"Grit is not just simple elbow-grease term for rugged persistence. It is an often invisible display of endurance that lets you stay in an uncomfortable place, work hard to improve upon a given interest and do it again and again." ~ Sarah Lewis
What. A. Year.
There’s no denying 2020 was, frankly, a bitch.
-ette took a break; she needed to. She was trying too hard to be consistent when the rest of the world was not, but she’s back and she’s ready to keep on keeping on. Gone is the upload schedule, gone is the fixation on deadlines. Think of -ette as an unexpected pleasure landing in your inbox when she does; a true surprise. Better put your name on that mailing list or just check back here whenever you remember her - who knows, she might have something new to share.
And I think that’s the message for all of us right now. Do what you can, when you can, but take the pressure off. Grit your teeth and we’ll get through this. So for this 13th edition, we’ve got stories of grit in everyday life: from Toy Addington blazing a path to success in her coaching business to the most marginalised surviving climate change around the world, a look at what the body goes through during the ageing process and a rather tongue-in-cheek zombie survival guide, that we’ve decided to publish because after all of 2020, who knows what could be next?
To our contributors, thank you. To our readers, enjoy. ■
I Can’T Let Anything Control My Mind, Mood, or Money
From the beginning, Toy stepped into adulthood with a plan to be better than what the statistics would predict. She exceeded every goal she set and makes no excuses for the blazing path she has created on her trek towards success in both her professional and personal lives.
Bearing the brunt of climate change
As temperatures rise and climate change becomes even more pronounced, it’s abundantly clear that global warming is a planetary phenomenon that will impact all countries. But the major challenge of the Anthropocene affects some people more than others as its effects are shaped by pervasive and entrenched gender inequality.
Why survivors tell their stories online
Data shows 95 percent of sexual assault survivors don’t report their experiences. Not officially, anyway. They don’t turn to the police; they turn to the internet.
the biology of ageing
Nearly all organisms, from the mighty E.coli to the humble human, experience some form of ageing. Defined as the intrinsic, progressive, and generalised physical deterioration that occurs over time, ageing is ubiquitous and yet far from well understood.
The Zombie Survival Guide
What unites most zombies is the end game: the decimation of the human race via zombification. In a post-apocalyptic world brought on by a highly contagious zombie virus, survival is key.
Kait Rokowski's "A Good Day"
Kait Rokowski’s poem, “A Good Day”, with links to the original and first reading.
