“If you ever want to impress people at a dinner party with some posh veg, make purple mash”, Gerald advises me. Clearly a connoisseur in the kitchen, Gerald has a recipe recommendation for every vegetable imaginable. That being said, when we stop for lunch, two cheese rolls and a tango is enough to hit the spot.

For The Independent | The pandemic feels more personal than it did before. Seemingly long gone are the days of checking in with neighbours, clapping for carers and sending food packages to those in isolation. Back then, we acknowledged that we were all facing the same challenges, but now it’s more a case of “every man for himself”.

The Fitbit was noticeably twisting my relationship to movement, stripping it of its joy, and making everything into a means to the calorie-blasting ends. Movement was the central axis on which my day revolved, and everything else had to fit around it. I had become a slave to the wristband, exercise shackled to my wrist like a ball-and-chain; and, though the choice was mine, I found it hard to take it off.

A review of Jolly Folly, a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Arielle Smith for the English National Ballet company.

Though few people will hasten to admit it, ‘coolness’ is something most of us aspire towards. It’s an elusive quality that we’re constantly chasing. It’s an attitude, a lifestyle, an aesthetic. But what constitutes ‘cool’, and does it really exist?

A review of Raven Smith’s debut book Trivial Pursuits (2020).

We are all born with an innate propensity for fun. It governs how we spent our early years; it is the seed from which all of our wants and desires grow. It’s rare to find a child whose actions aren’t dictated by a hunger for the stuff. But why is it that, when we become an adult, that penchant for fun seems to wane?

Coming out of lockdown, there is an implicit expectation that we will want to spend all of our free time with others. To be seeking even more solitude, may appear strange, outlandish, even selfish. But I crave my solitude now as much as I did before the pandemic, and I refuse to feel guilty about that.

For Stylist Magazine | It feels like we are bombarded with a new story, subject, or scandal every day — and on social media, our fully formed, perfectly penned opinions are demanded instantly. But what if we don’t have one?

I couldn’t help but feel I was cheating fate by using a dating app; that I was interfering with this magical thing we call ‘destiny’; that, through my man-made meddling, I would end up with someone that I wasn’t necessarily supposed to be with. If it hadn’t been for Hinge, would the universe have ever brought us together?

Surely what we need to understand is that perfection is an unattainable goal. Like the horizon, it’s a morphing, subjective, infinite destination that we can keep chasing but will never manage to reach; so we end up living in a state of simmering dissatisfaction, irked by our own inadequacies. 

The approach of a post-pandemic world brings up a load of uncomfortable questions with uncomfortable answers. It forces us to address the thoughts and concerns that we have happily demoted to the back of our minds until now — fundamental and monumental aspects of our lives that might look different now from how they looked before.

Being copied can often feel like identity-theft, like someone is encroaching on your individuality and uniqueness…

No, this piece is not going to be about “daddy issues” - quite the contrary in fact.

For C-Heads Magazine | I noticed I was able look at my body objectively, to see it as more than just a sum of imperfections, as something complete. I was consumed, not in the details of my own appearance, but by the artwork itself.

Social media influencers now play a major part in determining the realities of our future, many of whose contributions to society don’t benefit anyone other than themselves.

Hummus. Humus. Humous. Humous. However you want to spell it, whatever we eat in the UK isn’t it - in fact, I’d argue it’s hardly worthy of the same name…

Love Letters, Written In Ink is an ongoing photography and interview series documenting these statements of love. I seek to capture the stories, ideas, people and experiences that have impacted people so greatly, they felt compelled to engrave a constant reminder of such thing onto their skin.

We all want to be remembered, to leave our stamp on the world - whether that be in the public eye or simply within the small, immediate circles in which we’ve spent our lives. When in the midst of one of my existential crises, my mind often attempts to conjure up visions of my funeral. Who will attend? Who will speak? What will they say?

As we move towards the fizzing potential of a new year and the steady recovery of our society, I’d like to reflect upon twenty of the learnings that I endeavour to take forward with me, as we leave 2020 behind…

(LONGER READ)