i am so excited to see so many friends here. thanks to those of you who already became paid subscribers; so completely unexpected & lovely. i’m starting as i mean to go on by offering some gentle writing exercises on the (mother-)body theme. consider supporting my work to access them below.
while i edit this: my baby bites my hair & climbs all over my body; my toddler tells me to tickle him, his body overflowing with laughter; my baby’s body slowly learns to walk instead of crawl; i am shedding my decidua lining, my body silently working its cycle; my toddler doesn’t quite make it to the toilet so i help clean him up; my baby is readying for bed, so i warm his milk & carry his little drinking body upstairs, help him to slow into sleep & stay there – all of these being simple bodily, creaturely things; gentle, mammalian & mothering acts.
those who have been part of the MOTHERLORE MAGAZINE community for a while may have seen that i’m seeking writing submissions for the third issue, on the theme BODY (out oct/nov 2024).
ideas might include your relationship to your body or your dependent's; exhaustion, physical burnout; body as corpora, as corporation, as a part of the community, part of a whole; embodiment; the bodily aspects of mothering/caregiving, or of conception or birth, including trauma, loss, miscarriage; menstruation/the moon, hormones, sex; body dysmorphia, ableism, genes in relation to mothering/caring; illnesses; being in charge of keeping another body alive; bodily changes, bodies of water...
you do not have to be a mother/caregiver to submit.
read the full guidelines here. deadline: 15th september. share your poetry, stories, vignettes, non-fiction, to-do lists, journal entries, letters, book reviews, etc.
each issue features your writing alongside articles on literary mothers both past & present, explorations of mothering in all its forms, writing prompts, interviews, book recommendations, creative events for mothers, family activities, maternal support, motherhood resources & more.
order a copy of issue one & two to get an idea of the stories shared within.
five writing exercises
prompt one:
what comes to your mind when you read the word body? i encourage you to make a list to begin with. note down all bodily associations you have and then draw lines to connect words or threads that you feel can be grouped together. you can come back to this list when working on the following prompts. be gentle with yourself if anything difficult comes up, such as miscarriage, abortion, difficulty conceiving, etc.
prompt two:
i want my child to see their body as…
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