It’s been one of those days. I love seeing people out enjoying nature, and the snowy hills around here have called so many out these past few days. We had to turn around from our planned hilly hike as it was overrun with cars, then when we went somewhere less glamorous (without snow) I forgot my camera. I suppose that’s when it’s easy to get territorial about a certain place, ‘I live here, I know this place, I hate it…
Mending is a radical anti-consumerist act
December 16, 2020Since we’ve moved into the van I’ve discovered a love for visible mending. There’s something so beautifully therapeutic about taking a garment that’s no longer wearable and stitching new life into it. I’m no expert, and I’m also not holding myself up as any paragon of virtue where clothing is concerned: I still buy the odd thing in the sale, and don’t always remember to check the provenance of clothes I buy. I see this mindset as a more long-term…
These days I don’t wear makeup. It’s not even been a conscious choice as I still have some rattling around the van somewhere. I think it’s more to do with accepting myself exactly as I am – all the lines & wrinkles, the grey hairs & belly rolls.I also have a huge aversion to Xmas presents. Like massive. I hate the obligatory nature of it forced upon us by our capitalist society. I hate how people get into debt just…
Here we are stationary after managing to avoid the worst of lockdown or restrictions all year. It’s been a strange six weeks with two of them in quarantine in a house (house life is NOT for me anymore no matter how beautiful) and then a week stationary in the van as she failed the MOT. One of the things vanlife teaches is how to let go of expectation, that as soon as we begin to make Big Plans the universe…
I’ve been thinking more on activism: ‘definition: activism is the use of direct action to achieve an end, either for or against an issue’. Perhaps this time in quarantine offered space for considering how it’s possible to be deeply immersed in activism without burnout. Initial thoughts agree with the consensus – what’s needed is bursts of activism & then deep rest, but I still wonder if this leads to an emotional cycle of boom & bust, elation & depression, of…
I haven’t been posting on here so much lately, & it feels as if I’ll be posting less now as the months roll on. Originally I set up this account, and the OUTSIDER Instagram to document our shift from a settled life stuffed full of overwork & fast-paced living, to a more minimalist, slow, migratory way of living. That was thirty months ago. I cannot believe how quickly the time has flowed around us & we have felt like a…
I wasn’t sure about posting this photo Andy took when I wasn’t aware recently. I don’t look like a lot of the other yoga people in these squares. My legs are thicker, I’m still learning to stretch my 44yr old body into what are considered some pretty easy poses, and I’m not in lycra. But then a lot of showing up in this space, for me, is about my struggles with self-acceptance, with loving myself exactly as I am, not…
Difficult times can offer the chance for deep reflection. So many people are beginning to question this world we’ve all created, that we all buy into. There’s a feeling of overwhelm at times, that perhaps the individual ‘I’ is so utterly insignificant, that unless we hold important titles, our brains overflowing with knowledge, we should leave it to others to figure the way forward. Then change comes and sits at our table, she looks us directly in the eye, refusing…
Woke remembering this poem. Living slow allows the space to listen to the subconscious and really think about what she’s trying to tell me instead of rushing off and discounting her. Posting this here as a note to self, and to you, for this coming solstice, Yuletide, and a new decade that will manifest in reflection of us. We are magic. I think sometimes we forget that. Listen to the whole poem on Soundcloud.…