I keep shelving the dance project that I want to start. There is always something else that needs my attention, something else that I need to focus on. It feels a little overwhelming, to think about adding something else to my plate at the moment. I've just took on two more jobs, which is great in most ways, mostly that I will have a little bit more money, which I badly need. But on the other hand, I'm finding myself a bit more stretched. Having to juggle a few more things around, so that I manage to get everything done. It also means, I'm at home less, which is an adjustment for my girls as well.

Yesterday whilst I was at work, I got a message from a friend of mine, asking if I would be willing to come and share my breastfeeding journeys, with the current midwifery Students at Da La Luz, the alternative Midwifery school in the valley here. I have attended different things there in the past, as well as held workshops and I have always enjoyed it. Birth, is something I am very passionate about, women having the Freedom and support to birth, how and where they wish. It was very last minute, as one person had dropped out. so they needed someone to replace her.

The world keeps on moving forward. You would think it would stop, what with all the horrors that are taking place right now. I can't believe what is happening in Gaza right now, in Palestine. The images that are coming out of there, are just unimaginable and yet, it's real. A Genocide. Whilst no one intervenes, no one. Whilst thousands of children have been killed and the ones still alive, now starving, facing famine, traumatised, many of them amputees. These are children, innocent children. It is beyond horrific. And yet, it is being allowed to happen, with no one stepping in. The latest footage I have seen, there are barely any buildings left standing, everywhere has been bombed, it continues to be bombed. The people have no where to go, whilst aid is being blocked from reaching them. It is beyond cruel. I don't know what to do, only speak out about it. Because I have to do something, I try to focus on peace, to live peacefully. Hoping that perhaps, it can counteract the violence, the evil that we are witnessing. I think many of us feel helpless, hopeless about the whole situation. Because it really does seem never ending. For the last 76 years the Palestinian people have suffered. But now, they are being exterminated and we are witnessing it. We are witnessing it! My heart feels really heavy, how could it not. Thinking of all the lives lost, of the pain and ongoing suffering. The amount of orphaned children, that most feel so alone and scared. How everyone in Gaza must feel so scared. I can not imagine it. I find it hard, to even try and think about writing about something else, because what is more important that this. Then us using our voices. What else is there to do? Every human being has the right to food, to shelter, to safety. Everyone. These are dark times, dark, dark times and yet there is some light as well. The light is always there, for us anyway, but what light is there for the Palestinian people?

(That would be my handmade flags, flying up there in the middle of the photo. Feeling a little proud of myself.)I got to the site last Tuesday. It was an early start for me and my girls, as we were picked up before 9a.m and I had some last minute things to do. Like cutting the bamboo to size that I used as flag poles and packing some food, so that my girls would have enough to eat. All the crew get 3 meals a day and that included my girls, which is great. We got to site just before 11a.m and we were some of the first to arrive. I helped to unload some of the tents and the decor, as well as the poles for the dome that we were going to be putting up.

A better life, well I for one, want to be living my best life. It's what I strife for. I plan on being around for a while, to see my girls grow and achieve whatever it is they wish to, plus there is still a lot of things that I want to do, in my lifetime. Places I want to visit still, learn new skills, meet new people and also disappear every now and again into the wilderness, so that I get to rejuvenate, a lovely reset.

Silence. Finding time for peace in these chaotic times. Where everything seems to be happening at full force. Full speed ahead. Finding moments to take a deep breath, to sit with myself and savour the moment, when so much is on disarray and around us. Silence, searching for silence in these loud and painful times. Overloaded by images and sounds, stories of never ending suffering. So important to find the silence and hold onto it for a bit.