A quick one for a Saturday. When did you last walk on your toes, hum, sing in the car, or do something a bit silly with nobody watching? Mine was this morning. I caught myself humming while I hung out the washing and didn't notice until I'd finished. My dog Mabel was watching me like I'd lost it. The side-eye 🤣 What silly thing have you caught yourself doing lately?

The news, the worry, the sense that everything is bigger than us and there's nothing we can do about it. When the world gets loud, the first thing most of us stop listening to is ourselves. Our own thoughts get pushed to the back, behind everyone else's. I did this for years. I knew what I wanted. I just stopped looking at it, because there was always something that seemed more important. The brain repeats what's familiar, not what's accurate. Worry becomes a groove you fall into without noticing. So does putting yourself last. Both can be changed, but only once you catch them happening. So this week, try one small thing. When you notice your thoughts spiralling, stop and ask: whose voice is this? Is it mine, or something I picked up along the way? Then ask what you'd love to be doing instead. Not the sensible answer. The one you put away. Most women haven't forgotten their dream. They've only stopped looking at it. What's the dream you stopped looking at?

Two strangers made my week, and I never met either of them. One raked this into the sand at Brighton beach and left before anyone arrived. It'll be gone by tonight's tide. 🌊 The other paid for my coffee in the line ahead of me and disappeared before I got to the counter. ☕ Neither of them will ever know they made it into a post on the other side of the internet. Your turn: what's the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you? Or have you ever been the stranger? 👇

As an artist, I have a confession: for the last 20 years, I have been completely obsessed with photographing shadows. I've captured them everywhere - cast by laundry on the line, furniture, dogs, trees, people, clouds. I take the photos back to my studio and paint them. I love abstract painting, but whenever I try to paint pure realism, I feel incredibly frustrated. It feels like a constraint, just recording what is already there instead of interpreting it. But shadows? Shadows are the perfect bridge. They are anchored in something real, but they warp, stretch, and flatten into beautiful, unpredictable abstract shapes. They strip away the messy, loud details of life and leave behind pure form, mood, and mystery. It's the same trap I see so many of us fall into with our next phase of life. When we think about picking up a dream we left behind, we get stuck in "realism mode": Is it too late? Do I have the time? What if it isn't perfect? We try to replicate a path that might not fit who we are today. But your second chapter doesn't have to be a rigid, perfect copy of your past. Sometimes the most freeing thing you can do is look at the "shadow" of that old dream - the essence of it, the core desire, the feeling it gave you - and give yourself total creative freedom to reinvent it. This is exactly why I started this business, and it's what I'm doing right now. For a long time, I kept my own art quiet, showing only at selected galleries and staying off social media. But I knew it was time to live what I teach. My new website is being designed as we speak, and I'm right here in the trenches with you, beginning my very own second chapter. To the special women in this community: What is a dream you’ve left behind that feels a little too intimidating or rigid to pick up right now? How can we soften the edges and find a new, freer way to bring it to life? Drop your thoughts below—let’s talk about rewriting our rules. 👇

Hi lovely friends, how are you today? Let's take a minute before the day runs away with us. Where are you right now: in your head, in your body, or in your feelings? Busy and on edge, or fairly calm? Whatever the answer, drop your shoulders and breathe out slowly, longer than you breathed in. Do that three times. Feel your feet on the floor. Now think about the dream you put down years ago, and picture yourself living it for a moment. What does it feel like? I'd love to hear in the comments. 🤍