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slowlivingactivism

food politics slowlivingactivism vanlife

Some thoughts on food, freedom & the anti-trespass bill

March 25, 2021

Living this nomadic life is a choice – we choose not to own property or land, we choose not to get sucked into the mass madness that is thirty years of slavery (or a mortgage).Successive governments have always fought to squash people who live any sort of alternative life as if we are an affront to their very existence. Perhaps we are. Perhaps our lives are the art that shows people that there is another way to live in this…

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creating feature politics slowlivingactivism

In celebration of the Creative Commons

March 23, 2021

I’ve been working more with my anxiety of late. Instead of trying to squash it, I’ve been listening, applying a gentle ‘why am I feeling this now?’.  The answers aren’t always apparent, but they’re slowly revealing themselves as I grow self-awareness.  One of the things I’ve struggle with is how I want to share work with the world. It often appears as if everyone else has everything sorted: they go down the traditional publishing in magazines/publisher route, or they use…

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dailyconnectionwithnature feature nature Outdoors slowlivingactivism Wales

Bridging the gap

March 21, 2021

Yesterday I felt the spring equinox in my body. This doesn’t always happen, but more so as these days in the van roll through me. I’m trying to shape without shaping, push-then-release, open my heart to my Self.I’ve spent this past time telling my body that I love her, that she is special to me, that I’m sorry for all the times I treated her like an emotional dumping ground.Yesterday that disconnect ended – there was no ‘me’ talking to…

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food slowlivingactivism

First wild garlic of the year

March 2, 2021

First wild garlic of the year. I love just chewing on a freshly washed leaf – so peppery and garlicky, yum.We have a super basic kitchen with no electrical appliances so everything I make is pretty rustic, including this pesto-inspired vegan dip/paste/topping. I finely chopped this small bunch of wild garlic, then added finely chopped walnuts, good olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper. This is super intense and zingy! Great stirred into steamed veg, boiled potatoes, pasta…Am…

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feature nature politics slowlivingactivism vanhounds

*I need to vent*

February 1, 2021

It’s the last day of Spanish hunting season, which means that around 100,000 galgos hounds will be shot, abandoned, or sometimes quite brutally murdered because they’re now considered worthless.  I’m trying really hard not to turn this into a rant, but fuck, I’ve seen a few things today that have pissed me off so badly. Even though I look to the social structures that cause people to behave cruelly: capitalism reduces every action, every product and every life to €…

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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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Mend slowlivingactivism

A stitch in time

January 27, 2021

Last night’s darning project – the arm in one of my thermal vests. I called my sister and was like – oh gawds I’m here drinking tea mending my thermal vest HOW OLD AM I? ?? I’ve had this vest years, it’s a merino wool blend from trusty M&S.All I could think of last night was the old adage, A Stitch In Time Saves Nine. This is because I didn’t mend this months ago when the first tiny holes appeared…

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poetry slowlivingactivism

To create in slow time is to be

January 14, 2021

I wrote this poem after weeks spent swimming in Slovenian rivers back in May 2019… is anybody else missing their outdoor swims just now? So I will relive these moments through the poems – that’s what they’re for – and keep making apples. #slowtime #riverswim #poetlife TEXT READS:Swimming in Slow Time Drop a stone into Slow Time& ride each ripple to the green water’s edge.Forget which day of the weekis tomorrow – beauty anticipated is toosoon spoiled. It is not…

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Mend slowlivingactivism

Joining the No Wash Club

January 12, 2021

Making more of my own clothes, and mending those I have, changes my attitude to these things in ways I can’t really explain. I’ve loved fast-fashion in the past – being able to walk into a store and buy something I might only wear a handful of times. Everything just got chucked in the washing machine regardless – then eventually out to a charity shop. Andy bought a pair of Hiut jeans recently (I didn’t because I have enough jeans)…

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creating feature poetry slowlivingactivism

An intentional year

December 31, 2020

I’ve been thinking long and hard about the intention for this coming year, I’ve chased it under skeletal winter hedgerows, across undulating hills that gently magnify all the hidden shadows of the mind, and in the needly-ice-cold of winter swims. This morning, during a glorious hour of silence with @workingsilence I found this triad: syncretism, symbiosis, symbolism. Ah! This makes perfect sense! I will hold these words in my heart all year, seek out their embodiment with every step. Only…

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