April was quiet and very chaotic. I’ve been celebrating some milestones - both personal and career ones - but focused a lot on rituals too. I’m very into the idea of sensory association where it comes to habit formation, and rituals have been so helpful in letting me find my quiet time amidst the general chaos of London.
I’ve done yoga everyday for the last month, which has changed the game for me entirely. As someone who hyper-fixates and finds it hard to snap out of things, this has been so crucial to my process of winding down. I’ve never been able to meditate in silence, but after practicing yoga everyday I have been able to do so for the first time ever! I’m working on another piece where I’ll dive more into this.
I also made a website! (I’m the furthest thing from a designer so this took me way longer than it should have) so she’s officially up for commissions!
I’ve been going to the cinema quite a bit recently, and I do, in fact, feel like cinema is so back. But it’s also not. The Drama was a wonderful mix of dry humour, complex characters, and interesting questions to ask yourself post-viewing. I loved it.
I also saw You, Me, & Tuscany - a feel-good film which feels like the collective’s next girly comfort watch. Pairing the stunning Italian vineyard landscapes with an all round attractive cast, it’s one of those films where you know no matter how wrong things get, all will right itself in the end. On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Fuze was really confusing - weird pacing, so many plot holes, bordering politically insensitive underlying narratives about immigration & terrorism.
Honourable mention for my first ever Zootropolis watch - I relate to Judy Hopps with a passion, and Spirit made me cry. Forever obsessed with the soundtrack, I want it on vinyl.
Big love to Justin Bieber’s Coachella set, as well as these songs on my recent rotation:
Jeff Buckley’s “Just Like a Woman” I probably play this at least 3 times every day.
Gabriel Jacoby’s “The One”, “Be Careful” and “Baby”
Chelsea Jordan’s “if i’m lucky”
This YouTube video:
I’ve always felt like music videos are a bit of a dying art, so I’m a really big fan of this new Spotify feature that has all the music videos on autoplay.
I’m working with a friend on some new songs and it’s been so enlightening to be more attentive to music: how did the vocals sound like that? Is it the effects, is it the vocal performance? Is it the recording? What’s that synth at the back, and can I do it? Also me right now: currently trying to make sense of Ableton.
Beauty things:
double cleansing
Lilium Blume by Thomson Carter, love a fresh perfume
Charlotte tilbury blush stick in pillow talk, stays all day
Skin1004 Centella Toner
A delayed Q1 roundup of my favourite pieces so far this year:
I’m officially published! My interview with Mei Mac, which I did at the tail end of last year, finally saw its day in GOLDEN, the first ever anthology celebrating ESEA voices in the UK. This was incredibly important to me to be a part of, and I felt incredibly honoured that my piece was selected as the first one!
I’ve always loved Boys By Girls, so every time I get to write for them feels like a treat. My latest piece for them was an interview with none other than Darragh Hand, the male lead of Netflix’s How To Get To Heaven From Belfast. I almost forgot it was an interview midway through, and I left the meet thinking how we don’t nearly have enough conversations like this in real life, with the people we already know.
Read my conversation with Darragh here.
I started my own interview series on Rachel’s orbit, and I’ve published my first two so far! Ella Vos debuted the series, giving a generous insight to the world of motherhood and music. Nancy Lu is someone I’ve always looked up to in the world of work, and hearing her speak about lessons learned along the way was totally invaluable.
My very first piece with the iconic The Creative Independent dropped: my interview with India Bailey, multi-hyphenate and founder of PLAY. It’s a great read (if I do say so myself) so dive in and let me know what you think.
More photos from my digital:
If you’re new here… My name is Rachel and I’m a writer passionate about culture, music, books, films, art, and the creative life.
Welcome to rachel’s orbit, a space for intentional discovery and getting curious. Not just what you’re consuming, but what moves you about it—and how that feeds into your wider sense of self. After all, creativity has nothing to do with outcome, and everything to do with joy.