"Story Time is Home” took place on Hastings Pier and was filmed by Fizzel Castro. I hope you enjoy watching this Story Time event from the comfort of your home…
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The phone rang one evening in March last year. It was my daughter. I could tell from her voice this was not the usual daily catch up chat and so I waited. She explained that her partner had bought her an Ancestry DNA test as a Christmas present, which she had done and had just received details of the results. Mum, I am a quarter Iranian, she said.
Read MoreThe next Story Time event will be on Hasting Pier! Its happening on Sunday the 13th of September, from 2pm-5pm, and I’d love for you to come. The theme is HOME. I’d been thinking about what made me feel at home internally, what roles made me feel at home, and also home as a psychological state.
Read MoreWe met one day when I was living in Florida. I was bored one Saturday and went to the local PetSmart where an adoption agency set up camp on the weekends. SadSac (Save a Dog, Save a Cat) is a wonderful organization.
Read MoreWhen we were kids, I would walk out of church to find Venus waiting for me, half naked with too much make up on, looking more dangerous than a box of matches.
We had endless sleepovers. Her bedroom was under decorated and kind of adult. There was a small pile of books to the side of the bed about the female body and early guides to sex. My bedroom was childish, three walls were purple and one lime green, a clash of colors that echoed the clash of everything inside my body and brain.
Read MoreToday I woke up and decided to go to the allotment. It has rained the past few weeks, meaning I haven’t been forced up the long steep climb from our house to water it. A welcome break. We hit it hard during the first weeks of lockdown and got the whole thing dug over and planted. I know it will be a mess and so I’ve been putting it off for the last week.
Read MoreI am a person who happens to be a mother. I’m raising 2 boys in a time of monumental shifts and changes. I also have to buy them clothes. If kids clothes are anything to go by, dinosaurs are for boys and unicorns are for girls, which indirectly translates as Science is for boys and, well, unicorns are for girls.
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I told my story for Delam London’s Just Human Project. I hope you enjoy it…
Read MoreHave you ever sat at a table, watched your friend or family member eat most of a meal, and felt an uncontrollable urge to just finish it? Regardless of what it is. Regardless of how long it’s been sitting there while you just wait for them to cross their fucking cutlery to signal ‘I’m done here, go ahead. Clear my plate.’
Read MoreAs I sit here typing away in my warm home, a town miles from my hometown and far far away from my previous uninspired life - I think how different my life could have been if it wasn't for a snap decision made on platform 4 of Hastings train station.
Read MoreAnd it came to pass on the 5th day of July 1957 a child was born to a clap of thunder and flash of lightening. I came at the end of a blistering heat wave enough to make my Mum, for some insane reason, go rowing the day before; much to the horror of the midwife who turned up expecting to be delivering! And the baby’s names was – Gail Stella Cohen – I truly do not have a messiah complex!
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I think we were still dating when Lily asked me to tell her about the best day of my life. I hadn’t really thought of this before her asking, but in a flash I recalled the time I had experienced the sweetest satisfaction of willing a lie into truth when I was just a kid.
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Dear friends,
The first of our podcast stories are up, thanks to the brilliant Leigh Malaihollo. They are raw and unpolished and real, just like the rest of Story Time. Head to www.storytime.site/podcast to enjoy.
Read MoreStory Time is about more than entertainment, it’s a community. It’s a safe space to explore ideas, challenge ourselves, share voices and listen. The aim of every Story Time project is to responsibly grow connection.
I started Story Time because of my own desire to share and be real and tackle hard subjects through honest stories. But that was a year and a half ago and since then it’s grown.
Read MoreYesterday I was part of a peaceful protest that was one of the greatest honors of my life. It was a giant love bomb that dropped into our town and filled our hearts with unity, solidarity and peace.
Read MoreAn old friend and I have spent most of the day in private conversation. The ‘what about’ is obvious. It’s always obvious and it’s always “what shall we do?” He thinks I’m anti-riot. I think he’s a little too riot-centric.
Read MoreAs Mental Health Awareness month ends my heart is bursting with love for everyone that has submitted a story, read, and shared this space with us.
The topics we’ve covered this month are some of the most important ones I can think of. I’m grateful to everyone for coming together to speak honestly and tackle difficult subjects with kindness and love.