Unschooling with a Shaved Head

Dear Kind Readers

Today I wanted to write a longer update. It feels a while since I've been able to write like this properly because the wheels have been spinning.

I decided to home educate my son last year and just after the start of our "first term" I had a 6 week break from social media as part of an experiment.

From the outside, I wanted to pratice what I preach in my book "Your Phone is Killing You" but on a deeper level I needed to step away from all the noise. And I've been trying to find my direction.

Life is constantly changing, and sometimes we lose our way a little bit. Deciding to home educate my son has been the best decision I've made but I underestimated how much time and energy it would take and my capacity for my creative and teaching projects has dwindled.

A kind friend (thank you Jérôme) helped me map out my ideas and my time and it made me realise how small the windows I have are. Around housework and home educating my capacity is small.

BUT beyond the limits of time and space I feel a huge stirring of creativity. Whilst I'm out on a walk I write a poem, or in the evenings I write and sing songs and I feel so very taken and held by creative energy.

AND I have decided that I REALLY want to get out gigging again and we have our first show in the diary. Laura Lamn and The Garden Voices will be performing at Tunbridge Wells Literary Festival on 4th May, and I'll be running a singing workshop.

Today I wrote..

"I will not feed my inner demons

I will not hide or remain small

I choose to be like the seasons

Sometimes I rise, Sometimes I fall"

Last winter felt like a bit of a fall. I was hit by so many viruses (the curse of young children) and it really knocked me. It also meant our album has been postponed. I'm going to send out a longer update on that later, but basically we will be kicking off again in the summer when our band mate returns from France. For those of you who have more recently got to know me, we crowd funded for my album last year.

And on the theme of not hiding. I am ageing. My skin is getting more lined, and greys speckle my hair. At this age, my Nanny used to cut her face out of the family photos. I get it. As women we have a huge pressure to be beautiful and young. And at some point you can't fight ageing and I am ageing. So a still small voice whispered "Shave off your hair" The thought of it thrilled me so much. It took a lot of courage. I went to bob and then to pixie and then shaved it off. What a buzzzzzz.

Shaving one's head can be associated with so many things; but for me it's been about some kind of symbolic personal statement. I decided very young that I would be committed to a spiritual and creative path, but I so want to fit in, and so I stray. And now I get a shock every time I look in the mirror and remember what I have chosen. I have since googled it and have been reading about why monks do it and one reason is to "leave behind the past" and cutting it off I felt a sense of relief that I was cutting something away.

In our home educating work, we've been studying wild plants. My cousin gave us the fab idea to press the plants and flowers and make a book. The new plant I learnt about this year is Dead Nettle. Like so many wild edibles it has amazing medicinal benefits and I've been making tea with it and putting in smoothies.

Whilst out walking I forage a handful of what's on offer at the moment; dead nettle, nettle, dandelion, blackberry leaf and more and have been drying them out to make a "Spring Radiance Tea"

On Instagram I've been doing a 30 day "Sing in the Spring" where I'm sharing some of my favourite singing videos over the past couple of years.

I've just re-read Vein of Gold and The Alchemist which I highly recommend!

That's all for now

LOVE ALWAYS WINS

XOXOXOX