ZI very recently needed to put together a C.V and my initial response was to feel the cold steel of panic throughout my body.

The thought of sitting down and ordering my life, and the myriad of experiences gained within it, into a sequential, ordered timeline seemed, impossible. Those linear lines of organised achievement have always seemed to me so unreflective; unreflective of a real life lived. A life that hasn’t necessarily followed conventional pathways, but has gathered wisdom and skills, all of which could be useful, genuine and of real value when applied to different vocational settings.

I tried to remember what year it was I had toured Wales with a travelling Theatre Company called The Shining Wits (1993 ) or when exactly those two years were, in which I had plotted Somerset potholes onto an interactive map for the County Council to investigate and repair as funds allowed. (2009 – 2011 for the record )

I wondered if I should include the time I went for a drunken and surreal dinner with Terry Jones, from Monty Python, as part of my role as children’s bookseller ? Or the time I spent a beautiful, lonely and wild snow-filled winter cooking for a group of whiskey sodden men high up in the mountains of Scotland, in a tiny bothy lit only by gas lamp, and the plumed, orange glow of their expensive cigars.

There have been so many experiences in my life like those. Not exactly the kind that seem impressive on a conventional C.V but nonetheless informed and shaped and changed me in so many positive ways.

By the end of the process when writing that C.V and job application, I found that I was curiously uplifted. I felt a great sense of accomplishment in the way that you do after conquering an irrational fear, but it was also more than that, I was proud.

I was reminded of everything I had done in my life, the small battles and the personal moments of great achievement, and the resilience and empathy I had garnered from harder times. I saw myself as the woman I am now because of all those strange and unconventional experiences and I had a little intake of breath when I remembered, gosh just look at what you have done with your life so far…

I didn’t get the job in the end. And that felt OK. I spent a morning in the healing room in my garden, tidying up and clearing – enjoying this little room of care and nurturing and I felt right about it all. This is where all those experiences have led me to.

To be able to channel my experiences, and in doing so feel those emotions associated with them, welcoming them, perhaps most importantly understanding them; bringing them into my work and in doing so supporting women in their own healing, alongside their own experiences and stories that contribute to who they each are.

In other words and as my creative name Gathering Around the Fire suggests, making real and valuable use of all those stories that have made me me. And inviting other women to do the same. 🍃