Personal

A few years ago, I read a book called ‘Stolen Focus’ by an author called Johan Hari. What I took away from that book was that we all need to do whatever we can to minimise our phone time and reclaim our lives and focus. The argument in the book was so compelling that I […]

I had to use my app blocker yesterday. I blocked email, Mailchimp, Instagram and Safari – my “distracting” apps. But I didn’t just block them so that I couldn’t be distracted. I blocked them because I felt ashamed, regretful and embarrassed about the email I sent, “This is the best I’ve got”.  I didn’t want […]

Yesterday was a very rocky mental health day for me. Urgh – I can feel the shame rising even as I type that. “Mental health”. For many years, I liked to think that I was invincible and that rocky mental health days were something that happened to other people. Weaker people. And THAT about sums […]

This week, my breastmilk will dry up. After almost seven consecutive years of being pregnant, birthing and breastfeeding, I am no longer sharing life force directly with my children.  I have decided not to have any more children. That is a simple enough sentence to write, but I assure you that it took a lot […]

For 22 years, I avoided the highs and lows of my menstrual cycle by taking an oral contraceptive pill. I told myself, as my mother had told me, that periods and hormones were to be avoided as much as possible.  It wasn’t until I had my first baby in 2020 that I even thought to […]

Who am I? When you think about Lauren Bath, what traits and accomplishments come to mind?  Many of you probably think of me as confident, outgoing and creative.  You might also think of me as entrepreneurial and successful. (Well, when I put my mind to it, anyway.)  I am all of those things. I’m a […]

The last time I felt deeply certain about myself and my place in the world was in Zimbabwe in June 2019.  I’d just finished running back-to-back photography tours, showing a dozen international travellers a country I’d fallen in love with. The tours touched on animal conservation, supported Emmanuel’s family and drew on all of my […]

Ever since I sent my last email, I have had a loose plan to do a final wrap-up of the Awareness Journal launch. I had a couple of emails planned around awareness (in general) and living without regrets. I’ve started drafts for both. Then I planned to send the standard last chance emails – 48 […]

The last month has been the wildest time of my life. I don’t even know how to begin to tell this story. But let me try. Less than two years ago, I felt like my life was out of control. I felt powerless and unclear for the first time ever. I no longer knew who […]