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feminism

family feminism Mental Health

Herstory

June 24, 2021

There’s a long herstory of emotional neglect and abuse running throughout my matrilineal ancestry. It’s not something that was acknowledged or even understood when I was a child. You just grow up thinking that whatever circumstances you’re born into are completely normal because you don’t know any different. Reaching middle years has been a huge turning point, like I’ve climbed that ancestral massif and, turning to view the ascent, I clearly see the carnage strewn across the landscapes of past…

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feature feminism Mental Health nature

Figuring out the language of my body

June 20, 2021

Figuring out the language of my body is a lifetime’s work. Does anybody else feel they’re balancing so many elements – like keeping a very long line of plates spinning? And I drop them, sometimes a lot of them, even if less often these days. I write often about self-directed learning because this is the pathway into understanding that resonates most strongly, especially so with my body.Maybe this is a ridiculous approach because there’s so much to learn from others.…

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Why I don’t love a pruned hedge

June 16, 2021

Hello friends,I’m aware that some people get a bit upset about my original use of grammar and punctuation. This is absolutely okay. I’m not the writer for everybody and I fully embrace that. However, instead of presuming that my writing is inferior because I don’t follow the rules, I wonder if they might consider the fact that writing this way is an act of rebellion – a way for me to fully embody this wild and natural world that inspires…

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feminism Mental Health vanlife

Forging friendships on the road

June 15, 2021

When we first moved into the van nearly four years ago we wanted to get away from everyone and everything for a while, just to reset ourselves and maybe recalibrate our place in the world. As much as I needed those long months of solitude, I’ve emerged from that cave happier, and feeling more confident around people. I’m not sure this is something that’s evident from the outside because I was so good at masking, but now I’m building a…

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books creating Europe feminism Mental Health poetry

Writing characters I love

April 28, 2021

One of my favourite characters to write in The Madness of Sara Mansfield is Sara’s life-partner, Nneka Adesina. I am in love with Nneka’s brilliance – she has worked her way to the pinnacle of success as a biotech scientist in the sovereign state of Mont Blanc – the world is at her feet, and she knows it.  And yet, beneath the surface of her immensely successful and meticulously shaped Amortal life, difficult questions begin to surface about the true…

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dailyconnectionwithnature feature feminism Mental Health nature Outdoors water

The unnameable essence of being

April 15, 2021

I am so in love with my body right now I want to swim in every glorious moment, feel it visceral and wild against skin. Yesterday I blasted uphill fireroads on the bike, lungs sucking in mouthfuls of spring, forest air. Then long swooping singletrack descents had me stood on pedals until the fronts of thighs burned like crazy, eyes focussed on the trail ahead. Slowly I’m remembering how to ride, the movement of body with bike, muscle memory calling…

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books creating feature feminism poetry

The Madness of Sara Mansfield book cover

March 29, 2021

I’m so happy to share the cover art of the new novel, The Madness of Sara Mansfield. My partner in life, Andy Garside, always designs my work, always manages to convey the essence of each book with a beautiful clarity and vision. I wanted the making of this book to be an act of trust, whose creation speaks to an anarchic ideal that everything under this blue sky belongs with a collective stewardship, in the Creative Commons. Which is why…

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On family and connection

March 26, 2021

We’ve been incredibly lucky during this past lockdown year. The first half locked into Portugal then Switzerland, and even this winter in Cymru we’ve managed to park with family. There’s a certain amount of life that is shaped by our attitude, and positive thinking makes such a difference when, for example, getting through winter in a tiny home set up to travel but aren’t able to do so. Still, there’s a huge privilege in even being able to think positively.…

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feminism minimalism slowlivingactivism vanlife

Low-wash hair

January 31, 2021

I really wanted to do a post today about my low-wash hair, I spent ages taking different selfies and hated all of them: my face is too round, I have lines and wrinkles, my skin isn’t smooth, blah blah blah… and then I remembered that I turn 45 in just over a week and live the life of my dreams. I reminded myself that this body can surf waves, hike & bike mountains, write poems; this person has worked hard…

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feminism poetry

The gathering

January 18, 2021

A poem to start the week. text reads The Gathering you are weary  stripped of bark  you have been shedding leaves  resolve is blossom snatched by the wind sometimes it is too much  to know you have been hacked & pruned  fashioned into furniture  oiled & shaped for utility (or fantasy)  your heart is not inanimate  she is the tree whose roots run  rich with connection  when you are felled the Earth grieves  with the heat of the sun  still,…

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