I’ve got a pretty good set up now. And it seems to work because it makes goal setting managable, fun, and motivating.

At the end of the year I start to think about how the last 12 months have gone. Usually in the pub with a glass of wine. What did I enjoy? What did I learn? What was a challenge – and how did I move through it? This helps set the context for the next year, and reminds me of what has actually been either achieved or experienced – both of which are valid. Because the new year isn’t a fresh start – you’ve lived a life and that will have a bearing on where you are now. And it helps look at things holistically. So in 2023 I didn’t earn as much as the previous year, which taken in isolation might look like a failure, but I did get married, have an amazing holiday, partied hard at festivals, set up a book club and more, so in the scheme of things it was pretty decent.

This holistic view is something I then take to goal setting. I get a piece of A4 paper and divide it into themes. So for 2024 I did health and fitness, work and career, social and fun, culture and creativity, and relationship. In each one I write 3-4 small goals or actions I commit to for 2024.

Meaning along with the sub 50 min 10k and album club, there’s some careers stuff in there. Here are some of my work related goals.

⏱ Spend first 15-30 mins of my day working on my business.
🍷 Go to some kind of networking event once a month.
📚 Do more CPD – at least once a month.
✅ Make a list of 10 bucket list organisations I’d like to work with and contact them.

Easy stuff that feels managable, but could add up to big things.

The list is now stuck on the notice board in the kitchen, meaning I see it multiple times a day. There’s no point stuffing it in a drawer – you need reminders of it, keeping it current.

Finally, make it a living document. It’s fine to add things, reframe things, and get rid of stuff that isn’t serving you. This is to help you live your best life, and it’s not your best life if you’re hating it.

What are your top tips for goal setting? Would love to hear them!

Not me. I need a lot of rest. And I am much more productive when I get it. I never set an alarm, but wake up when my body tells me to, which is usually between 6am and 7.30am, after a good 8 hours or so.

We need to stop glorifying the idea that you have to be always on to be successful. I’m very much a doer, and very productive, but I know I can’t have the energy to be achieving unless I’m rested and fuelled (but that’s a whole other story).

Sleep enables our brains to work better, by enabling neurons to reorganise. It helps consolidate memory, thus helping improve organisation systems so we can remember information and processes that will help with work, as well as more simple things like turning up to meetings and hitting deadlines. It improves mental processes associated with learning, enabling us to progress faster with complex tasks.

A rested body is more energetic, meaning you can tackle tasks with zeal, and often get more done as a result. I know that on days when I’ve had a good amount of sleep I get through work in half the time than I do when I’m tired and weary. That extra couple of hours in bed, rather than being a waste of time, saves me hours in my working day. Matthew Carter, PhD, a sleep specialist at Williams College agrees in his TED Talk The Science of Sleep (and the Art of Productivity), saying that you get more done with more sleep, not less.

One study found that lack of sleep resulting in inefficiency and lack of productivity is actually costing businesses money. As good sleep is essential to heal and restore the body, it also contributes to more sick days.

A tired Francesca is often a grumpy Francesca, which probably doesn’t make me much fun to deal with. I pride myself on being friendly and fun to engage with, so want to be at my best for my clients. It’s very difficult to market yourself as a pleasure to deal with if you come across as a belligerent sod simply because you’re exhausted.

I also enjoy work more when it doesn’t feel like a slog. And my enjoyment of the jobs that I do, the projects I take on, the organisations I deal with and the people I deal with are central to my job satisfaction. So when I’m energised and engaged, being a business owner is the best thing ever. I’d like to keep it that way.

What about you? Are you hustler or a sleeper? Or is the relationship between the two more complex?

For me a good day at work, which adds up to good results for my clients, starts with a good sleep.

There’s plenty of fun to be had, whether you are at home or doing lockdown love over Zoom. With this year’s occasion looking rather different, so are the options on offer.

Cosy Aromas sent me some gorgeous wax melts that are perfect for creating a lovely romantic feel, shimmering away in the evening. Granted, I think I like them more than my boyfriend, but that still counts as a win to me. Paul and Tamar Mayne are the husband and wife team behind them, and still make all of the melts together themselves from their home in Suffolk.

For Valentine’s Day breakfast in bed fizz is a must, so I’m a big fan of the personalised bottle of mini prosecco that arrived from Say It With Champers. I won’t tell you the message I got printed on it, but it’s dead cute and dead us.

Yummy chocolate has made it on the list, and I’m excited for something a bit different. Conscious Chocolate have sent a box of luxury organic, vegan aphrodisiacs to our door for Valentine’s Day 2021. They look lush. I’ll report back on how they taste. I mean, do I have to wait for Valentine’s?

We are big fans of The Great Game’s treasure hunts, and actually did one in Oxford on our first weekend away together. They’ve produced an at home adventure that looks inordinately good fun and I’ve actually bought for some friends of mine. Can’t wait to test out the PuzMat!

Valentine’s Day 2021 might be a bit different, but it will be fun. As with all these things, it’s one day, there’s no pressure, and you can make it your own.

Like my excellent new Jarvis Cocker and wine socks from Printsfield. They specialise in personalised socks (and pants!), and ship all over the world. Whether its funny photos to make you smile, a memorable image that acts as a momento, or a tribute to a pet, there’s plenty of options.

The company began two years ago. Jakub Konopka, one of the creators, says ‘We knew from the very beginning that we want to give our clients something truly unique and special. So it was clear that we’ll create a personalized product that works great as a gift or souvenir idea. One of us is also a passionate dog owner, so we were aware of how much people identify with their four-legged friends and love to share their funny photos. The combination of these two ideas and observing market trends gave rise to our idea of funny ​​personalized socks. Who doesn’t love colourful socks with crazy designs?’

Pet owners are their main group of clients, followed by people in love, happy husbands, partners and girlfriends who want to make a funny and one-of-a-kind gift for their loved one. There is also a growing group of young parents who order socks with the image of their cute kids. But there are also completely different stories – such as a huge order for employees of a large company – all with the image of their boss, and one a boyfriend who wanted to print his arse on the socks as a gift for his girlfriend. It was difficult to dissuade him from this idea…

I was lucky enough to be given my pair of super sexy socks, and am very grateful for them. If you would like your own, Printsfield are offering 20% off to readers of my blog. Just pop in the code andsoshethinks20.

We are all struggling. But for people with eating disorders the effect is compounded by both practical considerations and the impact on mental health. It’s anxiety provoking, hugely challenging, and really tough.

For a start, being underweight means that my immune system is supressed, and I am more at risk than healthy individuals. I am angry at myself for being in this situation, and struggling to give myself the compassion that says that this is an illness, and one I am working hard to fight. I’m washing my hands regularly, keeping away from people as much as humanly possible, and doing my best to limit contact with any object outside my house. But the concern is still there.

Like many people with or in recovery from an eating disorder, I have quite a limited diet. There are the foods I feel comfortable with – my ‘safe’ foods – and those I find more challenging – the ‘fear’ foods. I am terrified of going into a supermarket and finding the shelves stripped bear of those safe foods that enable me to get through the day. Whilst I would like to think that I could be more flexible if this situation occurs, really I fear I would use this as an opportunity to cut back even more, unable to face a challenge. We are being told to only shop for essentials. It’s very easy for the anorexic voice to convince me that my food is not an essential, and it would be perfectly justifiable for me to spend months hidden away with only cereal bars to eat.

The supermarket is a daunting place for me at the best of times. With panic buying, lengthy queues, product restrictions and militant frontline workers (who are doing a brilliant job) the anxiety is made worse, and the experience far from easy. One thing that is good is that supermarkets are streamlining their ranges a little, so the anxiety that comes from an overwhelming choice is lessened – as long as that streamlining doesn’t come from removing my ‘safe’ foods.

When in the weight restoration phase of anorexia recovery, individuals need much more to eat than people of a ‘normal’ weight – often thousands of calories. What might look like stock piling is actually only food for a few days. The voice telling me I’m greedy and overeating is exacerbated and amplified, the idea that I shouldn’t be eating so much reinforced in my head.

I have come a long way from the days when only an intense and lengthy gym session or run would allow me to let even a meagre portion of food to pass my lips. But I do still rely on my daily walks, just as much for mental health as to allow my body to move a little. Despite protestations from the public, we are still under a fairly limited lockdown in the UK, and allowed out for daily walks. I worry this freedom will be curtailed as people flout the rules and take advantage of our freedom (is sunbathing and having a picnic in the park really necessary?) and am terrified that I might not be even allowed out for my regular amble around the streets near where I live.

Social distancing, which whilst entirely necessary, isn’t helping. In recent months I have been doing really well at trying to go out for dinner and drinks with friends. Now I am at home, and those challenges ceased. We are having regular video calls and checking in, but it’s just not the same. The great steps I have taken feel like they are being curtailed.

If you’re in treatment and used to seeing a therapist or nurse regularly, all this will have stopped. Most therapists are doing online or phone check ins, so that people have some continuity of contact. But a lot of the benefit that comes from sessions is the in person relationship, some of which is lost online. And monitoring of weight and physical symptoms through blood tests can’t happen, so there is a risk that any deterioration will not be noticed.

Diet culture is all pervasive, even at the best of times. But at the moment there are numerous posts and memes about gaining weight and overeating during lockdown. The idea that this would be the worst thing to befall us doesn’t help with the notion that weight gain is bad and being thin is good, which, whilst not the cause of my anorexia, certainly doesn’t aid in my recovery. Everyone is doing home workouts and bragging about it, and it would be all too easy to fall down a rabbit hole of home exercise videos. That is something I need to steer away from.

Having anorexia at any time really sucks. It’s the biggest killer of any psychiatric illness. It ruins lives. But during a global health pandemic it’s even harder. I know I have to keep fighting, to be healthy and strong during this period, and to come out of it able to keep on going, working on my recovery. Maybe I can use this opportunity to be forced to be more flexible, adapting my meals, challenging myself, and working on what matters to me.

But right now, it all feels a bit much.

She describes herself as being a ‘cheerleader’ and that’s exactly the vibe you get from this book. It’s direct and laidback, at the same time as being authoritative and professional. There are exercises dotted in throughout, making sure that you take action and get results. Experts such as Nicola Brown, Eve Menezes Cunningham, Hazel Davis and more contribute, and there’s quotes and case studies from Natalie’s clients, a testament to the way she works and helps them achieve their aims.

The book feels awfully generous. Rather than self-aggrandising or promoting, saying that she is the PR person you must pay if you want to get results, Natalie offers everyone the opportunity to do their own PR. It’s like being let in on all the secrets. There’s a handy list of resources, and a glossary, for anyone not familiar with the language of the PR world. She brings you in, and makes you feel like one of the gang.

Empowering is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and has become a bit meaningless at times. But this book does exactly that. It inspires and empowers the reader to be their own PR expert – with Natalie cheering them on the whole time.

ARTS

Why did you decide to write this book?

Performing, writing, declaring my flamme are all things, to me, worth living for but they require at an early stage of the process a giant leap of faith on my part. Singing? I never thought I could or would sing. That day back in 2004—I remember the light, and looking out the double-hung window of my Tucson house toward the desert—, I felt chills down my spine as I realized that, without any question, I wanted to be a singer. Where did that come from? The thought—and the certainty with which I embraced it—surprised me but I  knew myself enough to understand that the decision was terminal. Hence the chills, which I used as a yardstick in the following years to explore who I might be or become, daring myself in the process as an adventurer out to explore the unchartered territories of the self. The book? Of course, I was scared when I realized I had to tell the story I’d kept hidden for so many years. There was no backing down. You have to face the music at some point.

What have you learned writing the book?

I decided the best way to proceed was to keep a journal of that one year in Paris. The entries would form the basis of a book about my very secret disordered life. I learned to write while writing ‘Not Me’ and I learned that you have to speak up if you want to heal. No addict—and eating disorders are addictions—gets better on his or her own. We need a community, friends, a support system.  Connections—being seen and heard, being recognized and allowed to take one’s place within a community of people— matter enormously to our wellbeing. We are social animals. It took me a while to find the right balance for myself. When I moved on from journaling to actually mapping and writing the book, I found that I needed to be quite isolated. However, still battling my self-harming habits, I couldn’t get better if I was too isolated. It was looking for my balance in this new life as a writer. It’s only when I moved to the harbour town of Ramsgate and found the community and supportive friendships I needed that I was able to take the final steps in my recovery… and finish the book.

Was it easy to write?

I had an obligation to write and an obligation to ‘surmount the repulsive’, as that famous Vienna addict once said about the analytical process. I wouldn’t say it was easy to write this book. I’d only ever written lyrics before, and a bit of poetry—I ‘started’ as a ‘poet’ in my pre-teens—but for the particular story I set out to share, I couldn’t get in the way of myself. I had to be perfectly understood, to fumigate the obsfucating habits of the song lyricist.

I had never been interested in writing short stories or fiction, content with writing lyrics, but I had written documentary scripts back in my filmmaking days. Film scripts and song are similar beasts, neither an end in itself. Not only are lyrics meaningless without music—and their performing—but they require a level of  impressionistic haziness to achieve their effects. With a book however, I soon discovered that I had to write with precision—I couldn’t hand out the clay to the next person to finish the vase—, reacquaint myself with the rules of grammar I can so recklessly forego when writing lyrics.

Another important point is that most of my creative writing to this point was in French. My first three albums are written in French. This book is not. I pushed back the limits of my bilingualism but I don’t think I could have written it in French either—nor do I want to translate it myself now. Again, I had to be direct, I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—hide any longer.

What was the process?

From start to paperback, the process took a little over five years. I was still touring and recording, and moved around a lot during that time, from Arizona to Paris, to Matera, back to Tucson briefly, working in Berlin then finally picking a ‘home’—my sailboat—in Ramsgate.

I began the process by taking daily notes for a year, a short-hand form of journaling. A few short lines or just a couple words. What did I feel during yoga class? Was I tired, happy, dumb and dull? I noted bits of conversations, mapping the timeline of my settling in Paris, going through the yoga training, starting to teach yoga. The note-taking also kept me in check and focused. I wasn’t backing down from the project. It gave me hope and a license to really do what I needed to do to and with myself to get better. The grand purpose of writing a book justified the pains I’d be inflicting upon myself. I was documenting my descent into hell, a form of self-inflicted torture. Writing the book gave me the autorization to get worse before I could get better. No, it wasn’t easy on my body.

After a year, I stopped taking notes and started structuring an outline from those I already had. I was listening at the time to the audio archives of W.S.Burroughs’ lectures at Naropa’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. I hadn’t told anyone at that point what I was doing. When I wasn’t touring, I started spending time alone in a cave house in Matera. I would take long walks daily in the canyon wildnerness below town.

A first draft, followed by a second draft, followed by a third, each one shared with more people who helped me see what I had done. A quasi-final draft formed the basis of a stage play I performed in Tucson and Margate in 2018… before another round of revisions. I had neither editor nor publishing house—no one was waiting for the book,  pressuring me to finish it—, and took all the time I needed. Where would I find a freelance copy editor? Whose blog should I read (answer: David Gaughran)? I drew on my experience with music—recording and releasing my albums. Where to find a cover designer—Jamie Keenan, lucky me—and how to work with them through the process of creating a cover—and what cover he created! Which bookshops would be carrying the paperback—physical distribution, something I don’t worry much about anymore with my music?

Some of the books that helped me early on were John Burnside’s captivating ‘Waking Up in Toytown’, his memoir of life on the edge—of London—, and Patti Smith’s memoirs. I hadn’t read many memoirs before and didn’t feel the need to at this stage, more inspired by Heinrich Böll’s more literary ‘The Clown’, the portrait of a guilty man, its causticity tempered by great humor, or my literary hero, Pierre Guyotat who rigorously puts his flesh under a microscope in order to ‘noyer cette angoisse de la chair’ (drown this anxiety of the flesh). Viv’ Albertine’s first book came out during that time but, although I could relate to her heartfelt story as a musician and woman, I didn’t feel as inspired by her writing style as I was by Böll’s, Guyotat’s or Burnside’s.

What do you want your readers to take from the book?

I want my readers to know I have their back. They have to trust me. What I describe in the book is not something anyone really wants to hear about but there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel. I want my readers to be reminded that we can’t know what someone else is going through, especially someone as adept at hiding in plain sight as a high-functionning addict. I had one thing to convey—the experience of someone suffering from an eating disorder—, and I had to say it as directly as possible, without shying away from detailing the more graphic details that can be glossed over in more clear-cut recovery memoirs à la Hollywood.

Beyond that, and more selfishly maybe as an artist, I wanted to investigate the flesh through these sensations I can so easily map out—my years of yoga, singing and somatics practice maybe—on my own body. Because I am deeply convinced now that writing is how I am set right in body and mind.

I want those who already know and love my music to understand it better through the book. I’m not talking about how the more lurid details of the life that is laid bare in the book might explain why it’s taken me so long to record a new album or why I wasn’t always singing and performing at my best but why, despite the humor and mischieviousness of most of my songs, they have, of late, actually become quite downbeat. 

You always do a flip side project to your album – this time The Cat. Not Me – how does this enhance the creative process for you and for the listener?

In 2013, I recorded my third album, The Cat. Not Me. Until I changed its title to ‘Not Me’, this was also going to be the name of the book, which I had envisionned as the flipside project to the album.

A flip side project to an album shares its ‘energy’ or purpose. The Cat. Not Me was a very somber album, with nightmarish and creepy moods, and songs that toggled between dark humor and petulant self-destruction. I realized early on that the content of the book would be what was between the lines of the lyrics of Cat. Whether my readers or my listeners get through these layers of connections is not something that concerns me. You can approach and enjoy any of these things from a superficial point or spend days looking for the meaning of song lyrics and videos, ponder how the book and the album are related, but I truly don’t expect anyone to have that time or desire. Hopefully, each of those productions (writings, videos, music, stage show) can be enjoyed at some level without being aware of the ‘other’ stuff I do.

How did writing this book change your music?

I hardly think of myself as a musician these days, even though I sing every day and work on my craft with workshops from my NYC-based vocal teacher Robert Sussuma, but I haven’t released an album of new material since I started writing the book. I’ve toured and recorded singles and as collaborations with other musicians, but my music is now grounded in a different place than when I lived in Tucson. To speak frankly, I’m very confused about music at this point. I’ve been looking forward to finishing the book so that I can record another album but this time of transition is scary. What if I didn’t have it in me any longer? What if I didn’t find the collaborators I needed here in England? What if it meant having to go back to the States? I have new lyrics and songs, enough for an album (it’s called The Promise and will be my first in English) but what happens when I return to that place where I’ve always felt fragile and exposed, the studio and the stage? I think the next year will be full of (hopefully happy) surprises but for now, it all feels scary. After all, the last time I recorded an album, I was a sick and secretive version of myself. All masks off now.

EATING DISORDERS

How prevalent are eating disorders in the music and arts world? Why do you think this is?

I don’t believe they are any more or less prevalent than in the world at large. I don’t know that there are studies that specifically address that question. I know for certain that this conversation is louder in the UK than in the States. The concept of resilience has been at the forefront of programs in wellbeing but—and maybe it’s a given there—I don’t feel it’s been addressed in the same way in the States.

Some early copies of the book reached ‘friends’ who happen to be musicians—and ‘friends’ in that world is a term loosely applied to anyone who shares your sensibility, lifestyle or aesthetic, people you might call upon for a couch one night while passing through their town, a pre-social-media-like ability, based on shared interests and tastes, to connect—and was surprised to learn that they also had eating disorders and depression.

You rarely use the term bulimia in your book? Why is this?

I don’t like the sound of the word ‘bulimia’, how it opens with a full-mouthed phoneme, a consonant followed by a sticky ‘ou’, as if the word itself was retching. I also think that to narrow the focus of the story to that of a bulimic struggling with recovery is too limiting. This is a book that deals with a form of self-directed delinquency, of which there are many; alcoholism, addictions to drugs and other habits of mind and body. Plus, no one wants to read about bulimia. It’s a major turn-off and I don’t want people to limit the scope of this book to that of a recovery memoir.

There’s a lot of secrecy surrounding addiction and mental illness. Why have you chosen to speak out?

I chose to speak out for my own sake, first, but also because I learned (maybe when I became a yoga teacher) that I enjoy helping others. There is an abundance of books and information about addiction and mental illness if you choose to look for it. There is also a great deal of resistance to hearing about it. The two things are not unrelated.

How did yoga help your recovery?

Yoga was my one health-affirming practice. I started practicing at the time I decided to become a singer—supposedly, to learn to breathe, and sing, better. Yoga was ‘home’ to me through a separation and divorce, and through this dramatic refashioning of myself into a hard-working and in-demand—it’s all relative—artist. Once I decided to

Was it cathartic or beneficial writing about your bulimia?

It is highly beneficial to reveal oneself but, to quote a Serge Gainsbourg song, ‘il faut savoir s’étendre sans se répandre’ (you must know how to spill the beans without spilling over). Maybe the act of writing itself—whether about bulimia or anything else—taught me a form of discipline of thought which carried over into a discipline of life.

Why do you think we’re so reluctant to talk about eating disorders in older women?

We’re reluctant to speak—and hear—about anything related to older women: their mental health and needs (sexual and emotional), their menopausal mood swings and  the physical changes that result from hormonal shifts. We’re reluctant to open up a space for older women to express themselves as if we couldn’t fathom any use for women’s bodies beyond reproduction and homemaking. We’re allergic to the idea that older women might not be as grateful as we think they should be of the advantages society is purported to have bestowed upon them: motherhood, families, responsibilities. Older women are not supposed to rebel and refuse, to be damaged. We’re reluctant to acknowledge the pillars of our communities might be cracked.

What does it mean to be a high-functioning addict?

A high-functioning addict is a bit like a mirage. You think you see the real person but that person is elsewhere, unreachable, an illusion. Our identities are constructions, no matter how much or how little we consider ourselves addicted to substances or lifestyles. A high-functioning addict flirts with being discovered for what they are. They’re thrill-chasers, window-dressing their truth. I absolutely adored the Patrick Melrose TV series. It nailed that bodily experience of being addicted, the emotional train wreck of keeping up with appearances, and the impossibility of true connections.

LIFESTYLE

You’re quite nomadic, and have lived all over the world in all sorts of places. Why have you chosen this lifestyle?

My father loved traveling. He probably experienced it as a form of freedom, albeit much constrained in his case by the ceaseless and growing demands of work and family—he was no drifter but became a consumer of foreign lands, as we all did, growing up with the ‘democratization’ of air travel. The family would take summer trips through Europe in our camper van. Then we moved to America, an uprooting that, in hindsight, had dramatic results for me. For one, I got famliar with being a stranger—and liked it but I found myself living in Tucson, Arizona—I was married by then—when I originally had been aiming at NYC. Becoming a touring musician rescued me for a while from that horrible feeling of being settled somewhere and belonging—to someone, to a place.

What is it about the English seaside that has such a pull for you?

I was born in Gascony. A friend of mine, also from that region, has a theory about why we both relate so well to the English and the anglo culture. According to him, because that part of France has long been in cultural contact with England (and under English rule until 1453), we have the same humor and same eliptically-enclined minds (and, in the traditional ‘patois’ dialect, a similar way to pronounce—and swallow—our ‘h’s). I’m not sure I completely suscribe to that idea but I do feel at home in England. First of all, I love speaking English, as well as American-English and the version of it I spoke in Tucson (border Spanglish). I also have been living in border regions for several decades, and Ramsgate is a border town and harbour, a place where people have passed through for centuries and some of that dynamism remains despite the harbour’s very limited purpose as a trading point nowadays. I used to drive to the edge of the desert when I lived in Arizona and stare out into the distance toward the Mexican border. The Channel waters I see from the harbour are just as empty, alluring traitorous and inspiring as the Sonora desert. I also find in Ramsgate, where I chose to settle, an environment that reminds me of Tucson some twenty-plus years ago, when our downtown was a scary place for college students but a haven for artists and musicians who took over empty storefronts, warehouses and homes to create this utopic society where all we had to do was make art and play shows. Ramsgate has that, plus the melancholia of English seaside towns in the Brexit years. I’ve found my people in Thanet, many of us foreign-born defectors from London.

Do you think that living a rock’n’roll lifestyle impacted your health?

If by rock’n’roll lifestyle, you mean the life of the traveling saleswoman, yes, that lifestyle has impacted my health. As far as sex and drugs, there was never enough of it to impact my health—and none of the latter as I did little to no drinking from early on in my touring career, and don’t even smoke pot. My life as a touring, self-managing musician was one of little sleep and much angst. The timing of my first album release also coïncided with my divorce. Running away from Tucson to tour the world, I was left with little emotionnal support from a disintegrating network of hometown friends and with no close companionship to balance out the isolation of life on the road. Although liberating and empowering at first, being noticed and noted early on as a performer didn’t entirely fill in that gaping hole in my stomach.

Developed in direct response to the growing number of teenagers in the UK struggling with their mental health, Crowded tells the story of ordinary young people whose anxiety, depression and desire leads to harmful and destructive behaviours.

Giving voice to emotions that are often unspoken due to social stigma, Crowded is a powerful, funny and uncompromising story, presented in a striking, immersive spoken word style with the audience part of the action. It is written and performed by three inspiring poet performers: Desree, Laura Rae and Slam the Poet, with additional text by Rosemary Harris.

I caught up with Slam the Poet to find out more.

Why did you decide to write Crowded?

We wanted to tell a story of mental wellbeing that could give multiple, diverse perspectives simultaneously. So often stories are so single-minded! And can easily focus on tragic, clinical scenarios. We wanted a story that could more flexibly adapt itself to the very varying realities of people’s minds.

What does the medium of spoken word offer?

For me, a unique opportunity to explore the sonic qualities of words, their percussions and harmonies. Other artists have notes on a keyboard, and the performing poet has their words. I love manipulating language to make it expressive in more ways than dictionary definitions can contain

It’s an immersive show, with the audience as part of the action – what impact does this have?

Well, we haven’t started touring yet, so we’ll have to wait and see! But for me, that is part of the point. With an immersive show, the audience are there with you in the action, not 10m away in a dark seating area. The unique & changing nature of each performance will challenge us to give it freshly each time, and hopefully that will allow audience members to feel deeply involved in the stories.

The writing of Crowded was a collaborative effort – what was this process like?

Mostly, collaboration happened in plotting our narrative. We were given a lot of freedom over our characters and their individual paths, which we wrote quite independently of each other. Then there was lots of work with Rosemary Harris, our dramaturg and mentor, to help weave it together as a cohesive piece of theatre.

What do you hope audiences take away from the show?

I hope it does something to normalise the storms that can spark in our heads on a daily basis. Minds are unpredictable, childish and wild things! But we feel so much pressure to control them. Hopefully this will help people reflect on how they might do better by letting themselves feel what they feel, and not adding the extra stress of judging it as right or wrong.

]]> https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/crowded-spoken-word-and-mental-health-drama/feed/ 0 https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/brian-jory-cupid-on-trial/ https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/brian-jory-cupid-on-trial/#respond Wed, 20 Mar 2019 18:48:23 +0000 https://andsoshethinks.wordpress.com/?p=9785 Did you know that every day one million people ask Google for the definition of love? According to Dr Brian Jory, this uncertainty stems from cultural shifts that have radically transformed views about love, intimacy, and sexuality. It’s time to restructure old-fashioned perspectives and develop a deeper understanding of what it means to love someone—and ourselves—in the modern world.

It might be fiction, but Cupid on Trial is very much based in fact, as relationship therapist Dr Jory explores couples in the town of Lovejoy as they struggle through love without an instruction manual. In it he examines new challenges of love in the modern world through a fictional account of couples who are struggling with love in turbulence, relationships pushed to the brink, and situations they never saw coming. His work as an ‘eyewitness to love’s triumphs and tragedies’ takes him to deep and delicate places and he has worked with hundreds of couples through ‘joy, peace, conflict and betrayals of intimacy.’

Recognizing that ‘as humans, we learn from stories’ he has sought to create stories and characters that are not the stuff of fairytales, but real life, tackling contemporary challenges such as sexual harassment, social media impact, and same-sex relationships, and changing views of masculine and feminine power. It’s a bit clunky, with none of the nuance and subtlety you expect from literary fiction  – but then it’s not. It’s tricky to combine relatable stories and compelling characters with research-based analysis.

‘We strive to make our relationships work, but in today’s complex world, it’s harder for couples to create and sustain this kind of intimacy,’ says Dr. Jory. ‘My book explores core issues that will change the way we view life and love forever. Based on sound science, this is an extension of my work the field of relationship therapy for two decades,” adds Dr. Joy. ‘If you’ve ever fallen in love, struggled with love, or faltered in love, Cupid on Trial will help you realize it’s never too early—or too late—to plan your happy ending.’