A half day Soulful Shoot with interior designer and health coach, Michelle Wilkie, in her incredible jungle like apartment in Hackney… followed by some portraits amongst the beautiful Magnolia trees in Victoria Park. Michelle has just birthed her new business 'Interior Self', which blends holistic health coaching with interior design.
A gorgeous one hour Soulful Shoot with Nutritional Therapist Livia Lai in south west London. Livia helps people take control of their chronic health issues through nutrition, natural medicine and lifestyle changes so that they can live a happier and more fulfilling life.
A half day personal branding Soulful Shoot with Zoe of Burton’s Blooms last week in Wimbledon. Zoe is a wedding florist and offers a young, fresh and modern perspective on wedding flowers. She loves putting together moodboards and working with couples to create floral arrangements which totally exceed their expectations.
A September Soulful Shoot with psychotherapist, poet and writer, Siomar Ballan in west London. Having recently won a publishing contract Siomar was in need of some creative ‘author’ portraits alongside some headshots to use within her private psychotherapy practice.
Week two arrived with news of a new Covid vaccine on the horizon, whilst Dominic Cummings finally left Downing Street and most of number ten (Boris included) were self isolating… again! London was wall to wall grey skies, darkness falling by 5pm, the mood heavy… even the dog’s depressed!
As the political climate intensified further less than half of Britons now trust the government to provide accurate information on the pandemic after the whole Dominic Cummings fiasco last week.
Isolation stories: week eight
Stay alert, go to work, don’t go to work… wtf Boris? seriously WTF?! We were all very confused about lockdown and what we should and shouldn't be doing. Matt Lucas summed it up perfectly with his spoof that went viral.
Everyone is desperate for a haircut! On BBC 6 music, Lauren Laverne dedicated one of her morning shows to people’s hair dilemmas, and in our house Michelle got her hands on Charlie’s fringe! Headscarves seem to have made a bit of a come back and I’m personally loving all the time I’m saving not washing my hair, or wearing makeup everyday for that matter. In fact, according to this Huffington Post article the average woman spends 55 mins per day on her appearance (that’s two weeks per year!) and £47,000 on her hair in a lifetime! That’s obscene. All hail the natural look.
This week the parks were jam packed… Clissold Park in Stoke Newington was full to the brim with people eating ice cream and having picnics from 2m apart. I met up with my amazingly talented (and very funny) pal Jenni Sparks to catch up and receive a belated birthday present… an Aries print she’s illustrated! Jenni is working her way through the entire zodiac (illustrations that is!), so go take a look at her Instagram as this woman has some serious drawing skills!
Extinction Rebellion were back on the streets of Hackney, flying their flags with a socially distanced bike ride to highlight that as lockdown eases, traffic levels are rising sharply and affecting London’s air quality once again. I stopped to chat with a mother and her two cute little girls, plus a couple of ladies gave me some sunflower seeds to plant in the garden! Lots of lovely community vibes going on.
I enjoyed a coaching session with the brilliant Melissa Maouris… it never fails to amaze me what comes up through a powerful coaching conversation. Some of you might not know, but I’m also a qualified transformational life coach and I have a couple of coaching spots becoming available soon. So if you’ve been feeling like you’d benefit from some support during this time, or perhaps you’re considering making some changes in your life and need to gain more clarity, or maybe you just want to find out more about coaching then do drop me a line… I’d love to hear from you.
In exciting news, I received a handwritten reply to the letter I sent last week! So it’s official… I have a new pen pal and we shall be sending letters back and forth just like the olden days. Highly recommend buying some stamps and giving it a go, totally made my week!
In our house, the aroma of Sauerkraut drifted through the air as Mike was putting together jars of his immune boosting fermented cabbage. Keep an eye on his Instagram over the coming weeks if you fancy getting your hands on some, it’s super tasty! We also discovered that Eira (the pup) is a total sun worshiper… wherever there’s a small sunny spot on the floor, she’s guaranteed to be lying in it. She’s Maltese, so I guess it makes sense!
We ended the week with some (very strong) Margaritas in the garden… and the rest is all a bit of a blur!
Week eight in photos... I’d love to hear what you think so please do like, comment or share any thoughts below and thanks so much for taking the time to read.
Isolation stories: week six
We made it to week six of lockdown and the heavens opened… those April showers finally arrived! As had Boris and Carrie Symonds baby boy.
My week got off to a wobbly start. My morning routine had taken a back burner and I was struggling to get myself out of bed much before 9am. Sometimes 10am!!! Am I the only one?
I spent both Monday and Tuesday morning cosily under the covers editing photos, writing and drinking tea until noon. I absolutely loved being still and listening to the rain fall outside my window though, it transported me right back to my travels in 2017 where I stayed high up in the rainy mountains of Dharamkot, India.
As the week progressed and the rains faded away, I was really fortunate to be commissioned for a photo project by All Points East festival - they’ll be posting a collection of the images I captured around east London on Instagram over the coming days.
I started Charlie Morley’s Embracing the Shadow course which I’ve been meaning to do for over a year, experimented with food photography for my housemate Mike’s new venture and took photos of Michelle’s African sound journey. I also experimented with some self portraits (nude!), because well why not? One of the things I’m really enjoying about lockdown is having time to be creative and try out new things… a macrame kit is on its way!
Eira (the pup) enjoyed life in her new sofa playground (we’d removed the covers to wash) and our neighbours (the heroes who saved her when she escaped last week) were delivered some chocolates by Charlie as a thank you.
Have you seen Normal People yet? I binge watched it over the course of a week and it is so beautifully written and raw, but wow it brought up all sorts of old teenage feelings. I cringed, laughed and cried my eyes out, remembering how confusing it was navigating that first love.
I ended the week getting myself knee deep in nature… one of my favourite things to do. It’s always the best cure!
Here’s week six in photos, thanks for taking the time to read.
Isolation stories: week five
As we entered week five of lockdown, people seemed a bit restless and lockdown fatigue was definitely setting in.
Boris was still nowhere to be seen... did he actually have Coronavirus or was he just hiding away from his responsibilities? Bit like that time he hid in a fridge to avoid the media? Retailers were really suffering and Cath Kidston closed all of its shops, plus loads of Brits were getting pissed!
It was a dreamily warm week, filled with long sunny days. I ventured out on my bike cycling over 40 miles in a week… exploring an eerily quiet central London, taking a peek in Soho and Hyde Park, finally realising where the Royal Albert Hall actually was (after living in London for 15 years!) and even stood at the gates of Buckingham Palace (never been there before either). My bike has been a total lifesaver and lockdown has actually given me an opportunity to discover new places and enjoy London’s roads which are so quiet.
The BIG news in our house was that the puppy escaped! After ten minutes of frantically searching for her, we heard a voice outside shout “we have your dog here, in the end house”. Eira’s first big solo adventure! She didn’t seem phased.
We went for a house jog together one day, relaxed to Michelle’s fully immersive and beautiful online sound journey (she’s doing them every Tuesday at 8pm if you fancy it) and joined a new moon ceremony manifesting all kinds of good stuff.
I took some socially distanced portraits of my pal Laura who has written this beautiful article about living with MS, enjoyed the NHS clap from my mates front stoop and finally finished reading A New Earth which is a book i’m gonna treasure and read over and over.
Week five in pics (click to enlarge the images). Thanks so much for reading.
Isolation stories: week four
Lockdown was extended by another three weeks, Boris was recovering at Chequers and a YouGov poll reported that only 9% of Britons wanted life to return to ‘normal’ once lockdown was over… oh and a bird poo’d on my head (but I’m taking that as a good omen!).
The weeks are flying by… once I’ve done my morning routine, prepared breakfast, gone out for some exercise, eaten lunch, done a bit of work and then cooked dinner… well there’s not much time left in the day is there?
In between meals (really recommend trying this tasty root vegetable pilau), I spent time exploring on my bike, climbed some trees in Hampstead Heath, practiced Wim Hoff’s breathing technique and dropped by Bill Murray’s place for a chat. I also bought a cool NHS social distancing scarf with all profits going towards providing food for health workers… shame it’s a bit too warm to wear it.
As a house, we did our fortnightly trolley dash in the supermarket, cooked a big family nut roast, started what must be the hardest jigsaw in the world and the puppy found herself in the kitchen sink having a bath.
Week four in photos, thanks so much for reading.
Isolation stories: week three
As we entered week three and the age of Aquarius, under a pink super moon, Boris was admitted to intensive care with Coronavirus and it felt like the world had gone mad. Was he gonna make it? This was the question on everyone’s lips.
I started jogging. Who hasn’t? Ate three massive bags of salt and vinegar crisps in a week (hence the jogging) and crafted Easter bunny ears for the puppy. I walked barefoot through the park, sat and listened to birdsong amongst the trees, waved at friends through their windows and got ready for an online date… applying makeup for the first time in days, choosing a cool shirt yet wearing jogging bottoms on the bottom, because well he wasn’t gonna see them was he?
At our place we hosted an online fire sound journey in the garden under the full moon, celebrated Easter with a BBQ, indulged in six loaves of tasty free sourdough from my sister and binge watched Unorthodox on Netflix… there’s a scene in a Berlin nightclub where everyone’s dancing, sweating and slithering around skin on skin. Wow I miss that! I miss human touch. How long do we have to wait until we can snog someones face off in a club?
I tried my best to tune out of the news all week and remain positive, but it wasn’t easy, especially when we were all wondering if the prime minister was going to survive (not that I’m a Boris fan fyi, but no one wanted him to die, apart from a few absolute horrors on social media).
I’d actually been holding it all together pretty well, until Good Friday when I was approached by a warden as I was stretching on Hackney Marshes; “we’re asking everyone to keep moving this weekend please” and that was it, a sadness suddenly overwhelmed me. A sadness about not being able to meet up with friends, go out for dinner, to a gig, sit on a picnic table (they’re all covered in police tape) or even stretch in the park.
Although I don't want the world to go back to how it was (something needed to change) and I’m enjoying this slower pace of life, I'm really missing the simple things and the freedoms we once took for granted. Grieving for parts of my old life and missing my pals, yet staying hopeful that something amazing will come out of all this. Plus it’s spring, the blossom is in full bloom and the sun is warm on our faces so it ain’t all bad.
Week three in photos below, thanks so much for looking.
Isolation stories: week two
Week two arrived and it felt like the energy had shifted somewhat… it was slightly less frantic and people seemed to be adapting to life inside and online, apart from those 3,000 people in Brockwell park on Saturday!
it’s totally magical
It was a week of ups and downs for me, from feeling super creative and totally in flow one day to having waves of tiredness and low energy the next. Monday (post birthday) was spent in my PJs hiding under the duvet watching films all day, whereas Thursday I was on a high dancing around my bedroom to Madonna. An absolute rollercoaster ride isn’t it? I’ve started taking time to really slow down (and not feel guilty about it), feel into whatever comes up and focus on one day at a time.
Aside from riding that rollercoaster, I finally got back on my bike after several months and visited a couple of pals for doorstep chats, enjoyed online coffee catch ups in bed, spent hours art directing a photoshoot of us in the garden and shot a self portrait with one of the cats. You know, just regular things!
As a house we brainstormed ideas around our work (we’re all freelancers so times are a bit tricky), attempted to give the puppy a new haircut, started an online tarot course together, did a somewhat scary supermarket sweep all masked up, watched Fantastic Fungi twice (it’s amazing, check it out), lit a bonfire and spent hours looking at the moon and stars. Have you looked up at the night sky lately? It’s so unbelievably clear and pollution free here in London, you can actually see stuff. It’s totally magical!
Scroll across to see week two in pictures. Stay safe and thanks for reading
Isolation stories: week one
Life is on hold, the whole world has stopped and we are in London lockdown.
We can only leave the house to buy essentials, get medical supplies or to exercise once a day. Small businesses (and many big businesses) are struggling, many of my freelance friends are without work and the city is eerily quiet… it’s an unsettling and scary time, but I can’t help sense an underlying feeling of anticipation. What will the world be like after all this?
With the intention of being creative and documenting these strange times, I’ve started capturing daily moments in and around our home and local area. I’m very lucky to be staying with friends in a large house with the cutest puppy, two fluffy felines, a forest of plants and some outside space with a vegetable patch. I feel very grateful to be with these guys and getting through this all together.
Week one felt super high energy, with every man and his dog generously offering free online yoga , meditation, breath work and online courses in literally anything and everything. Musicians played gigs on Instagram live (James Blake blew my mind!) and everyone in our circles were talking about Universal Credit and what self employed people were entitled to from the government.
Community was the theme of the week in our house… we signed up for our local Mutual Aid group and spent a lot of time checking in with family and friends (especially those living alone), talking to strangers and neighbours whilst social distancing. It was also important to try and find some sort of daily routine and make sure we felt safe and comfortable in the house… buying supplies, having a mega spring clean and most importantly having some fun.
We drew rainbows in the sunshine, joined Morning Gloryville for their Earth Day online rave, laughed hysterically at Snapchat filters, dressed up in sequins and ate tasty local pizza on my birthday. I also ended up swapping dance off videos with a guy I’d met on a dating site… still can’t believe I did this/ am doing this! Funny what a lockdown does to you.
A man smoking from his window in Tottenham
