A woman with red hair reading a book, sitting on a wooden window seat in a historic stone building with tall arched windows.

Hi! I’m Cait, welcome to my corner of the internet!

In 2021 I returned to Ireland, my heritage home, and rediscovered a part of myself that had been lost…

For years, I believed that my corporate legal job was enough. I should have been happy with the life I had. But something always felt missing, a part of myself that felt silenced by the hamster-wheel of my corporate life.

During COVID, while others were learning to bake bread, I was rediscovering a lost part of my soul, in reading and learning.

A woman with long brown hair sitting at a wooden desk in a cozy, vintage study room, reading a book with other books on the desk, illuminated by a table lamp.
A woman with red hair wearing a black dress and brown sandals looking at a classical marble statue of a young girl reading a book in an art gallery.
Woman with red hair leaning on a stack of books, with her hand covering her mouth and part of her face visible. The books include titles such as 'A Ghost in the Throat' by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, 'In Ordinary Time' by Carmel McMahon, 'Solenoid' by Mircea Cărtărescu, and 'The Iliad' by Homer. The background is green.

“I felt a connection to the words I was reading, the Irish landscape around me in such a way that made me realise the depths of my identity…”

A few online short courses in literature laid out the path for my passion. I reconnected with my love of reading and literature. I spent hours looking through secondhand bookshops and libraries, finally feeling that honey-like warmth of learning begging to be read. And who I am to fight that alchemy? I felt a connection to the words I was reading, the Irish landscape around me, and the people in such a way that made me realise the depths of my identity.

As such, I undertook a drastic career change out of my corporate job to focus on my passion for reading and studying literature. While working at Google, focusing on content, AI and privacy legislation, I completed my Masters in Literature & Arts at the University of Oxford. Having received PhD offers from both Oxford, and my home university Trinity College, Dublin, I decided to leave my corporate job and am working towards my PhD at Trinity.

Reconnect with the Human Essence

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Reconnect with the Human Essence 〰️

A collage featuring a woman in graduation attire holding a photograph, a graduation ceremony with a man in academic regalia, the Google logo, the University of Oxford crest, and the Stockholm coat of arms.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, painted by Michelangelo, depict biblical scenes and figures, including the Last Judgment, with detailed human forms and vibrant colors.

This rediscovery has highlighted how important life long learning has been in my life. I have advocated for life long learning ever since I started my move away from corporate into academia. Its effect on my life cannot be overstated. However, true lifelong learning is no longer just about acquiring skills; it is an act of resistance.

By engaging in learning, we are able to distinguish the slop from the information, reject algorithmic feeds and AI-generated summaries for our own deep curiosity. Not only does this learning and curiosity expand our cultural horizons, it opens our minds to differing points of view and thus safeguards our humanity.

My journey has given me the opportunities to share my knowledge online, and inspire others to pursue their passions, no matter at what stage of life.

My studies occupy my little home office in the countryside in the Wicklow mountains, where I wake up every morning to the sound of birds, and walk my dogs in the surrounding natural beauty. My life has slowed down and is filled with love. I now embody the slow, sustainable and intentional lifestyle of the past that seems to have been lost in the wake of modern life. 

And this is the life I have wanted for myself.