Proud of what? Constant pain? Ridicule? Being dismissed?
That's how I felt before I met others who called themselves 'disabled'. Their stories encouraged me: I don’t have to be ‘proud’ of my agony. I can be proud to belong in the disabled community. I can be proud of the ripple effect I have just by existing. I can be proud of raising awareness for my rare conditions.

Disabled. This label that took me so long to use. What more defiant expression against stigma and stereotypes than using the words ‘pride’ and ‘disability’ next to each other? That, that’s something I am proud to be a part of. Happy Disability Pride Month! Tell me, what are you proud of? Here are some ideas to get you started 🤗

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Dear HB

• Blossom Family: where social equity… blossoms ;) through storytelling! A permanent home for Poetry Orchard and Tea with HB, and other adventures yet to come!

  • onboarding volunteers (if you’d like to help create funny memes, get great work experience, or gain insight into equity, diversity, and inclusion, fill out our volunteer interest form!)

• Dear HB: Your Agony Aunt! Keep reading!

  Ask Away!

• I am the new Co-Chair for South East England Young Greens

• My darling new baby niece is ADORABUBBLE

• and [redacted] I hope to be able to share SOOON

I am delighted to introduce my new venture that has been in the works for YEARS:

Dear HB: Your Agony Aunt In Constant Agony!

Whilst this idea was inspired by the countless DMs I have received from people all over the world in the last 6 years, it was my mother and dear friend Patrick who encouraged me to publish it! The remarkable newsletter Disability Debrief is home to some incredible writers and artists from the disability community, and now that includes me! Yay! I’ll be sharing the questions here too, of course, but until then, here’s some background on why I have dreamed of being an (official!) agony aunt (somebody who offers advice to people who are struggling with personal problems).

I’ve loved traditional advice columns since I was a child: Heartwarming stories, real people, the opportunity to see the world through somebody else’s eyes. But it always left me with a prickly-hot feeling that people like me were never featured. Now I have words for this feeling: exclusion, lack of representation, ableism.

As an undiagnosed tween, I was left with the impression that my problems were too complicated, too agonising, too problematic to even be mentioned. My prickly-hot, wordless shame that was validated at every doctor’s appointment, by every teacher, and every ‘friend’.

It wasn’t until I started sharing my story online that I realised I am not as alone as I thought. It was only through creating online spaces for the disability community that I realised just how many people not only experience the same problems but have not been given the words to communicate them. Our isolation is not because of rarity, it is by design.

No longer! This is our opportunity to ask the questions that feel too scary to say out loud. This is the advice I wish I had been given. I’ll be answering questions exploring masking, dating, friendship, and beyond. I would love to hear from you! If you have a question you’d like answered, send it to me here.

Please update ME on what’s been going on in YOUR life! I have missed you!

Love, hugs, n tea!

HB

I was terrified of tarot.

Growing up, I always thought it was evil, alongside horoscopes and ouija boards and anything else that I perceived to be the devil’s work. It’s a little known fact now, and (I fear, my staple personality trait in my youth) that I was an evangelical Christian. I relied on this rule book, this black and white structure, avoid this, do that, your survival hinges on external approval, from a deity, a doctor, a man. It’s a lot for a little girl to learn and unlearn. But I have, and I am, and I will.

Tarot isn’t terrifying: it is a tool, a method of self reflection and projection. Through anything less demonised like journaling or meditation or prayer, I’d likely come to similar conclusions, and not question my soul’s fate. These things tend to have the power you give them. Tarot is no different. It is an artistic way to connect with yourself, your intuition. To me, it is like a coin toss. Whilst it is in the air, you often realise what you are hoping for the answer to be. In the same way, the cards aren’t necessarily telling me something I don’t already know, it’s just a fun way to reflect. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and for some people it holds far more significance and spiritual power. So why, when so many other things share this same spectrum, did I fear tarot so much? I was skeptical of meditation and journaling too, but not terrified. Terrified.

I was given my Jane Austen Tarot set by a friend and almost dropped it when I realised what it was, it felt like my hands were burning. Then the other part of me chimed in. Noticed. Questioned. Rebelled. Tried it, and realised there was very little to fear, quite the opposite. Beautiful illustrations. Does it help that Wickham and Willoughby are the cads and not the devil himself? I am sure. My point is, I had demonised something I had never even looked at, nor touched! Only heard tell of. This is a pattern that is not unique to me: we demonise and fear things that we don’t understand.

Take Voodoo, or rather, Vodou. Even the term is anglicized, something I only learnt whilst writing this. In Western culture it is shorthand for dark magic, evil, horror. It was to my surprise and delight that I learnt (through a New Orleans Vodou practitioner) what it actually is: A tradition developed by enslaved West African people to make healthcare accessible. Transmitted orally across generations because they were not allowed to learn reading and writing. Practitioners would stick pins in the dolls to track symptoms, one in the head to communicate they had been treating a headache, for instance. In creating a form of communication other than written word, they were resisting their oppression. Misinformation online, the echo-chambers we find ourselves in, I believe these are similar to the tools of the oppressors: denying literacy, destroying critical thinking.

There is a word for this type of demonisation and misrepresentation: epistemicide. It means the deliberate killing or devaluing of ways of knowing. Colonial medicine didn’t simply arrive alongside other belief systems and compete fairly. It co-opted them and criminalised them. In Canada, traditional indigenous healing practices were outlawed under the Indian Act of 1876. The knowledge that survived did so through the same oral, community-rooted ways of sharing information that Western institutions dismissed as primitive. These institutions that erased knowledge pointed to its absence as proof it never had value. As a disabled person, this feels all too familiar. Inaccessibility can lead to us not being able to work. Our lack of representation leads to the claim that access is not needed. Then, the removal of the ability to advocate for ourselves altogether. A vicious cycle.

Stories are the most powerful tool we have. The stories we tell ourselves about others, about our identities, about the world. They are the tools we can use to repeat these cycles, or break them. We tell ourselves these systems are broken, and on that we all seem to agree, but who broke them? Or… Who benefitted from the belief that they are unfixable?

When governments are failing, they find someone to blame, and right now that blame is on the vulnerable-- except these people aren’t weak or pitiful. They’re not sneaky or demonic. They are a threat to the story being told. They don’t conform, they highlight the cracks in our systems that affect us all, they are the canary in the coal mine. They inadvertently question the narrative that power requires everyone to believe. Trans people existing blows up the gender binary. Disabled people surviving challenges the myth that your worth is your productivity. Immigrants contributing to the economy undermines the scarcity mindset that is the very foundation of our competitive culture. The irony is clear: It is not us who should be terrified, it is the system that has been designed out of fear, designed to divide us in an effort to preserve the status quo. Voudou was criminalised because it worked, not because it didn’t: It empowered enslaved people. The same is true of these so called ‘vulnerable’ groups; immigrants, trans people, and disabled people are some of the strongest, most proactive hard workers and problem solvers I have ever met.

I do not believe these systems are broken. They are working as intended. How would you hold onto power? What story would you tell? Design division. Distract. It’s not us, it’s them. Again, and again.

It is this experience that helps me empathise with people who consider voting right wing. Maybe they don’t have the same perception of progressives as I do. Maybe they are reading a different story. Maybe they have only heard tell of the devil within the dyed hair hippies, the agenda to make their children gay and force weed down their throats! The murderers coming over to OUR home on millions of boats. Sounds… terrifying?

If somebody wants to vote right wing, I can well imagine the fear and anger and sense of injustice that drove them to it. The very fact I’m referring to them as ‘them’ is disheartening to me. We have so much more in common than not. Decision making inspired by fear, for example, and those fears being passed down before we could think to question them. I believe everyone deserves the right to exist, even those I disagree with. I am an educated woman with access to libraries and the internet who spent years afraid of a deck of illustrated cards. Does that not tell you everything you need to know about the power of inherited narrative? If I can recognise that terror, I can empathise with those whose political fears I don’t share. Those who might think I shouldn’t exist.

But empathy is not the same as condoning the actions taken and the beliefs so casually and confidently disseminated. Being a doormat in the name of tolerance is another tool of oppression. Protecting freedom of speech is not a licence to erase others with your words.

On May 7th, many local elections in the UK are being held, and I am voting for the story I want to tell my baby niece. I want to tell her that everyone’s voice deserves to be heard, even those I disagree with, especially those I disagree with, because we don’t learn anything in an echo chamber. I want to tell her that she is free to be herself, regardless of whom she might love or what she might be able to do or how much she can earn. I want to tell her there is hope.

What story would you like to tell? Maybe it’s different from mine, maybe you don’t know where to begin (Once upon a time is cliche for a reason!).

A few people asked me recently how to decide who to vote for, ‘it’s overwhelming! I feel obliged to do more research than I have capacity for, I just don’t feel educated enough… my opinion doesn’t matter, what do I know?’ This! Another tool of oppression: ‘Your voice doesn’t matter unless you have a degree, or can recite a manifesto, or know the difference between right and left.’

This, dear reader, is ripe bullshit. The only thing you need to do to vote is care.

To make it less overwhelming, try choosing three issues you care about. Maybe it is healthcare, or education, or the cost of living. Find out what you care about, find out who else cares in the same way, and vote for them. Because your voice deserves to be heard, whether I agree with what you have to say or not.

I’ll be voting Green.

Where do I Vote?

A particular shade of sky blue haunts me because it was his favourite. Time is short and I am wasting it on him.

We only spoke for four months but I can’t listen to that song without you, you, you washing over me. ‘Time flies!’ Flies all around me like horses swarmed on a field in the height of summer.

They visit me in dreams and stay all day. First loves, school bullies, best friends. And ‘how lucky!’ I chastise myself, they come in plurals. What a wonder it is to form any relationship, let alone many. But it is exhausting, to remember. And why can’t I think about the people I’ve loved and lost, the people who left through no malice or fault? And it feels abnormal: another rare condition. Even with my current friends and family, this ability to have one foot in the past sets me apart. I learnt about Thesus’ Ship when I brought it up with a friend the other day. What even is our relationship if I am seeing and speaking to all the yous and you are only speaking to the me you see right now? A wikipedia link in return, and it set something in motion. Theseus’ Ship is the philosophical paradox that poses the question of whether something is still the same if all its parts have been replaced. Theseus has a ship that is preserved by replacing old, rotted wooden planks with new ones over time, until no original piece remains. Is it the same ship? At what point did it stop being the same if not?

Maybe it’s part of the moral OCD, truly deeply meaning it when you say you’ll love someone forever. Maybe remembering is little-me’s way of keeping an oath. But what of my self-love? What if my ship is so full of the past I can’t let the future in, to replace it and update it, as is necessary?

Lucky again, I am not a ship. I have limitless capacity for love. I have drowned in grief and never capsized.

So What’s It About?? Why Are You Thinking Of Them Again?

A small voice in my mind persists and won’t let go. Sticky thoughts, I call them. Sticky brain.

I don’t think it’s about anything, I reply, I think it just is.

Do You Think That It Is Love, Leftover?

I think that’s just love when you mean it.

l o v e,

HB :)

Psssst join me at our HopeFUL Romantics Creative Workshop! Come for the vibes, stay for the communi-tea, and leave with a beautiful craft!

2026? To write more, to dance more, to sing more, to eat more, to get outside more, to live MORE! What will you be doing more of? Let me know!

2025

2025, what a year of motion

Poetry, a power chair, therapy, the ocean

Seizures softened by Dr Pepper’s scent

Pop up cards charged pain as rent



A gown of sequins, glittering blue

As bridesmaid for not one friend but two!

Steel of teal, shining in the sun,

Ariel, our vehicle! Benefits… hard-won.

Sparkling jasmine, sizzling salmon

A cozy christmas with clove molass’d gammon…



And thus my pre-frontal cortex

Escaped the vast vortex

Lunar valleys left behind!

Though the Potters are in power now

Bedford falls brings peace of mind



A whisper of hope from dewy stars

There’s a reason we’re human kind

This future, this life, this love, it’s ours!

And there’s still more left to find

Love,

HB x

I am also currently hiring for an assistant, and I feel so small, so infinitesimally small. Nothing I do will be enough. Nothing will bring these people back, or save more from being taken. I know there is light in the dark. I know these tears are giving voice to years of built up emotions over injustice and all the things out of my control. 

And at the same time, I am so grateful I am finally in a position to be able to expand Poetry Orchard and Tea with HB, communities where I have seen people be deeply moved and inspired and supported. To be able to give someone meaningful work in this atrocious world, yet the two feel disconnected. Slimey. How can I be thinking of my business and work in a world that is being torn apart by fear and hatred? And yet I must. We must. Because we believe these tiny moments and movements make some small difference. Infinitesimal, but worthwhile. That helping somebody feel seen, creating a safe space to process trauma, providing support when healthcare systems aren’t, even though these are not solutions they are part of the wider puzzle. They are necessary. 

So if you too are currently stricken by grief, immobilised by injustice, maybe even sobbing with a dog on your lap just like me: I see you. You’re not alone. Every small decision you make, to be kind in the face of hatred, to be curious instead of judgemental, to be loud when they want you to be silent. It matters. You matter. We are all in this together, and a better world is on her way because of that. 

Blossom, it’s five days into January… What could you possibly mean?!

Well, dear reader, I have a controversial proposal for you. What if humans weren’t meant to reset on the first of January, in the deepest darkest depths of winter, in a pressure cooker of post-Christmas consumerism? What if our renewal took place at the same time as checks notes everything else? Or whenever our bodies decided???

I felt very seen in this piece by on treating Winter Months as a ‘trial period’ since it is what I happen to do every year! I thought this was a side effect of chronic illness. It felt like another fissure between me and the people-not-in-constant-agony. I am not able to reinvent myself overnight, I am failing at another ‘normal’ thing, I must spend weeks planning my new year for the sake of pacing. Until I realised that… pre-disabled people also feel this shame. And pressure. And dread! About the New Year! This broke my little new-year-loving heart. I adore the ritual of reflection and planning. I love creating a vision board and a list and writing a letter to myself to read next year. To spot moments of growth and gratitude! I don’t want anyone to miss out on those warm n fuzzy feelings so every year, I declare:

Chronically Ill New Year Starts in March

I really think we can all learn something from listening to chronically tired and/or painful bodies. Renewal for everybody should start when their bodies feel like it! How preposterous to expect yourself to bloom whilst the trees are bare? We could be huddled under duvets, planting our roots, not dragging ourselves to the gym on some society-fuelled whim. Emphasis on the ‘dragging’. Maintaining a routine is important, feeling like you need to become a different person to be ‘worthy’ is… ridiculous.

New Year on January 1st in the Western world was established in to align with the solar year, reaffirmed by the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582, and England didn’t adopt it until 1752. That’s only 273 years ago, slightly older than America. This feels like forever but is in fact 0.091% of the whole time humans have existed. Indeed, with all the western messaging we are saturated with on a daily basis, it is easy to forget that there is no ‘correct’ way or default.

In other parts of the world there are other dates, from Lunar New Year, an inclusive term for different celebrations across East and Southeast Asia, to Nowruz, a Persian celebration of the vernal equinox that marks the start of astronomical spring. The latter is also upheld by Pagans across the world. Meanwhile, Puanga marks the Māori new year around the June winter solstice. Depending on your chronic illness, it might make more sense for the year to begin in Autumn, rather than Spring or Winter, as that is when your body feels the most open to change.

The commonali-tea in these rituals are their core themes. Re-uniting with loved ones, reflecting, rebalancing, rebirth. There’s joy to be found in communal celebration, but I think you can choose when your New Year starts.

I like to take December - February to rest, reflect, and plan, and meet myself, rejuvenated, in March. My name is Blossom after all!!! This often looks like…

December: Reflection.

Look back on the past year, think about what goals I want to achieve in the next, and journal. Do not beat myself up over what has gone ‘wrong’ or is ‘incomplete’, instead feel gratitude for another year to try again :)

January: Hibernation.

Put together my vision and bingo board for the coming year, ideas for what I want to create and things I would like to do, all the dopamine fuel of new year’s resolutions and none of the pressure. Ensure that any affirmations or goals are framed positively. E.g. ‘go to the gym’ becomes ‘listen to my body’ and ‘stop feeling shame’ becomes ‘practice letting go of shame’… and then I rest.

February: Restoration.

Having slowly put daily habits into place for my overarching goals (publish a book = write every week, better sleep schedule = start using a SAD lamp), I feel somewhat refreshed and ready to celebrate Spring and what, for me, actually feels like a new year in March.

So, I wish you a very happy EARLY New Year, whenever it may be for you, even if that’s all the way to Dec 31st, 2026, cos you vibe with the norm. Good for you!

Love ya,

HB x

Another year is coming to a close, and we’ve got biiiig plans for 2026! Want to be a part of them? Take this survey! You might win a fantastic prize 🤗

Prize Draw & Survey

If you don’t have time or spoons, you can just take this poll :)

A Natural Response

The following poem was inspired by a conversation with my mother about recent atrocities. Don’t be fooled by the first stanza, this poem is a call to arms for optimists! Like Mr Rogers’ own mother said ‘When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Depression, anxiety, call it what you will
It’s a natural response, not overkill.
Today there was a murder
Yesterday there was a shooting
Tomorrow, genocide continues
Bombs, and rape, and looting


And


A baby takes their first steps
Someone is cancer-free
A hospital has been built this week
We can plant a tree!

In crowded streets or quiet fields
Countless lovers have just met
To change each other and the world
Though they do not know it yet

She is painting a sunset
He’s discovering bubble bath
There are helpers and heroes, always
Blooming in a tragedy’s aftermath

You take a breath, put down the news
Let it sink into your chest
You find your mum, or phone a friend
All we can do is our best

You order in your favourite food
A local business, supported
You’re doing everything you can
When evil seems unthwarted

I can see how hard you try
I know it seems unbearable
But this weight is ours, hope will not die
And your spirit is repairable

So raise your voice, your glass, your children
Don’t give into despair
This world is ours to preserve and cherish
To savour; and to share

Love,

HB x

Autumn Favourites

☀️ Good News: I was able to get a new electric car, Ariel, via the Motability Scheme so I can actually get out of the house and use my lovely power chair, Hugo! These are two of the things I am most grateful for this year. If anybody is struggling with Motability or Access to Work, please reply to this email and I will do what I can to help.

📚 Book: His Dark Materials & Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

📺 TV: Percy Jackson, Nobody Wants This, Anne with an E, Avatar the Last Airbender, FRIENDS

🍿 Movie: E.T, Elio, Sleepless in Seattle

Introducing, The Minori-tea Report. We will be spilling the tea on the real monsters in our society. Spoiler: it’s not minorities.

We’ve all heard those fearful remarks… A casual ‘well the NHS is crumbling because there are just too many people in this country!’ somehow works its way into the most benign conversation.

‘I don’t have a problem with trans people but a woman can’t have a penis!’ as if a woman is only defined by a body?

‘Oh yeah my friend got benefits just like that! It’s too easy!’ when benefits forms aren’t even able to be filled out online?

Perhaps the scariest part is these phrases can be said by people who truly mean well, who have been scared into thinking that the most marginalised members of our community are a problem that needs to be solved. Maybe that’s you, or maybe it used to be you. Either way, I hope the following helps you replace fear with the facts.

Inspired by some of my closest friends and family members, I sincerely hope this is something that will make those stressful conversations easier.

The Ghosts: ‘Trans People are ruining our society!’ or are they?

“It’s basic biology: there are only two genders!”

Sex and gender are not simple binaries, and never have been. 1.7% of people intersex1, which is as common as having ginger hair or twins! Biology is complicated, rooted in patriarchy and white supremacy, as Stevie Boebi describes in her recent What is A Woman?2 Video: ‘The concept of woman and man wasn’t invented to protect anyone. It was built to exclude. The gender binary wasn’t just saying everyone is a man or a woman. It was men versus women and then them versus everyone else. It was a colonial weapon. It erased third gender roles, fluid identities, and sacred queer traditions across entire cultures.’ - Stevie Boebi

We cling on to categories because they offer certainty in chaos, but this certainty has a cost, and it is far too high. Even within cis people, gender is a spectrum. Women and men don’t fit into neat boxes anyway, regardless of being transgender. Enforcing two tiny boxes helps nobody, and damages everybody.

“But we need to protect women and children!!”

Absolutely! If you are worried about keeping women and children safe, you have a lot in common with the trans community! The problem is not trans people. The problem is predatory people.3 Predatory people do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, and we need to acknowledge that truth. Ways we can tackle violence against women and children include educating men and boys on consent, teaching them how to hold each other accountable for toxic masculinity, and showing them how to take on their share of the mental load. Even tiny actions can contribute towards dismantling the patriarchy, which ultimately benefits all of us. This is how we can protect the vulnerable members of our society instead of blaming them.

Trans people are being used as a political football to distract and divide us. So, who are the real ghosts? Facts over Fear: Scapegoating, stereotypes, and scare tactics do the real haunting!

The Zombies: ‘Immigrants are taking over our society!’ or are they?

“There are too many people in this country!”

Migration is the leading cause for population growth in the UK. However, the UK fertility rate is dropping,4 and our aging population is soaring.5 The truth is that our working population, those who provide the services we rely on, is shrinking.6 Therefore, welcoming immigration is vital for our survival. Overpopulation is a myth rooted in racism and ableism.7 Privatised services, housing shortages, the climate crisis, and the cost of living are far more pressing concerns than immigration.

Migration is not a threat to our welfare state, our welfare state depends on immigrants.

— Zoe Gardner, Migration Expert8

“Immigrants cost too much!”

In the UK, the richest 1% holds, more wealth than the bottom 70% combined.9 Less than 0.5% of all UK government budget is spent on immigration10, whilst immigrants have a net positive financial impact on the UK,11 and that’s ignoring their positive cultural and community influences. Zack Polanski says it best:

Britain is not broken because of migration. Britain is broken because of inequality. Because of an economy that allows billionaires to hoard wealth while millions struggle to get by.

— Zack Polanski, Leader of The Green Party 12

The demonisation of immigrants is a divisive scare tactic used by the media. So, who are the real Zombies? Facts over Fear: Misinformation, racism, xenophobic policies, and lack of media literacy is the true cause of our brain rot.

The Vampires: ‘Disabled People are draining our society!’ Or are they?

“They get free money!”

PIP fraud rate is 0%!13 Benefits are gruelling to apply for, leaving millions of families struggling without support. If you do eventually qualify for benefits, they are not enough to live off, let alone cover the extra expenses of being disabled which amounts to an extra £1000+ a month compared to predisabled people.14 The stigma you face for receiving them is also incredibly difficult.

Most people don’t know that actually, £24 billion pounds in benefits is left unclaimed by the UK each year.15 1 in 10 members of the population receive disability or incapacity benefits (many of whom are not out of work) yet closer to 1 in 4 people are disabled.16 This means that more people should be claiming benefits, not less! Learn more about disability benefits here.

“Disabled People drain our economy!”

Unpaid carers save the NHS around £162 billion each year,17 and that’s just in England and Wales. This is equivalent to providing a second NHS. Disabled people and their families are, arguably, the backbone of the economy, with a global estimated spending power of $13 trillion.18

£466 billion is the Wealth of the richest 50 families in the UK. This figure, £466 billion is also the combined wealth of half of the UK population.19 Therefore, it is clear that nothing will be solved by cutting the benefits of the poor or disabled. Wealth inequality can be helped by a wealth tax20 that closes loopholes so companies and individuals can pay their fair share. 80% of millionaires support wealth tax of 2% over 10 million.21

‘We’re proud to pay and we’re here to stay’

— Julia Davies, British millionaire and impact investor

Disabled people are simultaneously villainised and painted to be helpless drains by media and news stories. So, who are the real vampires and what can we do? Facts over Fear: Billionaires, corporations, media, and divisive policies, and wealth inequality are the real blood suckers.

Please consider donating through patreon or ko-fi or becoming a paid subscriber to support my work! Tea with HB supports thousands of disabled and vulnerable people all over the world, and it doesn’t exist without you!

The Minori-tea Report Series has been lovingly made with help from immigrants, trans people, and disabled people.

What YOU can do

Read the full Minori-tea Report here (coming soon!)

Listen to the Tea with HB Podcast

Come to Poetry Orchard’s Harvest Hope event to get inspired about system change!

Read the Green Party policies and see if they align with you

I was 9 when the lemon zest pierced my tongue

too old to cry and ever since, too young

fluffy clouds of toasted meringue

sticky, I internalised their ignorant harangue

on a bed of pastry I’d never eat again

but I was only 9 and I didn’t know that then



I was 13 when sushi became a tradition

too eager to die yet wrapped in contrition

fresh fish on vinegared rice in perfect composition

still sticky, still malleable, in fragile condition

avocado, tamago, embraced by nori

oh to be held in a way that makes sense of your story



I was 16, in the Thai restaurant, sweating

too busy finding myself and in doing so forgetting

(strawberry salad with the summer sun somer-setting

piles of phad thai, oodles of noodles with egg netting

peeling garlic, and king prawns, and all my beliefs,) I was looking!

but you can’t find yourself when she’s still busy cooking



Coming up 25 makes me think of tangerine

I am a quarter, or maybe half alive, that remains to be seen

I feel freshly juiced, squeezed out, inbetween

overwhelmed by the yet-to-come and the already-has-been

but my enthusiasm is fizzing, quintessentially unquenched

a zest for life defined by my refusal for indifference

Today is mine and my mum’s birthday and I am always so thrilled to be able to share it (and to be able to respond to ‘Happy Birthday’ with ‘Happy Birthday’) Belinda was the first person to believe my pain and has been there for me every second since, including sleeping on hospital chairs (carer’s lounge, anyone?) showing me everything I know about love, and setting an example I can never hope to aspire to. She’s an artist, builder, baker, hairdresser, seamstress, chauffer, chef, landscaper, sculptor, researcher, nurse, teacher, and so much more. My dad has the biggest zest for life out of anyone I’ve ever met, but I think we both credit her for it! She brings the zing. Happy Birthday Mumma!!!

Holly Blossom xxx

P.S

Nashira and Maria are hosting a virtual birthday party for me on Saturday 13th at 7pm BST, please come along! I would love to celebrate with you. Follow this link if you’d like to gift me a birthday cuppa :)

If you have a friend in chronic pain, or are experiencing it yourself, or are just curious to understand more, please come along to our Chronic Pain workshop on 31 August at 7pm BST! It’ll be an uplifting moment for solidarity and celebrating each other, and you will be left with an Orchard glow and maybe even create something! Keep an eye on future events as we have so many fun themes coming up and, as always, let us know if you need a free ticket.

5 Years of Tea with HB

5 years ago I started this newsletter, a love letter in the hopes of brewing a communi-tea of kindred spirits. It started as a weekly musing, sharing my latest podcast episodes and reflecting on my favourite things, and then became a monthly update. This summer is the first time I haven’t published regularly, and I think it is a mixture of feeling unsafe as a minority in the current political climate where disabled people are being targeted and women’s rights are up for debate.

The purpose of this space was always connection, a way to socialise when I couldn’t get out of bed, a way to explore my mind when I couldn’t explore the world. I don’t know how to be authentic without risking my privacy and safety anymore. I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel connected, and often I don’t feel like anything I have to say makes a difference. I am tired. As much as our incredible communi-tea is something to celebrate, it also feels like I can’t do enough to help the people who need it.

So, I took a li’l break, and I am back with a question. If you say you’d ‘die’ on a certain hill, how do you feel about living for it? Minor spoilers for the TV show Andor ahead. Please watch first and then return– You do not need to be Star Wars fan, nor do you need to have consumed any Star Wars media before watching, though you’ll probably want to afterwards!

It’s the story of a rebellion. Of a monster that takes supreme power, fed by fans who do not yet realise they are victims. Sound familiar?

‘I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss. Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest.’

Andor on Disney+ & ITV

A stark, unintended effect of cancel culture is that those who refuse to be cancelled, those without shame, without a conscience, have risen to the top. They are the ones now leading us. I have always been fairly black and white about my principles. Of course I would die for what I believe in! But there’s really no of course about it, when we are unlikely to find ourselves in a situation where it’s necessary. There’s also less glory and change made in death than younger me imagined, the way to create lasting change is far more akin to the sea moulding a cliff face than bloodshed on a battlefield. So what does it look like to live our values rather than die for them? Andor’s double agent and a founder of the rebellion is asked what he has sacrificed for the cause, and this is how he responds:

‘Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice?

I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude.’

Andor on Disney+ & ITV

I don’t want to believe that the only way change can happen is through using the tools of our enemies, but in a world where some have no qualms about lying and spreading misinformation, what tools do we have to combat such rife and unfettered panic-driven conclusion jumping? Maybe for me, living on this hill looks like continuing to write, making myself believe that these words matter to somebody, somewhere. Maybe it's enough if they matter to me. Maybe it looks like rest in a world that is not designed for me? What does it mean for you?

The Hill I would Live On

I dreamed of a blazing glory

Assassinated for speaking out

Battle wounds in hero’s story

A life someone would write about


Bleeding out for the greater good

Shot protecting a kid or a love interest

Sacrificed to be understood

Final stand in my lifelong quest


Dying on a hill for your morals

well that’s one thing

But would you climb it every day instead? That’s nothing —

Except

I no longer wanna be a martyr

Stay alive, make the change, watch it grow

And the gardens and sunrises, we might never see

But, still. They won’t exist without you and me

Don’t die for your future. Don’t die for your desire:

Live for the hope of it all! Burn, catch fire

Love,

HB x

Summer Favourites

☀️ Good News: Ma besties getting married!!! (to each other, their love story is so storybook it’s unreal)

📚 Book: Utopia for Realists and Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman

📺 TV: Andor

🍿 Movie: Rogue One

🍜 Recipe: GF, Vegan, Chocolate Cupcakes! By The Loopy Whisk

Support Tea with HB!

Before we get into more honking, I am asking for your support. After months of consideration and finding no alternatives, I have decided to turn on paid subscriptions on substack. I have been creating free content and providing support for vulnerable communities for 5+ years. The work I do deserves to reach more people. I am told every week that I have helped someone– helped them find a diagnosis, helped them access coping techniques, helped them manage their pain. Helped them talk to their friends and their families about ableism, helped them feel confident using a mobility aid, helped them feel seen, heard, and less alone. I have seen how important this work is, and I do not want to give it up. If you are able to support Tea with HB on Patreon or Substack, you are helping more people than you can possibly know. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed and if you can’t support financially, please share with a friend. To celebrate this launch, you can redeem a permanent discount on your subscription:

Get 50% off forever

Sunrise

So, onto the honking. I read Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins and I have not been able to stop thinking about it since. We are the masses, we have the power, and this must-read dystopian novel feels less hyperbolic every day. It provides guidance on the ways propaganda seeps into the stories we tell ourselves and how we can form resistance individually and as communities. I would LOVE to see you at our creative workshops this weekend, inspired by this wonderful piece of art, whether you are familiar with The Hunger Games Series or not. As always, email hi@poetryorchard.com if you need a free ticket. The following is a poem that is featured in the book:

The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose from off the common

But leaves the greater villain loose

Who steals the common from off the goose.

The law demands that we atone

When we take things we do not own

But leaves the lords and ladies fine

Who take things that are yours and mine.

The poor and wretched don’t escape

If they conspire the law to break;

This must be so but they endure

Those who conspire to make the law.

The law locks up the man or woman

Who steals the goose from off the common

And geese will still a common lack

Till they go and steal it back

— Anonymous, "The Goose and the Common"

This was originally written by an anonymous author during a period of social injustice caused by the privatisation of common land during the enclosures in England. It is still so relevant today and has quickly become my new favourite poem, so much so that I wrote my own poem inspired by it! Of course it was written in a Poetry Orchard Workshop!

Rebel turned to Rubble 
after The Goose and the Common

Microscopic mistakes magnified till my soul breaks

crushed under the weight

and it’s just what you wanted

another woman beyond exhausted

another rebel turned to rubble

just another principled plan

rubbed out by the thumb of a man

in the dead of night when I’ve time to think it all through

I think I can begin to understand. I’d be scared of me too.

but that’s just one more excuse

one more screw loose

one more chance to give the common back its goose.

As long as we are here, we have the chance to reclaim the common— and we must not give it up! We have opposable thumbs where geese don’t. We have voices we must use, we have the power, and so many lovely people are doing wonderful things and this is what we must hold onto.

Pour A Cup of Compassion

Reply to this email with something you think deserves more awareness and together we can make the world a more compassionate place!

This month we’re pouring a cup of compassion for the Trans Communi-tea!!!

As we are all aware, trans people have been scapegoated and used as a political pawn, which can make one dwell in a deep pit of despair… BUT this might be… a good sign?! WHAT?? It’s along the lines of it’s-always-darkest-before-the-dawn things-get-worse-before-they-get-better and can be described as an extinction burst.

So, let’s support our trans friends!! Here are just a few members of this communi-tea who also happen to be talented trans trailblazers:

Poet and Writer, Hannah! https://www.instagram.com/hannahsswords/

Editor and Writer, Steph! https://substack.com/@stephmcollinwrites

Author and Artist, Vincent! https://bsky.app/profile/vinfrankenstein.bsky.social

Why not promote your favourite queer creators this month to your friends?!

Love,

HB x

May Favourites

☀️ Good News: One of my dearest friends asking me to be her bridesmaid <3

📚 Book: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

📺 TV: Daisy Jones & The Six

🍿 Movie: Following the Goose theme: The Wild Robot! A heartwarming tale that is moving for all ages.

In this month’s letter, you’ll enjoy…

• A Satirical Graphic on the mistreatment of disabled people

• The top 3 policies I believe could improve the world

• A poem inspired by Taylor Swift and ableism

• Blossom’s April Favourites!

Guess who hasn’t been unclenching their jaw?? I managed to chip my tooth from teeth grinding this month, any advice greatly appreciated ;) Okay- get ready, Inhaaaale… hold. Exhaaaale. Let’s get into it.

Human Digni-tea

For those of you who have had to deal with any bureaucratic systems, the following letter may seem familiar to you. I am relieved and repulsed to note that you are not alone: after posting this satirical graphic, hundreds of disabled people got in touch to tell me that their countries are similarly careless in their treatment of our vulnerable community.

It is unacceptable that systems supposedly designed to support us, instead put more pressure, stress, and admin work on disabled people, at the very time we need the most care. On top of this, on top of our already impossible symptoms, on top of our health care management, we must face being villainised by politicians and the media, forced to justify our existence.

So, you want disabled people to work? Let’s talk about it.

I write to you with severe back and hand pain from equipment that is not fit for me to use, and a headache from the hold music that I have had to endure for hours while waiting for 'Access to Work' to help me... access work. It's been over a year. This system is not fit for purpose.

And it’s not the only one.

These systems promise to help, but often do more harm. I have experienced:

• incredible difficulty accessing PIP (I was denied twice)

• reapplying for a blue badge every 3 years (despite having lifelong disabilities that aren’t curable)

• my mother sacrificing much of her life to act as my unpaid carer, and upon finally receiving carer’s ‘allowance’ (what a dimunitive term for labour that saves our country billions each year) earning only £2 per hour, with a limit on how much she can earn overall.

• medical gaslighting across the NHS for over a decade in order to be properly diagnosed (and even then not being given the correct support or guidance)

• near death experiences from medical negligence

Hearing my stories echoed by thousands of other disabled people, it is clear to me the problem is not us. The problem was never disabled people. The problem is and has always been the abhorrent, torturous, dehumanising systems that scapegoat the most vulnerable.

I have been a councillor, I am a volunteer, I am a founder, I am a worker, I am a friend, a daughter, a person who helps others every day, I contribute to the economy, I try to give back to my communities as much as I possibly can: I am a valuable member of society. As are the millions of other disabled people who live in this world. We should not have to prove why we are worthy of being treated like human beings.

Yet governments around the world are failing to give us the dignity we deserve.

We must improve these systems by redesigning them WITH the people they are supposedly created for, and ensuring that those people are treated with at least a modicum of human dignity.

How can we do this? Here’s my top 3 policies that I believe could improve the quality of life for the majority of people:

1. Proportional Representation

True democracy means power to the people, but do the people have power if they aren’t being accurately represented? Learn more about different voting systems from CGP Grey’s YouTube Channel!

2. Wealth Tax

This one is self-explanatory, I hope. There should not be such a vast gap between the rich and poor, wealth should be redistributed. We should be more open to criticising people who hoard wealth by exploiting others, rather than demonising vulnerable groups like trans people, disabled people, and refugees. Not only would it raise more money, it would allow us all to be more united.

3. Universal Basic Income

Take the administrative costs that are used to berate disabled people alone, and you wouldn’t need to test whether someone is eligible for benefits! We’d have enough money for everyone to receive a baseline income.

You can learn about the UK government’s plans for disability benefits here. If you live in the UK, have your say by filling in this form to give the government feedback on their ‘reforms’!

An exciting project on Workplace Intervention for Sustainable Health and Employment Support is looking for disabled people to join its lived experience group! Involvement will be 4-6 online meetings per year, paid for in vouchers. Find out more here.

If you’re outside the UK, why not Share Tea with HB to raise awareness for social justice issues, and write to your local representative to see what their views are on these policies?

Don’t Blame Me

The insecurity that can seep in from internalised ableism or growing up as ‘the weird kid’ is something I am constantly working on. Written in a Poetry Orchard workshop, this is my way of battling those doubts through humour!

After The Eras Tour

I roll into a room, romance on the cards—

no wait, that doesn’t sound right

that’s not how a love story starts

we were both young when I first saw you—

except now I am 24 and that feels past my peak, seven

feet in the swing, and I’m back in the playground

I think they made the buddy bench for me—

how does it feel, to be six and branded

unloveable?

and that was back when I could walk.

I know my ability to flirt shouldn’t depend on two legs—

but sometimes it feels like it does

grab my blue badge and your hand—

I know I was an acquired taste long before being drenched in disabled gravy.

Can’t blame the crippling chronic pain for this one

but please—

don’t blame me

I am a firm believer that we are all creatives, we just lack safe spaces to get inspired– so if you’d like to meet incredible people and nurture your creative flair, sign up for our newsletter and our discord to join in!

Tea with HB offers valuable free support and education for hundreds of vulnerable people. If you enjoy these letters, consider donating to help me sustain this wonderful communi-tea!

Donate

Thanks for reading, swee-tea,

HB x

April Favourites

☀️ Good News: Beautiful weather, brave mother, beloved friends <3

📚 Book: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, A must-read for current times! Collins explores resistance and rebellion, providing guidance on the ways propaganda and division prevents us from feeling compassion.

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

📺 TV: Love on the Spectrum

🍿 Movie: The Station Agent

🍜 Food: Thank you Xander and Mel for preparing absolute FEASTS for us to enjoy every day xoxo

How to Find Hope

If Hope were a child, her favourite game would be hide and seek. How do we cope with the headlines? How do we feel anything but despair? How do we do the ‘right’ thing without spiralling into decision paralysis? Today I hope we can find some answers together.

Here’s my icy take on ‘doing the right thing’:

We are individuals. We did not design these systems. It is not fair, nor is it productive, for us to take on the pressure and responsibility to be morally perfect. Those who do engage in moral perfectionism often seem to develop a superiori-tea complex that I have seen do more damage than good.

Hold onto your morals, but do not let them distract you. Do not spiral into decision paralysis, take action. Do not beat yourself up for using google, meta, substack, whatever, if any other option causes you more harm/inconvenience— that is how they win. We are too distracted to change the BIG systemic things because we are trying to make microscopic ‘positive impact’ decisions. Remember who the real enemy is— it’s not you.

‘It's important to know who the real enemy is, and to know the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn't shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Someone says you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary. There will always be one more thing.’

— Toni Morrison

These wise words from Toni Morrison have so many layers, and resonate deeply. Marginalised groups spend so much time trying to prove themselves, justifying their existence, convincing people they deserve rights. This is a control tactic, and a waste of time.

Whether it is race, gender, disability, or anything else, when marginalised people are making headlines in the way they have been recently, think scapegoat. Think distraction. Think, no, I will not be divided. I will not be turned against fellow human beings.

As a sociologist, I need to tell you: Your overwhelm is the goal.

The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine"—using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual; it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits. Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy. Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage. The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement. What now?

1. Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.

2. Use aggregators and experts. Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.

3. Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.

4. Practice going slow: Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context.

5. Build community. Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload. Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance

— Jennifer Walter

I found this through Anna Akana who is one of my favourite creators. She uses humour to summarise life-changing topics, and provides snapshots of things that have helped her in therapy for those who cannot afford it. I felt so much relief reading it. Permission to stop thinking about every single injustice that is occurring. Acknowledging that overwhelm is an emotion that requires processing. Prioritising community and supporting each other. I am still struggling to choose my 2-3 key issues, but I think my skills lie in building community and advocating for marginalised groups.

The best thing we can do is hold onto is hope, because it’s the one thing they don’t want you to have. It’s the one thing they can’t take away.

This is NOT the end of the world, it is the pain of revolution. And any revolution needs good art, so here’s a few things that have helped me and I hope exploring them will stoke the embers of your own hope-flame.

For when you’re feeling HOPELESS

A Playlist to help you feel better about the Climate Crisis

Humankind: A Hopeful History a book that will help you find your lost optimism

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto systemic oppression is burnout fuel, this is a cure.

For when you’re being SELF-CRITICAL

A Playlist for Self-Compassion (watch all of Anna Akana’s videos!)

The Good Place The only comfort show that is certain to trigger an existential crisis!

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by the same writer ^

For when you feel like the only person who has NOTICED HOW BAD THINGS ARE

The Hunger Games Explores propaganda, commodification, inequity, and more

Severance Corporate life getting you down? Wouldn’t you like to never work again…

Jameela Jamil’s newsletter:

A Low Desire To Please with Jameela Jamil

How to spend the end of the world

Before I start, I just wanted to briefly say, holy shit, thank you so much for your unbelievably warm and kind reaction to my last post about my health. I had no idea how many of you felt exactly the same way. I kept tearily refreshing my page again and again, and each swipe would reveal another little light in the dark loneliness of chronic illness. Yo…

Read more

a year ago · 638 likes · 70 comments · Jameela Jamil

And to end, here’s a very cute music video, because lovely people still exist and they are creating lovely things every day!

Support Tea with HB!

let me tuck you in with the love i have for others

I’d stroke your hair back like your mother

forgive you for all the tempers you lost 

remind you it’s not your fault 

but a cost

a price you pay for living in pain

a tax on your body, a tarnish on your brain

how proud you should be for the person you’ve become

what a wonder it is 

for this is a trial you can never outrun

This poem was written at a Poetry Orchard workshop, inspired by how difficult it is to foster self-compassion, cope with chronic pain, and deal with normal-life-stuff. Subscribe below for free to join an international community of other creatives and grow your craft!

Poetry Orchard

Grow your creativity with Poetry Orchard! 🍊 Workshops 🍒 Editing Services 🍓 Open Mics 🍍 International, Inspiring, Inclusive.🧃

Pour A Cup of Compassion

Reply to this email with something you think deserves more awareness and together we can make the world more compassionate place!

This month we’re pouring a cup of compassion for YOU

Please give yourself grace, whatever that looks like for you. These times are incredibly difficult. Have a snack, a beverage, a sip of fresh air! Looking after yourself and others might manifest as community organising and writing to your local politician, but it can also look like watching a comfort show and eating copious amounts of sushi. Both are valid! All are needed. Before anything else, please take care of your basic needs.

Communi-tea Spotlight!

If you would like to be featured in our new Communi-tea Spotlight, please use this form to let me know what you would like to collaborate on and how you would like to be featured! Thank you to all the wonderful creatives who have already filled it in, I am so excited to ‘pass the mic’!

Collab with Blossom!

Love,

HB x

March Favourites

☀️ Good News: I…. got my dream job?!

📚 Book: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, A Tasty Morsel of a read with a beautiful representation of a mother-daughter relationship.

📺 TV: Paradise on Disney+ a great show from the awesome Dan Fogleman (Tangled, Crazy Stupid Love, This is Us, Only Murders in the Building) which has slightly filled the gaping hole Severance has left within me!!!

🍿 Movie: Escape from Pretoria if anything should give us hope, it is all the people who came before and fought for the rights we protect today.

🍜 Recipe: Gimbap! I used my friend Emily’s recipe, but this is a good one!

Having principles can be annoying and expensive. (And make you insufferable to talk to at parties.) But it beats the alternative.

Casey Newton, Platformer

I want Tea with HB to exist!

Substack has a Nazi Problem.

It all started when I read an article written by Substack’s CEO, Chris Best:

Approvingly citing Musk/X and Zuck/Meta, Substack reiterates its commitment to support Nazis, antisemites, anti-vaxxers, transphobes, and homophobes in spreading disinformation & hate under the guise of “free speech”.

Jason Kottke

Best claims that Elon Musk ‘deserves a lot of credit for advancing freedom of speech on X.’ and praised Mark Zuckerberg for the DEI changes he has made to Meta recently. You can read the full thing here:

Substack Reads

The fight for free speech in 2025 and beyond

Principles have a price. Anyone can stand up for their values when it’s popular and easy, but principles are tested when standing up has a cost…

Read more

a year ago · 3878 likes · 1111 comments · Chris Best

Best has a very different definition of ‘freedom of speech’ compared to me, the Equality Human Rights Commission, and the United Nations. We understand that our liberty does not give us a license to harm others. So when you incite violence against minority groups or take part in hate speech, you are not exercising your right to freedom of speech, you are, in fact, impinging on other people’s right to exist without being discriminated against. Freedom can only exist when all of us are free to exist and are treated as equals.

When Kottke wrote ‘Substack reiterates its commitment to support Nazis’ I thought… hang on a second— reiterates?! To my horror and disgust, Substack has had a Nazi problem for a long time, and even after 250+ writers wrote a collective letter to them in protest it’s only doubling-down by partnering with… proto-fascists

What is perhaps most disturbing is that this all means that Substack is brazenly violating its own Content Guidelines:

Hate

Substack cannot be used to publish content or fund initiatives that incite violence based on protected classes. Offending behavior includes credible threats of physical harm to people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or medical condition.

… So, I would like to leave.

There is no such thing as a perfect place on the internet. But it’s possible to avoid the ones that aren’t even pretending to try to be better. The best time to leave Substack was a long time ago. The second best time is now.

Marisa Kabas

and I think you would too? The trouble is, I do not share the resources that other publications have, maybe you don’t either, so this is… sticky.

Creatives Deserve Compensation!

I believe writers, creatives of any kind, deserve to be paid for their work. However, I have never applied that belief to the work I do. The intersection in which I exist as a disabled creative means not being fairly compensated is hardly even controversial. That’s not how it should be. I am not living by my principles if I continue working for free. I am also not living by my principles if I monetise on Substack.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I can live by my principles in this world. If anyone knows of any alternatives that are as user friendly, as widely populated, as inexpensive as substack, I would love to hear about them. But so far, from my research, there is no free alternative that wouldn’t cost me in health, something I cannot afford to lose more of.

The internet is where we spend our time, it is like a country. So, just as we would protest if we saw sexism, ableism, or any other violation of human rights in our own country, just as we would avoid a homophobic restaurant, we should vote with our attention, and move it to a platform that cares for its community? The trouble is, right now I am not sure such a platform exists. So, just as we pay taxes when we don’t agree with all of our respective countries’ policies, we continue using platforms we don’t agree with. I am hopeful conversations like this will change that in the future.

After many conversations with this communi-tea, I believe erasing Tea with HB from this platform will do more harm than good. I am not a big enough influence to convince others to leave, not when there are so many incredible creatives here who aren’t going anywhere. The few people I do reach here will benefit from the support and comfort my resources offer.

So, after much deliberation, I have decided to continue creating free content on substack while searching for alternatives, and using patreon for financial support, a place I am more comfortable giving your hard earned money to! There’ll be more drawings, poetry, musings, and a special project coming soon too. So what are you waiting for?! Help me create a better future for vulnerable people all over the world!

This does not mean my work will be paywalled! Whilst I believe creators deserve to be paid, you also know I prioritise affordability and access, which is why if you reply to this email, I will happily give anyone who needs it free access. This makes it all the more special when those who can support financially do so, because you are subsidising those who can’t yet afford to!

I know there will be other people who have suffered from this same ethical quandary, and I think it is important to write and share musings even if I don’t have the answers. I am hoping somebody will reply, showing me a way forward that isn’t using Substack. Until then, I would rather continue creating, community-building, caring, without letting thought spirals paralyse me.

Substack has been praised for being a safe haven after people finally grew tired of Meta and Tiktok’s pandering. Substack is not a safe haven, no platform ever is. But you can be. We are. We make these platforms worth being on. If an app is ever good it is because WE are providing good content— for free. Please make sure you value yourself, your work, your time, whoever you are, creator or not.

Alternatives

Ghost

No free option. Ghost is an open source, decentralised, non-profit, whose founder and CEO John O’Nolan promises that Ghost will remove pro-Nazi content.

Read about Casey Newton’s decision to move to Ghost here

Beehiiv

Free for your first 2,500 subscribers. Beehiiv is incredibly customisable, with new updates all the time, and many monetisation options. 30-day trial + 20% off for 3 months

Read about Craig Calcaterra’s decision to move to Beehiiv here

MailerLite

Free for your first 1000 subscribers.

Buttondown

Free for your first 100 subscribers. A simple and elegant newsletter platform, perfect if you are just starting out.

Kit

Free for your first 10,000 subscribers.

Social Media Alternatives

BlueSky

Bluesky is decentralised, open source, and designed never to be controlled by one single company.

Mastodon

Mastodon is a decentralised, open source, self-hosted, social networking service.

Or try a timeline app that consolidates your favourite feeds so you only have to check one thing!

As always, nowhere is perfect and any of these companies could fall foul of the capitalism and right-wing temptation traps. But that is why it is so important to own your audience in the form of a mailing list, and diversify the platforms on which you create. We must keep updating the platforms we use rather than being bound to them.

Pour A Cup of Compassion

Reply to this email with something you think deserves more awareness and together we can make the world more compassionate place!

This month we’re pouring a cup of compassion for disabled people!

Recently the Government announced plans to cut disability benefits, a decision that leaves many disabled people even more vulnerable and scapegoats disabled people as the problem when we are faced with enough discrimination and barriers already. This comes after the United Nations found that the UK government has made ‘no significant progress’ to improve disabled people’s rights. But you can help! Email your GP using this template and if you’re international, why not find out what support there is for disabled people where you live?

In solidari-tea and endless hope,

HB x

February Favourites

☀️ Good News: This was my best Winter in years and years, and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am. A mix of physio, the Center Parcs tropical dome, and hugs from my niece have definitely contributed.

📚 Book: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

📺 TV: Severance. Severance!!! SEVERANCE! Seriously, beloved, if you haven’t yet dived into this enrapturing show that is providing so many thoughtful reflections on our society, you are missing out!

🍿 Movie: Mrs Doubtfire, a classic.

🍜 Recipe: Hit reply if you’d like me to write up and share some of my OWN recipes!

🎶 Music: Be the main character! I created a playlist of bops from the 2000’s, have a dance to it in the morning, 100%* guaranteed to improve your day

(*we surveyed one (1) person)

Please note some links may be affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through them I will earn a small amount at no extra cost to you!

Celebrating 500 Readers!

This month, we reached 500 readers! My heart is SO full. I would love to use this milestone to highlight the wonderful creatives I know are in this communi-tea. If you would like to be featured in our monthly Communi-tea Spotlight, please use this form to let me know what you would like to collaborate on and how you would like to be featured!

Collab with Blossom!

This is not limited to creatives, if you have any project or something you would like to bring more attention to, or even something like a YouTube video you think everyone should see, please use this form to let me know or email me at teawithhb@gmail.com

I would also like to take this opportunity to re-introduce myself, and I hope you’ll reply so I can learn more about you too!!!

My name is Blossom, and I created the podcast Tea with HB back in 2020 to help people learn how to look after their bodies and minds. The 'HB' in Tea with HB stands for my full first-name Holly Blossom. Spikey and Sweet. Winter and Spring. Looks 'healthy' and deals with 'invisible' chronic illnesses and disability. My dream is to provide the education, support, and comfort that I wished for as a child. To create a more compassionate world. Over the last 5 (!!!) years, we have grown into an international communi-tea of almost 10,000 people who share that dream. Thank you!

In case you missed it, you can take our 2024 survey here I want to hear your thoughts! Plus, it’s just 5 minutes! :)

Share Tea with HB

New Year… No Pressure!

It seems that in recent years there has been a trend to give up ‘resolutions’ and have more patience with ourselves, understanding that in the midst of winter, productivity is probably the last thing we should focus on. With that in mind, my next Creative Writing Workshop, Girl Moss: Rest as Rebellion, is all about taking things gently! ALL creatives are welcome, and we offer tiered pricing (as well as free tickets on request.)

However, I know many people still struggle with the pressure of a New Year, particularly when it comes to body image and creating goals surrounding that. I believe we should raise awareness for important issues even if they don’t impact us personally. Even though I have never struggled with and eating disorder, I can relate as someone with a body that often feels alien to them (hi, chronic pain!) and who is constantly comparing themselves to others and trying to stop (hi, social media!)

I wanted to share two resources that I have found educational as someone who knows what a struggle body image issues can be, the first is a Kurzgesagt video on exercise, and the second is a student survey on body image, exercise, nutrition, and how you can decide how it impacts your life! I hope at the very least this lets you know you are not alone, and that millions of us struggle with comparison, negative thoughts, and more.

Pour A Cup of Compassion

This is new section I am considering adding to my monthly love letters. Share something we can contribute towards to make the world more compassionate and I will feature it next month!

This month we’re pouring a cup of compassion for tax inequality! Rutger Bregman (author of Human Kind!) is exploring a way to recruit a SWAT-team of 12 brilliant tax specialists, legal experts, policy wonks, communication specialists and investment managers to fight for Tax Fairness and a global billionaire’s tax. You can support taxing billionaires here!

Discord Community

From sharing pain management tips, our favourite books, tv shows, films, and creating crafts together, to asking each other for advice, playing games, and making new friends, there’s nothing like the solidari-tea you’ll find on Tea with HB discord. The first 10 people to click this link will be able to join the discord communi-tea for FREE and we can’t wait to get to know you. Otherwise, you can join by donating on Ko-fi or becoming a patron

Love,

HB x

January Favourites

☀️ Good News: CENTER PARCS! The first truly relaxing holiday I have had in yearssss! Greeted by two deer upon arrival, the forest views were idyllic. They even had wheelchairs in the subtropical paradise so I didn’t feel left out at all! A balmy escape at nearly 30 degrees, the subtropical paradise is an indoor dome filled with tropical plants, hot tubs, slides, and pools was the highlight of our trip! Well, except for my niece’s cuddles— nothing tops that!

📚 Book: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

📺 TV: The Traitors, Desperate Housewives, XO Kitty

🍿 Movie: The Wind in the Willows (Terry Jones’ Version!)

🍜 Recipe: Turmeric and Ginger Shots! Perfect to boost your immuni-tea this time of year. Take the juice and zest of one lemon, a large knob of ginger, two small roots of turmeric, two large tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (this does wonders for soothing a sore throat- add to any hot drink!) and don’t forget a generous helping of black pepper!! Add to a blender with small amounts of water until a paste like consistency is reached, then freeze in an ice cube tray. Place an ice cube in a mug and add hot water when needed or forego freezing and add an apple, carrot, and stick of celery to your blender to create a refreshing juice! Enjoy!

🎶 Music: wilt in winter, a playlist to help us get to spring!

How was 2024 for you? I would love to know if you have a word, goal, or vibe for 2025! Please hit reply and share them with me! You can read my own 2024 reflections here.

2024 Survey

If you take 5 minutes to do anything today, do this survey! I can’t wait to hear from you. Your feedback will directly impact the future of this liddle love letter and is deeply appreciated!

Take Survey

Or, if you don’t have time or spoons, you can just take this poll :)

Communi-tea Spotlight!

Recommendations for other chronically ill/neurodivergent creators and writers! Let me know of some creators YOU love and don’t be afraid to plug yourself :)

• Diva Parekh

• Nashira de la Rosa

• Lauren Hooper

  Writing Through

  Coming back to writing despite, and because of, everything else.

  By K.S. Palakovic
  The Shy Sprout 🌱

  A chronicle on mental health throughout the freelance and creative journey

  By Maria Helena Mikkelsen

Wordy and Wheely

The whimsical wafflings of a wordsmith on wheels. A newsletter continuation of my previous blog, "Wordy and Wheely" charts the joys and struggles of navigating culture, creativity, and a career in both, whilst disabled, neurodivergent, queer and trans.

By Jessi Parrott

Join our Communi-tea!

Whether it’s a one-off donation or a monthly membership your support really means the world.

From discussing our favourite books, tv shows, films, and creating crafts together, to asking each other for advice and making new friends, there’s nothing like the solidari-tea you’ll find on Tea with HB discord. You can join the discord communi-tea FREE for a limited time here! If you are unable to support financially, please share TeawithHB.com with a friend, and make sure you take the survey!

Thank you for coming along on this journey with me, see you in 2025!

Love,

HB x

Share Tea with HB

Please note some links may be affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through them I will earn a small amount at no extra cost to you!

This love letter is dedicated to the friends who have offered to change my bedding for me, no shame attached, who have delivered freezer meals when I have been sick, and who have given me subscriptions to entertainment services because they know in the absence of painkillers, distraction is the next best thing. Gifts do not have to be expensive to be good, and often with chronic pain, it is these acts of service style gifts that are most valuable. With that in mind, here is the ultimate gift guide, for your chronically ill and disabled friends, and everyone else! Because, when you really talk to people, a lot of us are struggling with same thing, disabled or not. Opening jars, comfortable seating, sleep trouble, back pain, needing entertainment…

The Ultimate Gift Guide

1. Subscriptions Whether it’s a delivery of tea, flowers, snacks, stationery, or books, there are loads of options to make someone’s day or month!

2. Virtual Subscriptions You can gift music, film + tv streaming services, or a subscription to an online creator through Patreon! I will of course take the opportunity to promote Tea with HB and Poetry Orchard, because they have truly helped people feel less alone by providing community, workshops, and loads of helpful resources, and I am really proud of that! You can gift a Poetry Orchard Workshop Ticket by choosing the Cherry Jelly Tier here or give the joy of bonus Tea with HB content and access to our communi-tea discord!

3. Shakti You’ve heard me sing the praises of Shakti before because I was given a mat as a gift last year and it has improved my quality of life so, so much! For relaxation, tension relief, and in my case, pain management, any friend you have with back pain will thank you. They have a fantastic sale on at the moment, you can use the code BLACKFRIDAY for 25% off and don’t forget to use my link to get an extra 10% off if you are UK based or use this link if you are based in the USA!

4. Soft, Cozy, Eco-friendly Clothing again, if you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know BAM clothing is a favourite of mine. I very rarely buy new clothes which is why when I do I want them to be environmentally friendly. BAM has you covered and they sell, without a doubt, the most comfortable socks I have EVER worn! Save 20% by using my link!

5. Massage Gun yes, it’s more on the expensive side, but considering how expensive massages can be, it is more than worth it, especially since it is 21% off right now. This theragun is beloved by everyone I know, whether they are in chronic pain or not! The design means you can use it by yourself which is super useful. I had a lotttt of trouble trying to get it directly from the Therabody website, so I would highly recommend going through amazon. (I know we try to avoid amazon, but actually if you are disabled, accessibility should come before everything else! Don’t feel guilty if you need to use it.)

6. Weighted Blanket We all need comfort this time of year, and a weighted blanket is a cozy present anyone will enjoy, as well as being a go-to for helping you sleep better and benefit your mental health! BLOSSOM15 for 15% off!

7. Loops Ear Plugs Whether your loved one enjoys concerts, conversing in a loud restaurant, or has sensory issues because of autism or another condition, loops are another product that I think everyone should own!

8. Jar Opener I love this jar opener. Your friend will too.

9. Coccyx Cushion For those who spend any time sitting, whether in a wheelchair, at a desk, or in a restaurant, everybody should use a Coccyx Cushion, they are just so darn COMFORTABLE!

10. Good.Store 100% profit to charity. Enough said?! Well everyone can use soap, coffee, tea, or socks, so if you have no idea what to get someone, why not give the gift of good?!

If all of these ideas are out of budget for you, or you don’t want to buy new things because it isn’t environmentally friendly, fear not! I have curated a FREE eco-friendly gift guide so that giving is accessible no matter what!

I let hope go once, and it came back to me. Isn’t that true love?

After “Hope” is the thing with feathers By Emily Dickinson

Hope is a gremlin, Hope is a menace,  
hope is my face contorted into a grimace  
Hope is lounging somewhere in the sun  
calling out for us to go on   
a whisper across oceans, a sink in our gut   
arms wrapping round you whilst you do the washing up   
Hope is loyal like a younger sibling or that stain on your dress  
Hope asks nothing of us, yet I feel so much pressure to impress  
Emily, what were you thinking? To believe without duress…

We have a particularly special workshop coming up on, celebrating 2 years of Poetry Orchard with Friendsgiving on Thursday 19th December! ‘Friendsgiving’ is the concept of celebrating Thanksgiving – a holiday traditionally spent with family – with friends instead. The holidays can be a hard time for those who can’t celebrate with their blood family, whether there is a geographical or emotional distance, so we are excited for you to join us in this virtual celebration!

Please consider sharing this gift guide or newsletter with a friend, and thank you as always for taking the time to read!

Love,

HB x

November Favourites

☀️ Good News: I donated 15 inches of my hair to The Little Princess Trust to create wigs for young people impacted by hair loss. I set up a fundraising page so please consider giving money to help fund childhood cancer research (only if you are able to!!) I really, really miss my hair, but it will grow back and is at least much easier to manage haha! Thank you so so much to everyone who has already donated :)

📚 Book: The Hunger Games Trilogy particularly relevant in these troubling times…

📺 TV: Anne with an E and A Man on the Inside

🍿 Movie: Dan in Real Life, Out of My Mind

🖋️ Journal Prompt: What does giving and receiving mean?

🎶 Music: I have created my own ‘lesser known’ Christmas music playlist! I hope you enjoy if you give it a listen!

Please note some links may be affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through them I will earn a small amount at no extra cost to you!

If you’ve spent any time at all on earth, watching wars on the news, observing troll-filled comment sections online, being gaslit by doctors who were meant to help you, getting bullied at school, or double-crossed in your career, you couldn’t be blamed from coming to a common conclusion: human nature is evil.

This belief is so insidious, it often goes without contradiction. Unless you’re sitting around a dinner table with my brother, Xander.

‘The world is just terrible! Everyone is racist and ableist and sexist, what is even the p-’

‘That’s not true! Read this.’

He thrust a book into my hands that would change my life, cure my depression, be balm to all future cynicism, and lead me to discovering the secret to world peace. In other words, I really think everyone should read this book haha!! Including Xander, who hadn’t actually read it at the time of lending it to me, but has a gift for these kinds of things.

Humankind by Rutger Bregman presents a revolutionary way to live: if we are going to make assumptions about people at all, assume they are good:

To stand up for human goodness is to take a stand against the powers that be. For the powerful, a hopeful view of human nature is downright threatening. Subversive. Seditious. It implies that we're not selfish beasts that need to be reined in, restrained and regulated. It implies that we need a different kind of leadership. A company with intrinsically motivated employees has no need of managers; a democracy with engaged citizens has no need of career politicians.

— Humankind by Rutger Bregman

Alongside ‘humans are evil’ to explain the ways of the world, we have another commonly misunderstood justification: ‘survival of the fittest', which disabled people will be all too familiar with. I wrote about why this isn’t the iron clad evidence for eugenics some people think it is here, so you can imagine my excitement to learn about ‘survival of the friendliest’ in Bregman’s book!

Neanderthals may have been smarter on their own than anyone Homo Sapien, but the sapiens cohabited in larger groups, migrated from one group to another more frequently, and may also have been better imitators. If Neanderthals were a superfast computer, we were an old-fashioned PC- with Wi-Fi. We were slower but better connected.

— Humankind by Rutger Bregman

It is not intelligence, health, or brute strength that is our superpower, but friendliness. Internalised ableism is something we all struggle with every day (disabled or not!) Feeling like a burden, that asking for help is annoying, and needing help is shameful, and embarrassing, and weak. This is not only unpleasant to experience, it is incorrect. It could not be further from the truth! Our ability to connect and help each other, to be kind, is the reason we survive.

However, it is not enough to believe people are kind on an individual level. There must be a cultural shift where we can use this core belief to shape our perspective of humanity, every person, not just those we know, love, and empathise with:

Go ahead and try it: imagine yourself in the shoes of one other person. Now imagine yourself in the shoes of a hundred other people. And a million. How about seven billion? We simply can't do it. 

In practical terms, says Professor Bloom, empathy is a hopelessly limited skill. […] Just as empathy misleads us by zooming in on the specific, the news deceives us by zooming in on the exceptional. 

One thing is certain: a better world doesn't start with more empathy. If anything, empathy makes us less forgiving, because the more we identify with victims, the more we generalise about our enemies. The bright spotlight we shine on our chosen few makes us blind to the perspective of our adversaries, because everybody else falls outside our view. This is the mechanism that puppy expert Brian Hare talked about - the mechanism that makes us both the friendliest and the cruellest species on the planet. The sad truth is that empathy and xenophobia go hand in hand. They're two sides of the same coin.

— Humankind by Rutger Bregman

The answer to cruelty is compassion. Even for those we don’t agree with. Perhaps especially for them.

Hopefully all this is enough to entice you to read this spectacular book! Thankfully you don’t have to take my word for it— I invited my dear friend Patrick O’Ferrall to share his reflections, as being 67 years my senior with well-seasoned life experience, I felt it would be appropriate!

After nine decades of experiencing the joys and sorrows of family and working life I have just finishing reading this book. I have appreciated the wisdom I have found in it and been pleased to see its more positive view of human nature than you normally find in the media.

It has also encouraged me to stick with the principles I have tried to follow in my life and my beliefs. As I have become older and a bit infirmed I have benefitted greatly from the kindness of strangers on many occasions – kindness shown without any hesitation but given with thought and care in relation to my needs. The author warns about the news as presented in the media and slant in which the stories are written to suit the ethos of the medium concerned.

I was struck by what is written about the importance of dialogue with people who have opposing views to one’s own. Personally I have always tried to engage with such people as a matter of necessity. I commend the ten Rules [this is how Bregman ends his book] to live by as a valuable document which should be pinned on the walls of any home or workplace.

— Patrick O’Ferrall

Thank you!

For being here, for reading, for wanting to shape a more compassionate world. If you’d like to meet some kindred spirits, I am running poetry workshops inspired by optimism, food, friendship, and more in November! Whether it’s a one-off donation, or a monthly membership your support for this communi-tea shows me every day that humans are kind!

Love,

HB x

October Favourites

☀️ Good News: So much! Jennie FINALLY watched Heartstopper, Emily taught me some yummy Korean recipes, Xander got me Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life which is a favourite farming game (formerly known as Harvest Moon) from our childhood, and also introduced me to an awe-inspiring National Trust place!

📚 Books!!!

Fiction: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty A mystery with beautifully drawn characters and great representation of chronic pain!

Non-fiction: So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson A must read for anyone who partakes in social media…

Autobiography: Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci A treat for food lovers!

Poetry: Increased Risk by Shannon Lee Barry I wish everyone would read this so that those of us who experience chronic pain could be better understood. 

📺 TV: Heartstopper!!! Anyone who has spent any time with me knows I am OBSESSED!!!!!!!!

🍿 Movies: Moonrise Kingdom, What If?, Wicked Little Letters

🍜 Recipe: Sticky Garlic Aubergine by Liz Miu

🖋️ Journal Prompt: What is a core belief you have never questioned?

🎶 Music: The soundtrack to Heartstopper Season 3, duh!

Please note some links may be affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through them I will earn a small amount at no extra cost to you!

I hope this finds you with an autumnal beverage, if not get yourself one (if you can!) and come on back!

Got it? Good! It is truly heartwarming that you would take the time to read this! Last month I got vulnerable about my mental illnesses, and I have published a fully updated list of things that help me with anxiety/panic attacks/PTSD here in case you missed it!

Pain Management

As many of you know, I have spent over a decade searching for pain management. One thing that has significantly improved my life is a Shakti Acupressure Mat, which I was given by a beloved family member last Christmas. In response to my blog post last month, Shakti gifted me a weighted clay wrap that is microwavable (I have been using it every day, it is bliss) and an acupressure headband, as well as inviting me to become part of their brand new affiliate program!

It feels awesome to recommend a company that not only creates fantastic and genuinely helpful products, but also gives 10% of all profits to charity, is environmentally conscious, and really respects their customers and employees. With a 60 Day Trial and an ethos like that, you know just what to put on your gift list this year! You can use the code BLOSSOM10 in the UK and BLOSSOM10 in the USA for 10% off, and I will earn a little bit as commission. Until the 6th Oct this code will be stackable!

After many recommendations from y’all to try out a weighted blanket for anxiety, I reached out to Kudd.ly who were kind enough to create the discount code BLOSSOM15 for 15% off their weighted blankets! I have really enjoyed discovering the comfort of weighted blankets, as has my dog Tonks! I think it has definitely reduced my nightmares and helped my sleep.

For more ideas on pain management, check out my amazon list and my website!

Now I want to know…

What has helped your pain/mental health?

Gift giving season is coming up and if you are anything like me, you could use some inspiration!

As always, anything I earn from Tea with HB goes directly towards supporting disabled and vulnerable people globally, whether it’s creating and distributing free resources through my website, or running our communi-tea discord and hosting events! I only ever recommend something if I have used it myself and LOVED it. Your support is eternally appreciated!

ugly ungratified girl

It has come to my attention that many people have a voice in their head that tells them they are manipulating their loved ones… This is horrid. So, of course, I wrote a poem about it in a recent Poetry Orchard Workshop! I hope it helps you feel less alone if your mind is a rough n tumble sea like mine is.

Everseeking sympathy,

I’m a seasoned pro.

Did I manipulate them to love me? 

And how will I ever know? 

Is the chaos only in my mind?

Or are these seeds I let you sow?

Did I rot the apple tree? 

Will I wilt whilst watching you grow? 

Bitter to my core 

That you could love her more

but I know it’s all a show. 

The curtains won’t ever close

and you must be exhausted, love

In those tattered 
emperor’s 
clothes

Poetry Orchard has a brand new website and I would love it if you would give it a visit! Leave us feedback by emailing hi@poetryorchard.com! If you’d like to meet some awesome people and nurture your creative flair through writing, drawing, or in any other way, we have workshops coming up inspired by Taylor Swift, Autumn, Optimism, and more!

Brew Crew

Over on discord we’ve been having lots of fun in our aptly named ‘Brew Crew’ calls (thanks for coining the term, Nashira!) From playing word games together and supporting each other through health difficulties, to praising each other’s crafting talents, and sharing book/game/film recommendations, it’s the perfect place to make a new friend! Reply to this email and ask for a communi-tea discord link to join for free. If you are able to, please consider giving a one-off donation or becoming a monthly member to be added automatically! Being able to sustain this wonderful communi-tea is only possible with your support, thank you so so much!

My mission is to create a more inclusive and compassionate world, so share Tea with HB with a friend to spread the love!

Love,

Blossom/HB x

September Favourites

☀️ Good News: I turned 24! I love sharing a birthday with my Mumma. And…

Akan Books has launched! It is an imprint created to find writers from underrepresented communities, with a focus on giving a voice to unpublished authors from ethnic minority backgrounds, those who identify as working-class, and authors with disabilities. I am so excited that strides for accessibility are being made in this industry!

📚 Book: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

📺 TV: Heartstopper

🍿 Movie: Frozen 1&2, Inside Out 2 (ouch)

🍜 Recipe: Maangchi’s Quick Kimchi! Also fantastic as a marinade for tofu!

🖋️ Journal Prompt: How would you like to use screen time more intentionally?

🎶 Music: Everything To Everyone and Snow Angel by Reneé Rapp

Please note some links may be affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through them I will earn a small amount at no extra cost to you!