July 28, 2016 Melanie Windridge

Wanting my life back…

Thoughts on Nigel Farage

Whilst making my afternoon cup of tea today, squished into a gap between emails about fusion energy education, finding promotional aurora photos for a magazine, and worrying about the ever-lengthening To Do list, I found myself thinking, à la Nigel Farage, “I want my life back!”

But then I thought, “Hey, lady, this is your life. And you love it!”

If I won the lottery tomorrow I really don’t know what I would give up.

I love working in fusion energy and I’m so excited about the fusion community – and particularly my team at Tokamak Energy – learning and overcoming challenges in plasma physics, materials science and magnet engineering that are bringing us ever closer to a clean, safe energy source for the future.

I loved all the research I did for my book Aurora, travelling to the Arctic learning about folklore and history, seeing extraordinary things and beautiful places, learning about the Sun and near-Earth space, about the Earth’s magnetic field and our atmosphere – and how all these things combine to create the magical northern lights.

I love talking to people now about the aurora, sharing my stories and learning theirs.

I love working in education – seeing the spark of interest and curiosity in students, answering their questions and helping them on their own journey.

I love climbing mountains and learning about “extreme medicine” and exploration, and making more plans for the future – for more expeditions and more books and who knows what else!

I wouldn’t give up any of these things. Because the world is a wondrous place and I get to explore it. Maybe Nigel Farage wanted his life back because his passion was disruptive and draining.

Yes, I’m tired too. But I’m so, so lucky.

Talking to a family about fusion energy at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2015.

Talking to a family about fusion energy at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2015.

Looking through a plasma ball at the Big Bang Fair 2010.

Looking through a plasma ball at the Big Bang Fair 2010.

Enjoying the skiing and the view of Mont Blanc. Ok, so it's not technically work, but there's lots of physics involved!

Enjoying the skiing and the view of Mont Blanc.

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About the Author

Melanie Windridge Dr Melanie Windridge is a plasma physicist, speaker, writer… with a taste for adventure. She has a PhD in fusion energy, is Communications Consultant for fusion start-up Tokamak Energy, and has worked in education with the Ogden Trust, Anturus and the Your Life campaign. Melanie is an expert in the aurora and loves the mountains. She believes science and exploration go hand in hand. In 2018 she climbed Mount Everest.