13 Comments

I absolutely do not have enough time to write or create but I feel this so intensely. I often get people looking at my lift saying “but if you just didn’t do this bit...wouldn’t it be easier?” And no. It wouldn’t. I would lose a vital part of myself. Thanks for articulating that so well Penny, as always x

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Argh, yes. During the pandemic especially I felt like I was being told from every angle that I should be doing less - but what they mean is, less for me, not less for everyone else. No thank you!!!

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❤️❤️❤️the endless lists never disappear. Tough, when you are a creative, and long to sit and cherish the books, and write as you feel led.

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As always Penny, your words ring with clarity and truth. I am here for this rebellion ❤️

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💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

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Thanks for sharing your story. You are an inspiration to me.

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❤️❤️❤️

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Thank you so much for sharing this. I constantly feel that due to my commitments, four girls, with various needs, my eldest is autistic with pathological demand avoidance and my 18 year old has epilepsy. I am also now bringing up my eldest's ten month old son (who is completely gorgeous) and I have a sick elderly Mum who has struggled since we lost my Dad. I have to fight to write, to get enough time, to protect my career choice, even though the earnings are pitifully small and the publishing industry is so tough at the moment. Many of my lovely fellow writers complete 3/4 books a year and with my unpaid caring responsibilities this would be impossible. It's comforting to read that I have a fellow mama warrior who is keeping up the good fight! x

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I feel this viscerally. Carving out the space and time for the things that feed us as human beings in the human experience - even when society tells us we shouldn’t - is the kind of rebellion that should be mandatory if you ask me. Thanks for these words that have given me the shot of inspiration I always love to see! Xxx

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"Because I’m a woman, a mother, an unpaid carer, I can’t possibly have the luxury of having a fulfilling creative life or earn a living. Well, screw that. I refuse to allow myself to drown in unpaid work when writing (and reading) are my life raft."

Go you! I love seeing more women standing up for themselves and not forsaking what they love.

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Gorgeous Penny. Protecting that time for writing and reading as a life raft spoke to me entirely. This life as an act of rebellion❤️ so grateful our paths have crossed xo

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Reading is certainly a big part of how I take care of myself, and when that slips things tend to begin spiralling. Writing is becoming a way for me to make sense of things, all that has gone before and is yet to come. Thank you for encouraging us to protect that time, Penny.

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Dec 14, 2023
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❤️

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