Over the past few years, I’ve been disentangling myself from capitalism’s insidious grip. It’s not an easy process, and it’s not something I’ll complete within my lifetime, but I still find it’s worth doing. I will preface by saying that I’m approaching this from a place of immense privilege. I’m self-employed and I have no…
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As an exporter, the dangers of Brexit were glaringly obvious to me well before the referendum. And for years after that awful result, I did all I could to warn of the coming disaster – blogging, TV and radio appearances, newspaper interviews. Whenever I tried to warn others of the impending shitstorm, I was often…
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When lockdown caused a long delay in my being able to obtain the box hair dye I like, I decided to let my hair go grey. It seemed like the perfect time as I wasn’t going out and I wouldn’t be seeing anyone. I was also really fed up with the expense and the process…
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Every year I assure my family that I won’t go crazy with gifts at Christmas, and every year they end up staring at me from behind a mountain of things they need to find space for. At the risk of sounding weird, I can see now that I was being a bit unmannerly. Saddling people…
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Since downsizing my wardrobe at the beginning of the year, I’ve noticed a couple of gaps needing filled. Specifically, I had nothing to wear in the event of a somber occasion. And let’s be honest, in the midst of a crisis, the last thing we want to do is shop for clothing we’re going to…
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I’m sure it was someone effortlessly stylish who said ‘fashions change, but style never does’. I imagine they were tall, thin, rich, and beautiful – and any advice they had didn’t apply to someone like me. I’m a skosh over 5’2″ and I’ve struggled with my weight since my mid-twenties. I have tried so many…
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I’ve deleted my Facebook account. For years I suspected they’d been careless with data, and I knew they’d tracked my every move online, but when they helped deliver Trump and Brexit by passing data to nefarious companies and allowing them to target users with fake news and disinformation, it was a step too far. When…
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Stage one of decluttering is complete! I was so tired of trying to organise and store things I was holding onto for daft reasons – the silliest being ‘I might use that one day’. If it’s been stored out of sight for more than six months, there is a good chance I’ve forgotten it, and…
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The Brexit vote kicked me hard. I’ve been deeply depressed about it since it happened, not only because of the suffering it will cause me and my family, but the awfulness it has unleashed on so many people. It’s horrible in every way, and it threw me into a dark pit. At the beginning of…
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It was unpleasant realising my clothing consumption was out of control. My wardrobe was full of things I didn’t wear, and I stood many mornings in my dressing gown thinking that today would be the day I finally went to work naked. How did it come to this? Why did I have have garments with…
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Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been on a mission to simplify. I began by examining parts of my life that I felt were overcomplicated, and skincare was one of these areas. I was spending too much money, effort, and time on my regime – and I was constantly buying things I didn’t finish…
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Today I’m decluttering my office in a ruthless fashion. I’ve been on a bit of a journey since February. I wouldn’t say I’m becoming a minimalist, but I am minimising. Does that make me a minimiser? I’m not sure, but I’ll go with that for now. It’s a frustrating process, probably because I’ve begun with…
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Fig and Pen 