Biography

I grew up in Dorset with a love for nature, beach combing and coastal walks. My earliest memories of writing are from when I was around 6 years old. I would send letters and poems to my father in the post. One such poem, was about the time my finger nail fell off!

Later on, as a teenager, I kept a diary and often scribbled poetry into it. I remember ceremoniously burning it at one point, after grappling with some particularly challenging teenage angst.

I began my working profession as a nurse. After a time, I took a career break and travelled with my backpack (which was far too heavily laden with books!) to several different countries. This experience taught me a bit about the world at large and a lot about myself.

After only a few years of working within the constraints of the NHS I hit a period of burn out. I started exploring holistic health practices. This felt empowering and enlightening. I wanted to learn more about alternative practices, to combine alongside allopathic medicine. This fascination led to me becoming a bit of a course addict. One such course, was a ten day silent meditation called Vipassana. This practice was discovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago.

It was an incredibly insightful experience. One of the hardest parts for me, (besides the strict lack of communication with others -including eye contact) was that you couldn’t take a notebook or pen in with you! There was so much poetry in my head which I was desperate to remember. Alas, the great teaching of Vipassana is to learn the nature of impermanence and discontent. A very profound lesson.

More recently, I have begun the inescapable journey into motherhood. Being a parent perfuses a kind of magic. As if time falls under a spell. The days seem to hasten and you get to relive your childhood.

I find writing intrinsically valuable in processing and documenting my motherhood journey. I also love to write poems and little songs with the boys. They remind me to stay present and are a constant source of inspiration.  Doing the ‘mum juggle’ isn’t easy but I’ve come to realise that I need to dip my toe into my passions and work (other than parenting) to keep my own identity fired.  I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up, but for now I’ll just keep on playing about, especially with words.

Thank you for reading this far. I hope my writings give you something in return. Do message and connect with me personally.