I felt a compulsion to confront something I had been avoiding for two years. Two cupboards in my house, one under the stairs and one by the back door to the garden. No exaggeration, both cupboards were intimidatingly full. Full, like when you watch a documentary on hoarding... full of random incongruous crap left behind by previous tenants; clothing, mail, DIY and building materials, suitcases, even a hockey stick, pair of medical crutches and a ridiculous electronic 'massage belt' (and the list could go on...). Previously, in moments of energetic proactivity, I had made multiple attempts to clear these two spaces, but had always given up half way through. There was always something that stopped my progress, like it had gotten too late, I'd already filled up the outside bin etc. I felt a bit of a failure. The knowledge that things were getting out of control turned into a feeling of shame that I kept repressing. The more cramped the cupboard, the more shame I felt, and

The state of my desk today. I have to confess that since I moved to London two years ago, I haven't had the best track record looking after my plants. I lost sight of the regular watering and so only remembered when they started to wilt and (tragically) began to die. I'm not proud of myself. I've had quite a few accidental victims of my neglect; dracaena, elephant ear plant, fern, ivy, tomato... and a few others. Since quarantine, I made the decision to actively take better care of all living organisms living in this household; regular tending and watering has become part of my daily routine, and the plants are looking much happier... basically just more alive. Each plant needs varying amounts of water and light, so with a little investigation, I now feel I'm starting to understand each individual's needs better. So, hopefully, soon they'll (an I'll) be thriving... Plant list Bedroom: Aloe Vera [light watering / warmth / bright light]

Dream Diary Not too many scenes or details last night, but in my dream, I do remember deciding to go back to university to change careers. I saw myself filling out application forms for medical school and vet school both. I even received money for a bursary. ********** Today: I wake this morning with a new pimple on my forehead - yes!! Funny thing to say, I know... but yesterday, I took my first dose of pregnenolone in the hopes of beginning to address depleted hormones caused by chronic stress. This is a sign that something is already shifting inside my body. I also wake feeling disquiet from this dream. I sometimes feel unease over certain choices I've made with my career, that I personally could be pursuing a kind of work that is more aligned with direct care... that I should have listened to my parents and stayed at vet school thirteen years ago. I would have made a fantastic vet, or doctor, or physio for that matter; I often sense some underdeveloped vitality i

It was a grey, stuffy spring day today. One of those days where the air feels like a thick brick wall made of a million pollen particles, reflecting the heat of a thousand suns. One of those days where breathing is a mission, and getting out of bed is a tremendous achievement. The light rain splattered silently across the wall of heat and pollen, making it even more unbearable. As soon as I managed to gather all my strength to pull myself out of bed, I looked out of the window, only to see a small group of people starting to congregate across the street from us. Some were holding flowers, all were wearing masks. This better not be a party I said grumpily, as I scratched my eyes trying to force them awake. I was immediately proven wrong by the low, yet distinct, sound of a women wailing. A shiny black hearse carrying an even more shiny white coffin pulled up slowly. The wailing got louder and a photographer appeared out of nowhere, 'click-click', 'click-click'. The pho

This is my third day of going cold turkey from reading the news. Yes! News addiction is real... especially if you check the news at least fifteen times a day. I still find myself unconsciously typing the address of one of the (many) news sights I'm addicted to, but as soon as I realize what I've done, I throw my phone away before I catch the PANIC-19 virus. A highly contagious virus, that spreads through reading the terrifying news titles: 'death toll reaches xxx' or 'President X is still a fucking moron', or 'millions are to go hungry in country Y', or 'NHS workers don't have enough protective gear' etc. The news addiction is something I picked up while living in Palestine; the country where I was born and raised, a country where uncertainty is the norm and the situation can change in seconds, the 'safe' road that you took a few hours ago, can be completely blocked with an Israeli checkpoint now or busy with clashes between Pale

This was a strange day, but so was yesterday, and the day before yesterday... it feels like strange is the norm these days. We woke up today to the police, phoning to follow up on a complaint we made. Less than fifteen minutes later we get a knock on the door! Who on earth is knocking on our door during a lockdown? It turns out, it's our next-door neighbour who suffers from mental health issues. She locked herself out, and she needed help with getting into her apartment. As she had no extra key and didn't know what to do, my partner phoned the police for her to get some help for the situation... the second time he spoke to the police that day, and he hadn't even had his morning coffee! A strange day indeed. Another fifteen minutes later and the police arrived. That was quick! Is it just me or is everything running more efficiently during lockdown? We let the police deal with the situation, and Theun (my partner) finally gets to have his morning coffee and a cigarette (

Suzanne Let's focus on positives, potential and progress, no? Our job as designers, and creative thinkers is to get to that place and bring others along on that journey with us. ... George I'm gonna do some sewing... any requests? Rob Black denim facemask 🤘 George You're such a goth. ... https://www.statethelabel.com/pages/masks "Help make masks for hospital staff! There is a HUGE and ever growing need for more masks. While these are not medical grade, they are better than nothing, and can fit over N95 masks or other filtering masks. They can also be used in other areas of the hospital, freeing up the medical grade masks for the ER workers on the front line. We have communicated with a local hospital about desired specifications and they have approved this design. They need masks ASAP ." George I thought this was quite interesting... I would assume that the masks would need to be made out of a s