This I know for sure

About the book, taken from the introduction:

This is a book about unraveling the layers of our lives and exploring what we find in order to better understand ourselves, our relationships, and our path. Sometimes it seems easier to go through life holding everything in, wrapped up, breath held, eyes forward, but life will always rub up against us—that’s how the pearls are formed. So unraveling is not a bad thing in this context. It’s not coming undone or losing control. It’s letting go in the best possible way, untangling the knots that hold you back, unwrapping the gifts you’ve hidden for too long, unearthing the potential that’s always been there, finally ditching the labels and should-haves, and letting yourself be what you were always meant to be. That’s what I did and what I continue to do to this day. Living mindfully, appreciating what I have, learning to let go of what I no longer need, and practicing kindness as often as I can—especially toward myself. Every layer I unraveled during my recovery taught me something new, and this book explores each layer in turn: how grief reshaped my life, how I found new meaning in the world around me, how I reconnected to my creativity, how I began to understand my past, and how I faced down my own reflection to try to accept the body I live in. Unraveling also helped me learn to appreciate my own company and nurture my important relationships. It is how I found my place in the world and the work I feel compelled to share.

So this is a guidebook of sorts, a collection of my thoughts and theories, illustrated with my beloved Polaroids. At the end of each chapter is a Reflection—a small creative exercise to help you think about the ideas and stories presented in the book. I hope these pages let you see that you are not alone, that your struggles are my struggles too. I don’t have the answers—I’m not sure if anyone really has the answers—but I do have a hell of a lot of questions and perhaps you do too. Some days I wake up and realize that I know absolutely nothing and that my birth certificate must be wrong because I am, in fact, still a child. But I know more than I did at twenty-one and I know more than I did last year. By the time these words are published I will know even more still; but for now, I’m going to record what I know today. As life is one long tangle of todays, this plan should work just fine. I don’t worry too much about tomorrow anymore. All we have is today.

This I know for sure.

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Today sees the start of my small-but-perfectly-formed book blog tour!

Monday 4th — Poppytalk

Tuesday 5th — Ali Edwards, Chookooloonks, Rachel Cole, Tara Mohr

Wednesday 6th — Shutter Sisters, Scoutie Girl, Roots of She, Kelly Rae Roberts

Thursday 7th — Intuitive Bridge, Lisa Sonora Beam

Friday 8th — Kind Over Matter

Friday 15th — Boho Girl, Sfgirlbybay, Brene Brown

A day in Londontown

What’s the true definition of friendship, you ask? It’s when you go to Londontown with friends to see Martha Beck talk at Earls Court, and when everyone in the room has had their book signed, your mate Sas (unbeknown to you) siddles up to Martha and has a wee little chat, which may have included the words ‘my friend Sus wrote a book‘ while giving her a copy. And the very lovely Martha Beck says: ‘ooh good, I needed something to read on the plane to Africa.’

THAT, friends, is true friendship.

My top 10 book secrets


1. There is a photo of me naked hidden in the pages.

2. But, arguably more shocking, the word unicorn appears in the book.

3. I hint at both drug use and masturbation. Yep, I went there.

4. I recount the story of meeting my father 16 years after he left our family home.

5. I share how I embarassed myself in front of my poetry idol.

6. I reveal the four words that changed my entire life.

7. I tell you how I really feel about my wobbly thighs…

8. … after sharing the story of my week on a nudist beach.

9. I ate approximately four jars of Nutella (with a spoon) while writing the first draft.

10. The entire canon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer may have been playing in the background while I edited the second draft.

Bonus: There is only one f-bomb in the entire book. I think this shows great restraint on my part ;)

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Thank you SO MUCH for all your pre-orders yesterday! Currently This I Know is #7 in Creativity and #3 in Death & Grief on Amazon.com, which is above and beyond anything I’d hoped for this little book. Thank you! xx

A very special offer for you

* PLEASE NOTE: The pre-order offer has now closed as the class has started. Thank you for understanding! x

So, I wanted to create a sweet pre-order offer for This I Know that would enhance your experience of reading the book. I ummed and ahhhed about making a brand new course, mindful of the fact that time was running out — and then it hit me. I have a beautiful jewel of a course that has been waiting for the right moment to step back out into the light — it’s called Exploring the Senses and it’s a 30-day dive into sensual living.

I think you’re going to love it.

The goal of the course is the renewal of our senses – becoming more aware of them, how we use them and how we can strengthen them. It’s so easy to jog through life with our eyes shut, our ears closed, our sense of smell dialled down to zero, so we’re going to be gently challenging this as we work through the course. This I Know is all about mindfulness, living in the present moment and mining our lives to uncover the truth about the past and our dreams — I can think of no better way to plug into all that good stuff than through our senses.

The course includes many of the exercises and inquiries that have supported me in my healing journey over the years, which is why I knew it would make such a great accompaniment to the book.

There are also interviews with peeps who inspire me, including Andrea Jenkins, Fabeku Fatunmise, Helene Dujardin and Bridget Pilloud. So I hope this sensual journey will be an enjoyable extra layer of unravelling for you as you read the book.

How to get the course:

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The book can be purchased online from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Chapters and Barnes & Noble — the books are now with retailers, so you won’t have to wait long to get your copy, I promise. If you found This I Know in a bookstore (yay! real bookstores!) then just send us a photo of the book.

BONUS!

As an extra special thank you, and because a) I strongly believe This I Know is meant to be shared with the women in your life, and b) I want to encourage sales to please my publisher (let’s be honest, here :) if you buy THREE books we’ll sign you up to Exploring the Senses AND send you the Photo Meditations ebook ($150 value – 114 pages of awesome) for free!

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PLEASE NOTE: This special pre-order offer will close at midnight GMT on Monday June 4th.

Thank you so much to those of you who’ve already pre-ordered the book! It’s so exciting watching my book baby find her way in the world — with every email I receive from a reader I realise that the book isn’t really about me at all. I mean, I wrote it, sure, but it’s what the reader finds in the pages that’s most important. xx