I am very lucky to have a small group of friends who appreciate nature. They enjoy it, take it in, listen to it, look at it, say very little, and are comfortable with long pauses to admire the outdoors. Now, I am no expert, but I imagine not everyone is so patient with the countryside. Some walking partners really only want an excuse to exercise, talk, a lot, or take pictures for their new Instagram account. …

It’s taken me a long time to notice that voice. Always picking faults and putting me down. That’s not me, but it’s a powerful echo from childhood that, until recently I could not even name. This voice, so hard to detect at first, has made me doubt myself, hate myself, and talk down to myself. It’s made me skip out on opportunities that could have created joy and personal growth, and it’s constantly, and tersely, requesting that I hide myself away.

It’s been a long time coming for that voice inside that’s trying to kill my creativity and snuff out…

You’re struggling with depression, anxiety, or maybe you’re just having a bad day. Whatever is happening for you, you’re in a slump and you don’t know how to get out of it. This list is about reminders. When we’re in a low place, we need to be reminded of the steps we can take immediately to pull ourselves out and get back to normality. When you’re down, you’re not thinking properly, so it takes prompts or friends to help us back up. In a way, this article is meant as a friend. A list which can pull you up and…

It’s been a trying year, I think we’d all agree. The news has gone from miserable to downright dire. Christmas was cancelled here in the UK as the new covid (dare I even utter the words!) variant spreads across the population. Medical experts are straddling a wrecking ball of ‘umms’ and ‘ahhs’, ‘maybes’ and ‘could be’s’, like Miley Cyrus during the chaotic years. Toilet roll, our most beloved signifier of civilised society teetered on the precipice of market place extinction, followed closely by the elusive transparent liquid alcohol, feverishly sought by all.

Despite this confusion, experts agree that getting enough…

Feast your eyes upont my marvellous and terrible form! I am breath-taking as a crisp blanket of snow in January, or the blood-red sunrise of a new day. I am eternally fresh, like blanketed white linen on the clothesline, barely dry, pawed by cool, swinging winds in the temperate climate from which I hale, the South of Yorkshire, upon the Isle of Great Britain. Aye, that is where you will find me.

And what is it that you may find me doing on the isle, in the Northern part of its central bulk? Well, I write, to be sure. Floridly…

There are two mothers,

the one who bore you,

and the one who bore her.

As someone with a limited perception of self in reference to the outside world, I will tell you about what I have done, rather than who I am, in attempt to make myself visible to you.

I was an abject failure in the school system — very mediocre in almost all senses.

A difficult child within the family unit.

Someone difficult to love, I suppose (though this often depends on who it is that gives love).

At 24, I decided to go to University. Late…

Another day and I’m sat in my car.

The window is rolled down fully and I’m looking at the grey-white sketch of another car park.

I always seem to find myself in a car park. You’d think, if you had a car and wanted to go somewhere, you’d go to see the bright green luscious hills and sprawling, ancient tree-clusters of the countryside.

Not me.

Car parks are places for lost people. You can sit for hours, parked in a corner, hiding in your steel shell. Nobody will approach; most don’t even realise you’re in there.

Kind of like kohaku…