Introducing The Unspoken Word

Where we talk about the things we love to hide

It’s my fortieth birthday tomorrow and if I could have one wish, it would be that everyone was welcome. That we lived in a world where difference was revered, not feared. I believe, for this to be a reality, we all need to get better at showing the parts of ourselves that don’t conform and sharing the experiences we have that we’d normally keep to ourselves.

My biggies are that I have a transgender father, I’m childfree by choice and I live with anxiety. At the other end of the spectrum, I rarely wear a bra and have a chipped tooth because I hit myself in the face with a tennis racket when I was a teenager. Difference comes in all shapes and sizes, for everyone, yet we work so hard to hide it.

The Unspoken Word is a growing collection of personal essays about the things we don’t talk about but should. Mental health, death, money, the reality of long term relationships, the intricacies of human connection, the way in which we have to grapple with our pasts as we get older, menopause, friendship break ups. The list goes on. As I move through my forties, I’m leaning into sharing the parts of life that others might be inclined to hide - in a bid to create connection.

A wise man once told me that my superpower is my honesty. I hope that by channeling my power in this direction I can help others feel less alone in their difference and encourage a collective movement against the conformity of experience.

Branding by Maddy Russell and naming by Kate Phillips

I’m excited to start writing about things that matter to me. For the last three years I have been writing under the banner of ‘Designing for Joy’, an extension of my freelance design business Design for Joy. My love for writing grew from my honest reflections of running a business for the first time and while I’ve loved this stage of my writing journey - it’s time for a shift.

As you can imagine, I have a large archive of content on the subject of running a business of one, and I still like to write open and honest reflections about my business life. However, moving forwards, this content is going to be for paying subscribers only so that I can really lean into writing about the bits we all struggle with but feel nervous to share. Next up, what it actually felt like to go back to an organisation I burnt out at four years ago - spoiler, not great.

I have big plans for The Unspoken Word and they extend beyond me. There are so many things we should be talking about that I don’t have personal experience of myself; miscarriage, infertility, disability, race. I’d love to feature guest writers as the publication grows, using the income I make from paid subscriptions to pay these writers for their words. I even promise to commission a few light hearted pieces to break up the intensity here and there!

So I hope you’re along for the ride. I hope you’re ready to lean into having the conversations we all need to have. And I hope you find some connection here. If you do, please let me know as there is nothing that makes me happier than hearing from someone who’s taken something from my writing.

And if there is a subject you think we should be talking about, if you’re writer who wants to write a piece or you know a writer who would be a great fit - then please get in touch.

So in summary:

• Designing for Joy is now The Unspoken Word

• Every week I’ll be writing a personal essay about something we don’t talk about but should. Coming up: ‘Guilty pleasures’, mental health at work and friendship breakups.

• Occasionally I’ll still write about my experience of running a business of one. This content will be for paying subscribers and I plan to up the honestly. I also have a large archive for you to dig into.

• In future I plan to commission guest writers to write about things I don’t have personal experience of myself. These pieces will be for paid subscribers only.

Thank you for being here. I’ll see you next week for some reflections on being stuck in the middle of life. Now to celebrate the end of a decade and the start of a new one with friends, food and dancing.