I wanted to write but my mind has been flighty with thoughts, unable to settle in to a coherent collection of words.
I’ve spent much of March consumed. My head filled with cash flow forecasts and business plans, dancing my nervous system between expansion and safety. Walking my edges.
I wanted to write to tell you about a vision of sorts that I received in late February. A download that came so fully formed that it was unmistakable. Unignorable.
I’m opening a physical space for Studio Dreamland.
Those of you who have been here for a while will know that this isn’t the first time this vision has visited me. Studio Dreamland has been (lovingly) kicking at my shins since 2021.
I thought I was going to open a space here in Nottingham last year. Started that January off with all the best laid plans and charged forth until my gut shouted at me to stop. To get right sized. And so I began to build online. Opened the Patreon and focused on my one-to-one practice. I thought that was it. Thought that this particular business wanted to be online only.
But one day in February Studio Dreamland came and flicked me (lovingly) between the eyebrows. I just knew. Plain as day, same as I know that my heart is beating. She wanted to be tangible. A space with walls and plants and cups of tea, a place where us weirdos could gather in the flesh to tend to our individual and collective wellbeing. To dream together about alternatives to the systems of domination and destruction that we live in.
So here I am, standing at a beginning. At the foot of the mountain. Trusting the mystery of knowing this is the next thing. Jumping in with both feet and backing myself (and Studio Dreamland). Wayfinding the next steps and a little dumbfounded about how to write about it to you. But I guess I’ve done that now? I guess I’ll just keep telling you about it as we go?
And I guess if you live near Nottingham and you want to be part of it then send me a message and say hi. Let’s build together!
And if you want to be a part of it and you don’t live near Nottingham then you could come join the Patreon, because the online side of Dreamland is only going to expand and evolve as we go. It would be so sweet to have you with us in the mystery.
Thoughts in progress:
Part of my personal resistance to the fuckery of late-stage capitalism and neoliberal governance is to nope out of the mechanisms of The System as much as I possibly can. Bank bureaucracy? No thank you. Governmental agencies? I’d rather not. Problem with setting up a physical studio space is that it kinda requires for one to interact with The System. Applying for start up loans and looking to lease spaces has brought exponentially more interaction with the cogs and gears of capitalism into my world.
It’s been making me think about how inherently dehumanising they are. How they often require that we flatten the complexity and diversity of our experience into something that fits within rigid bureaucracy. How it forces nuance into black and white, suffocates the life out of us. How they’re built to dominate. To convince us that we’re powerless in the face of the monolithic systems. It makes me more and more resolute to create spaces for us to remember our humanity.
One of the things I learned from reading Caliban and The Witch with Megan Leatherman last year is that there have always been rebels willing to trouble the structures and systems of capitalism. To find their tricksy way through without sacrificing their humanity and sovereignty. I’m sitting with how I can continue that lineage as I find the funding to birth Studio Dreamland’s physical home. I’d be super curious to hear your experiences of navigating alternative routes to funding big projects. Hit me up in the comments?
Lucy Dacus’s new album Forever is a Feeling came out today! I’ve been gleefully getting sucked into the hype in the lead up — religiously listening to every single that’s come out, poring over lyrics, revelling in the music videos, and devouring interviews.
The sheer enthusiasm of fandom reminds me of teenage me, who loved what she loved wholeheartedly until my 20’s taught me the dubious skills of coolness and cynical nonchalance. Teen me had so few queer icons to squeal over, and being a Lucy fan feels like a small healing for all the shame I lugged around then, thinking that my queerness was abhorrent and dangerous. It fills me with hope that this generation of baby queers might have a slither less shame, getting to see love like theirs sung and celebrated, even as we continue to face systemic threats to our existence.
What’s on:
My 1:1 practice has been expanding this year and the more clients I work with the clearer my scope of practice becomes.
I’m here to support edge dwellers and modern mystics with belonging to themselves and reclaiming their power.
If that’s you, and you’re ready for tender, long-term support from someone who’s just as likely to reference your birth chart and the ways systemic forces impact you, as she is to dive into nervous system science, then let’s talk.
Snippets and bits:
Was watching three decidedly nerdy guys play hide and seek across the whole country of Japan on my comfort viewing bingo card for 2025? No I wasn’t. Am I deliciously pleased that the youtube algorithm gods brought Jet Lag across my path? Yes I am.
I’m late to the party but - whew - The Telepathy Tapes, y’all.
Another one that I’m late to the party on (I swear it’s been recommended to me by at least 10 different avenues in the past six months) - Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar is delicious. Succulent. I want to start a literary red string murder board to trace the intricate weave of it. It dances with the themes of sacrifice, death and aliveness with impeccable grace.
This is Body Magic, a letter on embodiment, liberation, and magic.
join studio dreamland
work with me: one-to-one & practitioner mentoring.
send me some love. buy me a coffee.
Best wishes to this new path! And I take this opportunity to thank you for the Radical rest portal :) I really enjoy the practice.
Wow, Elle, this is so exciting! I can't wait to hear more, and I dream of visiting Studio Dreamland in Nottingham one day <3