Notes On Moving During A Pandemic

In September 2020 I moved. House, job, city, country, community, church. Everything was uprooted as I ventured down from Glasgow to London. And all of it was set against the backdrop of one big ol’ global pandemic, numerous lockdowns, and multiple, complicated tier systems. During the past eight months, I’ve done a lot of learning

12 Words for 2020

A note: 2020, at times, felt like a smooshed, slightly stale, custard doughnut – it was blurry round its edges, was very sticky in the middle and yet, for me, it had some sweet moments too. The following words sum up little pockets of my ponderings (but by no means capture the full essence of

I Find Comfort In

The sound of rain on the roof as I drift off to sleep My dressing gown Lots of house plants Seeing windows full of light A warm kitchen Snoring dogs A bunch of opened letters received from friends Watching Community (my comfort blanket TV show) Piles of half-read books stacked next to my bed Stomping

Breath

Breath.Breathe.Breathing.2020. A year to focus on breath(ing).In and outIn and outIn and out.I cannot breathe. A refrain for this year.Australian wildfires.Respiratory disease.Systemic racism.Each dilemma pointing out the wounds inour globalised body.Be it climate change.Healthcare inequality.Racial injustice.Every wound runs deep.Every breath runs shallow.

Bewilderment

Bewilder.Be wilder.Be wild.Be full of the wild.—What does it mean to be full of wilder?A mishmash ofnegative and positiveadrenaline and anticipation.Profoundly exhilaratingyetprofoundly debilitating.—Looking round with eyes wide,an uncontained sense ofsurprise,shock,suspense.Unearthing some juicy gossip,swallowing a spicy chilli,submerging in icy water.—Timeslowsdown.It could be overwithin secondsbut linger there forhours,days,years.—Sweating of palms,skipping of heart,lurching of gut.Embodied and disembodiedsimultaneously.Being full

Things I Like (Unashamedly)

Eating lime pickle out the jar Heist films Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Breakaway’ album Piles of half-read books next to my bed Once a week hair-washing Tunnels Naming TV presenters Sriracha and tahini together Curating my Instagram stories into highlights Poetry (reading it even when I don’t ‘get’ it) Receiving letters (hint hint world) Rewatching ‘Friends’ Cookies

2019: 12 Months in 12 Words

January – PreparationFebruary – JauntMarch – EndlessnessApril – FreshnessMay – SidestepJune – StrainJuly – ProgressAugust – ChaosSeptember – DragOctober – FragilityNovember – RefreshmentDecember – Illumination

ruption

(cor) ruption of thoughts(dis) ruption of ideas(e) ruption of actions

The Call to Stay Rooted

I’ve been wondering about writing something like this for a little while. I feel like there’s a growing amount of content being pushed out there into the world about living life as a twenty-something. So, I’m throwing my hat into the ring. I’m not sure if my words really add much depth or breadth to

Togetherness

Last week saw the 2019 world athletic championships play out in Doha. Over the course of the championships, there were some issues that drew attention away from the sport. The most notable one for me was the lack of attendance and the empty stadium. As the world watched on, there were empty seats and a