July 2019 – Page 3

on storytelling & writing plans

July 14, 2019

As we’ve been stationary in Caerwys for the past two weeks working on van maintenance I’ve had time to reflect on the years spent hunting & foraging across landscapes to discover the truth of my heart. And this week I woke with the realisation that I am The Storyteller, grandmother spider, weaving stories; sometimes through poetry, travel or sound, sometimes through performance or food. At the moment I’m experimenting with the short & longform speculative fiction/dystopian narratives. Futureproof is a…

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children of gods

July 14, 2019

Words & image: Sophie McKeand We greeted the children of gods with operatic indifference.Having already slaved to make the world right for some time we promised the earth (as if she were ours to gift) & set them to work in call centres & factories & department stores & endless cafe chains & when they finally began to show promise we stacked debt onto shoulders already bowed with overwrought expectation shackled their imagination to the sum total of our experience then…

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Embracing the kaleidoscopic soul

July 13, 2019

I want to tell you that you can be whoever you want to be. The only thing restricting you is the self-doubt you’ve allowed to tangle through the untamed imagination. Grow your dreams – tend them like houseplants or scatter thousands out into the world as wildflower seeds. The unfettered creative mind opens into a universe of potential. What inhibits this is fear: fear of how others will judge your shape-shifting; fear that you will not fulfil the wild &…

creating travel vanlife

Atlas

July 12, 2019

My herstory is tattooed into skin. The meanings change as I change; as I write & rewrite the narrative of this life; as time spills out from my womb, from my mouth. As I swim this ocean of moments – skin wrinkles; as I walk this land – hair silvers. Some of these symbols are prophecies, some are herstories. It is all the same. There is only this moment, I live in the now. Fire was tattooed around my belly…

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Tuning into the white noise

July 11, 2019

I’ve been sitting with a small river & waterfall in Caerwys this week, or standing on the shoreline at Talacre, tuning into the white noise. Sometimes I hear it as a roar, sometimes a whisper, but it’s always there, the voice of nature, humming away in the background. This is an early poem from the Prophecy: conversations with my Self pamphlet, an old recording of it is on Soundcloud (link here).…

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Van heating – a gamechanger

July 10, 2019

The heater was fitted this week by Andy – another skill to add our expanding repertoire of ‘things we’ve had to learn on the road’. The elation felt with each accomplishment is indescribable – it’s all about the small victories. So far the weather has dictated much of our travels – we would have stayed longer in Croatia Nov/Dec 2018 but it was becoming unbearably cold in the van so we hot-footed it down to Crete where we stayed for…

creating minimalism vanlife

Living small

July 9, 2019

Re-covered the foam seats (also a brighter blue shade painted on the doors which I love). The old seats were shredded & faded from months of us all clambering on them, but the foam is still solid, if a little wonky. This is a different pattern from last time (still from YouTube). Last time I cut a separate panel for each surface and stitched together with a velcro opening at one end. The problem with this for a novice is…

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Queen of Horses

July 8, 2019

Today, on the day the holly king takes over from the oak king to preside over the waning half of the year, our daughter Rhiannon turns 23. I thought to teach her so much about life but really it is she who taught me, about motherhood, about love & friendship. Twenty three years was another life ago. Every day I woke and wanted to be a better person, was inspired by her to fully understand the capacity of love so…

creating vanlife

Slow living / slow learning

July 7, 2019

Part of slow living for me is about learning practical skills such as how to make my own curtains. Not because I will be a champion curtain maker – there’s not a perfectly straight line in sight here ? – but because learning something new makes me slow down. I can’t take short cuts or let the mind wander as I tread a well-worn path. I have to keep focussed and in the moment so I can at least make…

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Being stationary for a while

July 6, 2019

A grey damp day in north Wales. I’m indoors sewing fabrics while Andy’s lying on his back in the street with the fuel tank on the pavement as he fits the heater. We’ve been in a house nearly a full week as we work on van repairs & maintenance (still have service & MOT to do) and it’s making us a little stir-crazy. I’m not sure we’ll ever settle in a traditional house again – our feet are already itching…

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