holiday adventure in South Africa to celebrate a special personal occasion.)

This story starts with an evening drive with a ranger in an open-top, open-sided vehicle in South Africa. Picture this: We came upon 2 lions probably a brother and a sister lying on the road track in front of us. The ranger stopped the vehicle and waited until the couple got up and started on their way. We followed at a cautious pace. It felt like they were leading us somewhere.

The female went ahead of the male and as I turned my gaze to the left, I sensed a presence up in the tree in front – hence I took this snapshot.

Some people in the vehicle wanted us to drive on regardless. My preference was to wait a little while (but for how long?). While the debate continued the lioness decided to jump down in front of the vehicle and continue her walk. But where was the male lion? He was nowhere to be seen.

While our attention had been diverted to the female – he had apparently disappeared. Then suddenly – there he was emerging from the undergrowth to the right on the other side of the road! Did he cross in front or behind the vehicle? No-one knew for sure. Suddenly we felt they were playing a game, and we were part of it. They were calm, confident, and in control. A passing thought was – maybe they were leading us back to the pride. Could it have been an invitation to join them for dinner?

But …. what or rather who would be on the menu?

However, they soon got bored and sauntered off. We all breathed a sigh of relief, and the ranger speeded up the vehicle, turned on to another dirt track and accelerated in a different direction.

After this somewhat scary moment we found some humour in the experience.

For a while there we certainly had not been in charge.

It was their game in their territory!

Maybe the lioness had climbed the tree to check us out – and then she didn’t feel quite that hungry after all 😉.

Or perhaps they just enjoyed playing a trick on us 😂.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 15/5/25

[Apparently ‘Lions don’t typically attack safari vehicles because they perceive the vehicle and its occupants as one large, solid object rather than distinct, moving individuals.’ An etiquette on safari is that animals are minimally disturbed hence the waiting for the lions to move on]

Whilst being forward-looking we can also learn a lot from history and reflection.

10 years ago, in May 2015 I was staying in Cape Town for a few days and I took the opportunity to visit the Heart of Cape Town Museum. I was profoundly moved by the exhibition. I wrote a blog about a dramatic and thought-provoking series of events in medical history, and I was inspired to reflect on some far-reaching issues of that time and to suggest some take home messages relating to other breakthroughs in Life Sciences and medical research.

Here is a link if you are curious to read more about this.

Faced with dilemmas and maybe also in troubling times consider what we can learn from history and reflection.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 12/5/25

Sometimes we only fully appreciate what we have once it’s gone.

It could be the loss of someone or something.

Loss of freedom in particular can be a scary prospect.

I thought it timely to reflect on being housebound during Lockdown 2020. On a day when we were allowed just a one-hour walk outside I captured my feelings in some snapshots and a short poem (see here).

There can be contentment in recognising the value of what we already have or what is readily available. Let’s not take things for granted. Understand their value.

Enjoy Nature and the joys of Spring 2025.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 9/4/25

P.S. How can the world after such universal deprivation and difficulty find itself in the sorry mess it is today?

A lot has happened in the world. Aside from political matters we had a worldwide pandemic. Big Pharma rose to the challenge and is continuing to adapt to new technologies.

Is gobbledygook still with us?

Here’s a link to the original article if it’s of interest.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 27/3/25

…

Further comments.
Having re-read the article several times I would just like to add:

Industry has enormous potential to contribute to research and development in these changing times.

More comments to come…

LIFE SCIENCES, clinical research, and health research contribute to our knowledge and understanding; find solutions and give hope. In these rapidly changing times what will unfold in the future?

There is much meaningful work still to be done and deserving of support.

There are people with passion and integrity working individually or in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects.

There are insights and discoveries to share – because science is for everyone.

Whether it’s for policy development, practical application or for sheer curiosity – it matters.
There are reasons to be optimistic despite current events.

There will be stories to tell…

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 3/3/25

…

When you capture an authentic moment in a photo you can revisit it time and time again, and relive the moment. Sometimes we tend to look for signs. I’d like to share 3 little stories:

Footprints in the snow: One very early morning I walked across a carpark which was covered in a carpet of snow and with no signs of any humans. I happened across some footprints presumably made by a bird. The pattern sparked my curiosity. Just as I was bending down to investigate further and imagine how this had come about, a van parked up nearby. The van driver wound down his window. ‘Interesting isn’t it?’ he called out to me. “It’s art – and it’s all free!” he added. “That’s true!” I replied. We both smiled and nodded in agreement.
 
 ‘Do you wanna build a snowman?’: I built this jolly snowman in the garden (with the help of one of my grandchildren). Happy times! On Day 1 Mr Snowman had a big happy smile. By Day 2 he looked curiously more animated with his head slightly tilted and a cheeky happy smile. Mr Snowman was with us a week and then gone but we have these fun fond memories captured on film.
 
A little bird told me so – centre stage: It was a robin on the garden fence that caught my eye. I focused in for a photo-shot of the robin only semi-aware of the wind-chimes. I did not set this up in advance and only on looking more closely at the photo afterwards did I see the possible likeness of the tree to my logo. It was the day before what would have been my mum’s birthday.
 
Were these messages, signs or just my imagination? Most probably the latter of course!

In reality they are just lovely moments, real memories, and authentic photos to look back on.
 
The simple authentic things around us can bring contentment and joy if we let them.

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 10/2/25

Well, things have certainly moved on since I posted on this subject in January 2023!

It seems everything is accelerating, and it can be exhausting just trying to keep up.

There are many aspects to AI – the science, the tools, benefits, risks etc. Here are a few thoughts to start this new year.

The applications and potential applications in clinical and medical research such as diagnostics are laudable and impressive. Of course, this is just one area and there are many others in many different fields. AI can facilitate research and management of large amounts of data rapidly and efficiently.

Globally, AI is being taken very seriously. Nationally, the UK government’s investment news in January 2025 demonstrates how seriously the potential of AI is being taken. I recall that at the World EXPO 2020 (hosted by Dubai) the UK Pavilion seemed a bit understated in comparison with some other pavilions but in hindsight I think its focus on AI was ahead of its time.

The enthusiasm for AI is palpable everywhere and it is indeed exciting. However, information overload can be overwhelming with what seems like an ever-increasing pace of what we are told or led to believe is progress. With the dizzying rate of tech change and AI development I think it is a time for some reality checks.

Is AI ‘artificial intelligence’ or is ‘augmented computation’ a better term in most instances?

Is artificial intelligence ‘still mostly an illusion’ as some researchers suggest?

Where is all this heading?
What do we really want?
What do we really need?
What do we not want?

Certain adages should be borne in mind regarding i) content: rubbish in – rubbish out. ii) algorithms: bias in – bias out.

I think healthy scepticism can be a good thing and even some self-mocking at times can foster a healthy perspective.

Then there is the pressing need for balance between technical innovation, and ethical and moral responsibility.

Is all this noise around AI making us any happier? I doubt it.

There are many AI tools being developed and opinions on their value or usability differ. Just because you can use them doesn’t mean you necessarily should. There are still a lot of questions to ask. Take care not to get sucked into something or give away personal data unintentionally.

Beware of hype or jumping on a bandwagon for fear of missing out. We can’t even get some simple basic things right. AI is not the solution to every problem.

AI offers enormous potential benefits for individuals and society. However, AI regulation is an important factor under debate. Protection is needed against potentially harmful effects particularly for adolescents and children.

Watch out for some great summits, conferences, and debates this year which should include the perspectives of people everywhere and at every level.

AI is here and there is enormous potential to benefit humankind. I am curious. There is much to learn and better understand. Opinions may change. Communication, education, and clarifications will be necessary

I think we can have a positive attitude regarding benefits or potential benefits of AI whilst proceeding with caution and eyes wide open.

It’s an interesting time. Let’s see what 2025 brings…

by Dr Julie Charlesworth 20/1/25

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