Latest Perspectives
The seductive but dangerous pull of being the queen of the house
Luba Kassova | June 28, 2022
“To be a mum is to be divided Your energy Your time Your heart You trade freedom for love” Olly’s mum on motherhood. From “Bump” To be a mum is to be divided. To be a mum is to be divided. To be a mum is to be...
The painful cost of being spared the truth
Luba Kassova | June 02, 2022
Recently, I was sat in a middle seat of an aeroplane on the outbound leg of a trip abroad. To my right sat a man separated from his family by the aisle. As the plane was taking off, the man leaned forward, turning his head towards his daughter who...
Has progress towards equality for women stalled?
Luba Kassova | May 10, 2022
The last few weeks have been devastating for women’s rights, dignity and emancipation in two of the world’s most developed countries - the UK and the US. A series of events have exposed the extraordinary levels of objectification of and contempt...
Learning to live with grief
Luba Kassova | April 27, 2022
A version first printed in dir.bg news publication in Bulgaria A defining characteristics of our lives during the last two years of pandemic has been the growing feeling of yearning intertwined with grief. Yearning induced by the multiple micro losses that...
Will Smith, Self-sabotage and the Shadow
Luba Kassova | April 12, 2022
Have you ever felt elated at having achieved something truly wonderful, something you have worked towards for a very long time, only to brutally quash it in a momentary act of self-sabotage? The shocking and violent incident instigated by Will Smith when he...
Transforming shame into dignity
Luba Kassova | March 30, 2022
One act of bravery can transform an ordinary person into a hero in the blink of an eye, disrupting the status quo and prompting admiration (or condemnation) from those who witness it. It can take just one act of courage by a lone revolutionary or a small...
Coping with powerlessness in a chaotic world
Luba Kassova | March 16, 2022
Day #20 since Putin declared war on Ukraine The war in Ukraine is gaining momentum: the Russian army is closing in on Kyiv despite facing unexpectedly strong resistance; Kherson has fallen; leading multi-national organisations have left Russia;...
The pendulum swinging between war and love
Luba Kassova | March 02, 2022
Day 1: Putin invades Ukraine This is an unfathomably dark moment that I personally didn’t think would come. I thought that Putin was bluffing, enjoying basking in the world’s full attention. But it has come, contrary to common sense, to...
When tough love is no longer love: Part 2
Luba Kassova | February 22, 2022
Why do people often believe that they need to berate someone to motivate them to achieve? I remember telling my father one day that I thought he had been hard on me as an adolescent when he repeatedly voiced his concerns so convincingly that my...
When tough love is no longer love: Part 1
Luba Kassova | February 09, 2022
I recently interviewed a wonderful woman, an executive coach and mentor, who is writing a book and whom I shall name Rose. She made me think about what drives us forward and about the psychological cost of achievement. In the 1980s and 90s Rose had broken...
