Welcome to Anatomy of a Decision
Yay, you made it, come on in!
Hello, lovely friend.
Welcome to my tiny corner of the internet! Thank you for visiting, please, pull up a chair, stay for a hot chocolate and a chat.
Anatomy of a Decision is my creative home, designed to be a calm space for deep thinking where I explore themes around career transition, life decision points, feminism and values-led living in the form of essays, poems and photographs. I’m so glad you’re here. Will you stay a while?
I’m Louise, a writer, leadership adviser, former surgeon and a non-executive director of Lemon Jelly Press CIC, an independent publisher with a mission to amplify unheard voices and bring humanity to the page.
My personal mission is to create reflective, courageous spaces - through writing, gatherings, and strategic support - that help thoughtful people make clear and conscious decisions, build lives from love and joy, and promote systems that prioritise people.
I was told I was ‘too nice’ to be a surgeon. Well I’m here to prove that in fact there’s no such thing, and that we can do anything we choose to without having to change who we are.
Anatomy of a Decision is the home of my writing and the first arm of that triad of intention. I’m so happy that you’re here!
You’ll find my writings organised by topic, the full indexed archive is here:
Essays are listed first, then poetry. Many of my more recent pieces include audio and/or video for those who prefer to listen over reading. You’re welcome to explore, dip in and out, and if you find something you enjoy I’d be super grateful if you’d share it.
All subscribers have access to the full archive. At this point in time I’ve chosen to keep my writing free, because I want to maximise the chances of these words being read by the people who need to read them. That said, I also believe that writers should be paid for their work. The archetype of the starving artist is a harmful tool of the capitalist patriarchy we live in, and I don’t believe that any of us should have any time for it.
If you feel able to support my work by choosing a paid subscription, your generosity allows me to dedicate more time to this work and keeps my writing freely accessible for all, and for that I am incredibly grateful. Readers with a paid subscription are welcome to apply the entire cost of their subscription here at Anatomy of a Decision towards any of my membership spaces, workshops or 1:1 sessions.
Right now, if you feel in the mood for some creative connection you can hop over to LiveStack, where I host a directory of in person creativity events and a beautiful community of creative humans in the LiveStack Members’ Lounge.
And launching soon here at Anatomy of a Decision will be the first in a series of leadership and strategy workshops for values-led leaders, founders, freelancers and entrepreneurs where I will share the many lessons I learned from an 18 year career in medicine as a paediatric, neonatal & trauma surgeon. Topics will include decision making, negotiation skills, difficult conversations, presence and influence, and clarity in times of uncertainty and transition. Workshop one is titled Ask Without Apology. Sign up below to stay up to date, and you’ll be the first to receive an invitation as soon as they are ready.
If you want to know more about me, there’s lots on the About page, or head over to the essays that started this writing experiment, where I explain a little about the decisions that led me from scalpel to Substack.
Or if poetry takes your fancy, the poem I read at my first ever open mic (there’s a video of the performance on LiveStack…) is this one:
Do come and say hi in the comments, too; I love to get to know my readers, and I am so very glad you chose to stop by. Come again, any time. My door is always open and I’ll leave a light on just for you.
Hi Louise. My name is Gabriel Weston. I’m an author/surgeon/broadcaster and have started writing a substack this week called Cutting It. I’d love if you wanted to take a look. Kind regards from a fellow surgeon.