THE REEL THAT MADE ME CRY IN THE WAITING ROOM

Dear everyone,

This morning, while waiting to see yet another doctor and absentmindedly scrolling Instagram on my phone, I saw that my daughter, Olivia, had made a new reel. This wouldn’t have been anything to write a Substack post about as she makes reels all the time! Olivia lives in the UK; she is a fashion photographer and mixed media artist, as well as an educator, and has used Instagram to communicate for years. I always enjoy watching her talk so confidently on Instagram; it’s been such a pleasure to watch her blossom from the bullied, shy little girl she was at school, to the confident, honest, generous, kind and soft-spoken young businesswoman she is today.

This time, however, the reel wasn’t about Olivia, it was about me. She has made what is practically a short film about how I came to poetry because of health issues, slicing together shots from what I now call “my previous life” (riding  Dominic, my dressage horse, hiking in the mountains, dancing on a beach), with footage of my “new life” which basically consists of staying home and writing poetry.

In her voice-over, she succinctly explained a little about what happened to me, how I turned to poetry to keep myself busy and sane (!), and how she and I collaborated over my new poetry book, Illicit Croissants at Dawn. It’s a beautiful little film, made with so much love, and watching it in the waiting room at the doctor’s this morning made me really emotional.

I’m still emotional now as I prepare to share it with you.

I hope you enjoy it.

Olivia’s work can be seen on her websites: www.oliviabossert.com and www.oliviabosserteducation.com

My poetry book, ILLICIT CROISSANTS AT DAWN, can be found on Amazon. Choose the Amazon closest to you (for Switzerland, go to Amazon.de)

 Thank you for reading!

Take care,

Francesca xx