Thursday, March 28Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Thom Cuffin-Munday

The Art of the Cose-a-thon – /ˈkəʊz-ə-θɒn/
Lifestyle

The Art of the Cose-a-thon – /ˈkəʊz-ə-θɒn/

With snow falling recently, the usual seasonal strangeness of a chilly spring encroaches. I’m sure meteorologists could explain the reason behind the cold snap of February, but throughout this Baltic lockdown I have been busy perfecting the art of the ‘cose-a-thon’, ie. a marathon of cosiness. What follows is my ultimate guide for snuggling up and getting cosy for the evening. 1.   Blankets – these are integral to any snuggle session. Grab a fluffy blanket, duvet or throw and hunker down. Recently I have invested in a weighted blanket – gaining notoriety lately as an anxiety reliever, the added weight does quite literally ‘ground’ you! They can be a little pricey, so you can experiment with piling blankets up to see whether you think the extra weight would suit you. 2.   A hot drink...
Are we really here? What is existence? My existential journey…
Lifestyle

Are we really here? What is existence? My existential journey…

Lately it’s been tough dealing with a difficult virus, an incompetent government and yet another lockdown. However, the relative isolation has led me to a certain amount of introspection, soul-searching, philosophy, and self-help books. I wouldn’t say that I have undergone an existential ‘crisis’ so to speak, but rather simply an existential realisation – my conclusions may seem bleak to begin with, but thankfully they did not lead to a crisis and should instead be thought of as a message of hope. My journey began with skepticism. This concept is difficult to explain fully, but a good place to start is René Descartes’ Meditations. One of his theories is that there is an evil demon of ‘utmost power and cunning [who] has employed all his energies in order to deceive’ (René Descartes, Med...
Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
Culture & Literature, Literature

Book review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

Mark Manson’s ‘counterintuitive approach to living a good life’ can be found in this book, and to say that it changed my life is not even an overstatement. This book starts off with using some of Manson’s experiences and other peoples’ he knew to describe how one might live their life. Through witty and profane prose, Manson then breaks down the issues that these people may have with fulfilment in their lives, which mostly boils down to a misalignment of values.  For example, the author describes how some people might value making money, but that ultimately this will result in exploitation and a lack of fulfilment because there is an end goal, and then what you’d spent most of your life working towards seems meaningless now that you have that thing you were wanting – cue mid-life ...
Pandemic Legacy: Board Gaming and the Apocalypse
Science & Technology

Pandemic Legacy: Board Gaming and the Apocalypse

Florence Roberts 'It starts simply… A virus tougher than the rest. Nothing your team can’t handle. But as January turns into February… What results is a year that will never be forgotten. This is no ordinary virus. This is no ordinary year. Your team will see things, live things, do things that might just save humankind from being snuffed out completely. The results of this year will be spoken in whispers for generations… Are you prepared for Pandemic Legacy?’ No, I am not describing 2020. I am talking about one of the best games in existence. Now you may be asking who wants to play a boardgame about a world changing set of viruses during 2020? Well, you may find that this is the perfect thing for your house/hallmates to play while you are bubbled together this year.&nbs...
Royal Holloway switches to Ecosia!
Sports & Socs

Royal Holloway switches to Ecosia!

Thom Cuffin-Munday In the past month, the student-led campaign ‘Royal Holloway on Ecosia’ has successfully managed to convert our university to Ecosia, a search engine that uses its income from ads to fund tree planting projects. To date, over 115 million trees have been planted worldwide (as of 14th December 2020) as a result of those who use Ecosia. With the campaign now adding Royal Holloway to the list of contributors to the project, we have to recognise this tremendous achievement by some of our students! Ecosia began in 2009 in Germany after the founder, Christian Kroll, experienced the issues of deforestation around the world. The main focus of Ecosia is to plant trees in areas that need reforesting – such as restoring the watersheds in Brazil, where the first trees were ...
Book Review: ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor E. Frankl
Culture & Literature, Literature

Book Review: ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor E. Frankl

Thom Cuffin-Munday This book was recommended to me by a very special person who was aiding me in my soul-searching, especially since going through many a mental health crisis and struggling to find a meaning to existence. Frankl’s book has been regarded as one of the most inspirational stories of the 20th century, describing his experiences of the Holocaust and using this as a basis to explain his alternative to psychoanalysis – logotherapy. The book itself is very short and sweet at only 170 odd pages and can easily be read within a few days to a week – I’m sure you could finish it in a day, but I would allow more time to process what you’re reading!  The book is divided into two sections, the first being an account of Frankl’s experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust, moving...
Socially Distanced Social Games
Science & Technology

Socially Distanced Social Games

Florence Roberts With COVID-19 not going anywhere soon it is becoming harder and harder to meet with friends and socialise, especially if you want to see more than five other people. If you have not heard of Discord, Google it, it is a blessing. It is a free site, a bit like Microsoft Teams, but it was designed with gaming in mind. You can message, call, video call, share your screen, and as it is designed to be non-intensive for your laptop or phone, campus and home wifi should still hold up as you chat and play. Over lockdown and the summer, my friends and I were scattered over Europe, and we tried out many games that could be played together whilstapart. There are many wonderful (and sometimes even free) games out there that are great to socialise through, and I am going to talk ...
“Plant Power”: The Benefits of House Plants for your Mental Health
Lifestyle

“Plant Power”: The Benefits of House Plants for your Mental Health

Thom Cuffin-Munday Besides adding beautiful earthy colours and allowing mother nature into your room, there are many health benefits to having houseplants. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, these include improving mood and attention span, as well as reducing stress, blood pressure, fatigue and headaches (by up to 25% in one study!). In my experience, houseplants also have a psychological benefit – understanding the basic needs of a houseplant, such as regular watering, sunlight and warmth, helped me to understand my own basic needs. Just like human beings, your plants’ health can begin to deteriorate without daily care and attention.  On a base level, a plant respires in the exact opposite way we do. They ‘breathe in’ carbon dioxide and ‘breathe out’ oxygen, so a ho...
Holistic Therapy: A different approach to mental health
Lifestyle

Holistic Therapy: A different approach to mental health

Thom Cuffin-Munday *Disclaimer: the following article is meant to entertain and provide information on different beliefs and approaches rather than provide medical advice* In Western culture, the use of scientific methods has arguably been the primary approach to the treatment of mental health, with medication and psychoanalytic therapy being some of the most popular options suggested by GPs in the UK. However, across the East/West binary, the Eastern approach to mental health and wellbeing focuses less on finding the root cause of the issue and more on proactive, self-care methods to retrain yourself and shape your own psychology. This is known as holistic therapy, and is an approach that attempts to heal the whole person rather than their symptoms, aiming to change mindsets and ou...
Egham Museum’s Adventures of Flora Seville
News

Egham Museum’s Adventures of Flora Seville

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many of us work. Unsurprisingly, museums and the broader heritage sector have had to drastically change their working practices too, moving the focus of their work to the digital sphere. Egham Museum has been no different in this regard and the pandemic has allowed us to develop new forms of digital engagement and ways of using social media. At the beginning of October, we had our most successful Twitter campaign, a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ thread set at Royal Holloway in October 1887 and based on the experiences of the first cohort of students. The opening tweet in the thread sees you assume the fictional character of Flora Seville and your challenge is to get through the day without being sent to the Principal’s Office. Although Flora is a...