Today was supposed to be a study day – my research for my doctorate is done, so I just (!!) need to spend the next 18 months writing it all up. I had the whole day planned. Quick coffee with my Mum, then home to study. I managed the coffee part ok, but then I came home and doom scrolled about all the horrible things that are going on in the world at the moment. Reading and then writing about education policy seems so trivial when I look at all the things wrong with the world, from all the news coming out of the US to climate change to so many people struggling. Why am I spending time writing about education when I could be researching other things or helping other people?

With classical music blaring through my headphones, I thought about the amazing young people who took part in my research and told me their stories, and I realised that this does matter. It is so important that their stories are told, and that people involved in education and (hopefully) education policy makers read my research when it’s finally done, and that it makes a difference.

My research isn’t about changing the world, it’s about making ripples. If my research touches one person and makes them think and change how they teach – or how they think about teaching – then they make another person’s day a bit better, and so it goes on. The ripples from my research will spread far and wide.

That’s something that I will hold on to as I inevitably doom scroll again later today. In our day to day lives, we cannot change the world, and it’s so tempting, when it all feels too much, to want to hide away, to wonder ‘what’s the point?’. We can make ripples of hope and of community. When I walked the dogs earlier, I passed an older man who was walking slowly trying not to slip in the snow and slush, so I paused, smiled, and said good morning. He looked up, and smiled back, so I smiled at the next person (while trying to keep my dogs under control and stop them jumping up), and they smiled back. My parents walk their dog on a similar route each day, and often stop to chat to the people they pass.

Smiling or saying good morning might not change the day of the person you speak to, but it’s not going to harm them. Holding open a door, letting someone go in front of you, saying thank you to waiting staff – small, seemingly insignificant gestures that just might lift someone.

When it all feels a bit too much, reach out, be kind and show everyone that there is still good in the world.