Adventures in a (mainly) Wonderful World - July into August
And then oh goodness it's Autumn
Whoa (technical word) my July was busy. Amongst many adventures I did my last public events of the Spring / Summer season (I’ve done over 30 already this year with more to come - see September’s listing below). I appeared on the main stage at ALSO in Warwickshire (fab festival in a field) where I was interviewed by the wonderful Professor Catherine Loveday who is a specialist in memory. She did this brilliant thing on me: played a selection of music from my new book without telling me in advance which songs she was going to choose. First up was Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ which made me jig; last up was Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’ which made me burst into tears. If you’ve read my book you might understand why - the spontaneous emotion made for great theatre. I also loved my talk for Hammersmith BID’s Women’s Network at Disney’s European Head Office (it felt like quite a coup to have Elsa standing at the back of the audience even if she was ‘frozen’). It seemed to be very well received and that meant so much to me because, like the superlative Kate Bush, I’m passionate about ‘This Woman’s Work’.
I also went adventuring abroad to Montenegro (marvellous); and to Ireland for the 60th birthday celebrations of my dear friend Jody Day (Founder of Gateway Women, author of the seminal book Living the Life Unexpected and the Beyoncé of the Childlessness Community with a fab Substack). I kissed the Blarney Stone and swam in the (cold) Irish sea.
I also appeared on the lovely Sarah Holland’s podcast – The Fertile Mindset – an interview I adored because Sarah is someone who has read and really ‘gets’ all my books which made for the best conversation. We chatted about how important it is to be the central character in your own life story; about how I’ve reached my era of ‘becoming’ (a phrase I got given (and adore) by the fabulous Eleanor Mills who is one of the leaders of the mid-life revolution and also invented the word ‘Queenager’. Her book Much More to Come is just out and already hitting the bestseller lists. I was at her book launch at the Groucho on Thursday and have my copy to read!). And if you’ve been considering whether you want to read any of my books and haven’t yet, or if you have read them and want to go deeper into my writing process, then Sarah’s podcast is a great listen because we really get into each of them in a profound way - what they are; how they’re different; who they are for (and not); along with the joy I got from researching / crafting / writing them.
My darling cousin Katy
And then a few days after all of the above, something sad happened - my darling cousin Katy died suddenly – leaving a huge hole in my family. When I was a child, she was an inspiration to me. Independent. Creative. Beautiful. All the things the growing up me wanted to be. She was a graphic designer and fine artist who influenced the world of rock and roll (she painted the Hukusai waves on Nick Mason’s drums for all you Pink Floyd Fans - youtube clip below) but also painted beautiful watercolours of flowers.
Here’s a pic of us together at my book launch at the Lyric in March. Go gently Katy. You are loved.
Live Big and Brave
It’s hard living a life with so much happiness and heartache all in one single month. But my shit is my superpower. Joy is my job. I’m determined to keep living my biggest, bravest life.
Are you living yours? If not, or if you’d like more conversation and inspiration – why not come and join my Big and Brave Family on Substack?
Last month we started exploring the phrase ‘Your Shit is Your Superpower’ in detail – in a new ‘project’ I’m developing with one of my dearest oldest friends, and all round superhuman Tara Lal (now Dr!). Ideas are flowing fast. We’re developing a workshop (launching this autumn). It could become a book. And in a series of four voice-notes almost like a mini podcast, we explored ‘The Shit that Shaped Us’ and how the greatest growth in life can come from trauma (so bring it on!). We also tussled over what’s more important – the journey or the destination. Tara and I don’t always agree on things, and one of the beauties of this work together is our friendship enables us to go deep and difficult with honesty and humour. It’s good to do, and hopefully special to listen too.
We’d love you to come over and become part of the emerging conversation / project / movement. For the next 48 hours I’m offering 50% off my Substack subscription price (which means it’s reduced to £25 a year / £2.5 month which is like buying me a monthly cup of coffee - not even that anymore – because WTF has happened to the price of coffee). Being part of my Big and Brave Family is also where you get access to my most vulnerable writing / talking on the internet. Plus next week I’m going to be launching my very first ever in person ADVENTURE RETREATS. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do (think: part creative journey, part sea to summit challenge, part soulful wellness retreat). And my Big and Brave Substack Family will be getting priority booking. Come over whenever you fancy:
Some messages from my Big & Brave Substack Family this month:
“What you are building is truly meaningful…Thank you for having and sharing your open and frank conversations - deep with a gentle touch.”
“ Your Substack today was immense - you and Tara are powerhouse women. So inspirational. The material and themes you are sharing are so incredibly helpful and today felt like it was tailor made to where I am at. Thank you for helping others find the superpower out of the shit.”
The rest of August and moving into Autumn
Ok…drum roll…I’m doing my best to take the rest of this August off. I’ve been having a talk with myself recently about the fact that I’ve been feeling on the edge of burn out this year, and I have a busy Autumn ahead. Life is a constant balance for me between wanting to live it to the biggest and bravest, but also craving small and quiet. I loved this post by Emma Gannon recently on potentially having ‘both’ (she’s such a fabulous creative thinker and writer, with one of the most read newsletters on Substack).
As of this morning I have two weeks in London with (nearly) nothing on, and then I’m heading to Turkey (my Country 52 for all you country counters!) on my own for a bit, before meeting with a dear swimming friend to do the famous Hellespont swim from Greece to Turkey (ie. Europe to Asia). It was famously first swum by Lord Byron inspired by the Greek legend of Hero and Leander. It sounds bigger and braver than it actually is – it’s a c. 5km swim which will take a maximum of a couple hours. It’s part of a contract with myself to do one ‘swim thing’ a year and stay connected to the sea which healed me (‘thing’ is another technical word by the way which means ‘beyond regular’).
And after that here are my headline events coming up this September because oh goodness it will soon be Autumn. Book tickets through the links:
14th September - Chiswick Book Festival, London
28th September - Storyhouse Childless Festival - where I’m leading a memorial event for Benjamin Zephaniah
29th September - Jersey Literary Festival
