Permission to… what exactly?

Welcome, come on in. Thank you, so much, for being here.

I’m Ingrid and it’s lovely to meet you.

Permission to… travel. My first visit to the exceptional (and windswept!) Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

I’ve been waiting my whole life for permission to write. It wasn’t forthcoming, so I did other things. Became a lawyer, got married, made beautiful babies, moved countries.

Kept waiting.

Did some joyful things, did some unspeakably hard things.

Kept waiting.

I turned 40, and realised that nobody was coming to give me permission. I would have to give myself permission. And so here I am, and here we are.

One of the many benefits of hitting this stage in life is realising there’s no time to mess around. There’s so much to talk about, to write about, to share, and what we have to say matters so much (even though we’re told otherwise). This space will be filled with words and stories from not just myself, but from so many incredible people who are giving themselves permission to do a thing.

Another wonderful part of getting older is that we now know we don’t have to be any one thing, fit in a specific box, or stay in a designated lane. We can be and do and write about all the things.

Permission to… notice. My eldest son’s pause to notice the gorgeous ladybug

All the things

And that’s what you’ll read here – all my things. I share words about my world as a woman, in middle age, as a mother of boys, as an Australian living in The Netherlands, and all the nuance (and mess) that goes along with those. I share interviews with people who are some of those things, or none of those things, and we talk all about their things.

And I’ll be quietly and persistently cheering you on as you write yourself those permission slips, because what the world needs is more of us doing whatever it is we want to do.

In case you’ve been waiting, this is your permission slip. For what? Well, for whatever it is you need it for. And it’s not me giving it to you, it’s you giving it to you.

Tell me, what will you use your permission slip for?

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For me, it's permission to write. What will you give yourself permission to do? Permission features essays and flash fiction by Ingrid Fernandez, as well as contributions of interviews, essays, fiction, poetry and visual art by contributing artists.

People

Ingrid Fernandez

@ingridfernandez

Writing about grief, mid-life, mothering boys, as an Australian living in The Netherlands. Giving myself permission to write, and exploring this need for permission with other mid-lifers giving themselves permission too.