If you have been doing a bit of an eye roll at International Women’s Day this week, can I recommend an antidote? Angela Saini’s new book The Patriarchs, a brilliant journalistic historical investigation of how power structures ended up the way they are, how we are all caught up in them whether we intend to be or not and what we can do to move on from this.
An even more cheering thing is this poem by Kate Baer, which I found on Instagram via Vivienne Berryman (Vivienne is a fellow swimmer and a non-cringy life coach with an excellent name — I commend her as a person):
When in doubt, try it on. Keep it simple.
Don’t waste time worrying if they will see you from behind. No-one on this entire earth cares more about your life than you.
Eat a breakfast. Find a God. Make a casserole to freeze. If you’re walking on a deserted road, send me your location. Remember, you don’t need a straw.
Drink more water. Fold your sweaters.
This is the time to buy a hat.
When life throws you a bag of sorrow,
Hold out your hands.
Little by little, mountains are climbed
From ‘Things My Girlfriends Teach Me’ by Kate Baer (see her collection What Kind of Woman here)
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