Anchor Baby – the audio

This essay deals with topics some readers may find uncomfortable, including pregnancy, birth trauma and surgery. Please put your own oxygen mask on first xo I’m not the type of person who avoids revisiting the past. I like to mull over moments of conflict, instances of high emotion, flashes of anger that punctuate my days. What was it about that moment, that response, that look t

Sometimes I feel as though my house is just an endless list of things we have to do: wardrobes I need to clear out, paintings I need to hang, doors I’d love to paint (but am nervous to even start), countertop epoxy I bought and own, now need to carve out some time to get done… Today we did get one thing ticked off that list, and hung up two pieces of art I bought at Target a fe

In one of the many conversations we’ve had about America since I moved here in 2020, a friend suggests that I “get into couponing”. She says it just like that: “You should get into couponing! If I lived in America I feel like I’d be big into couponing. When I watch Extreme Couponing and I see people getting these massive boxes of things for like 50 cents!”I look from my

I’m crying too much at the moment. I’m not sure what the appropriate amount of crying even is, but I definitely reached it and roared right on past to where I am now, fresh off a bout of several hours of absolutely-no-reason-for-it crying. The truly galling thing about all of this crying is that there’s even less reason for it than usual. I’m pregnant with the baby I’ve w

When it rains in Indiana, I could almost imagine we were in Ireland. I look out my window and I see green fields of crops I know to be corn but could imagine were wheat, or barley, before it turns the colour of glazed corn and creates the summer patchwork that is so characteristic a view from any Irish window. Today, I busy myself making endless cups of tea and for lunch I try to e

Do you remember when George Clooney first met human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin (now Clooney)? The feminist internet was up in arms at the Daily Mail (et al) referring to her as “Clooney’s girlfriend” and, later, “Clooney’s wife”, and myriad pithy thinkpieces emerged pointing out that, actually, the power disparity should have tilted in her favour, rather than his. “

Warning: This post contains references to intentional weightloss and pregnancy. If you’re not in the right head space to read about either (or both!) of those, please skip this one. There’s a really irritating saying people tend to trot out when you’re struggling to accept the lack of something in your life: maybe you’re single and you’re finding it hard to meet someone y

I received an email the other day which, at first – like so many emails I suppose – seemed promising. I would put this in the same category as the dozens of emails I receive each week asking if I’d like to collaborate with x or y brand on Instagram. “We’re offering $50 for a grid post with 3 dedicated stories – let us know if you’re interested!” I say no to each and

I’ve been reading a lot lately. I was going to write, “I’ve been reading a lot lately about…” and lead into the real meat of this piece, but I have a word count to fill, so I may as well give you the full back story.Around October of last year, I decided that I really, really wanted to hit my Goodreads target, the one I set for myself way back in January of 2023. I was ai

I’d love to say this was my idea, but if you listen to Not Without My Sister you’ll note that, in a recent episode, Beatrice raised the idea of “required reading”, as she waxed lyrical about Women, Language & Power: Giving Voice to Our Ambition by Susannah Baldwin. She then – off-mic – suggested that I do a series on “required reading”, recommending different books