For seven years, I slept four or five hours a night, rarely for longer than an hour at a time
I’m okay on not much sleep but I was tired. I drove with the windows open and taught my classes standing up
Sarah Moss: A reader tried to needle me by scoffing at knitting - I was intrigued
Knitting and sewing are rarely done for profit, but that doesn’t make these arts and crafts trivial
Sarah Moss: I cycle to central Dublin several times a week. I’m a hypocrite not allowing my teenager to do the same
Now I can think about everything I enjoy about Dublin, almost all the way home, instead of worrying about getting home alive
I’d rather be in Connemara than anywhere tropical, wearing wellies and a woolly hat
A northern aesthetic feels like truth in a way that no more conventional paradise ever could, a fact encapsulated in pebbles
English was never pure or logical. Policing how other people speak is pointless and unattractive
If you resonate with these words, especially if you literally resonate with them, please don’t tell me
The prize for everyday sexism on the high street goes to hairdressing salons
Sarah Moss: The men I know have much more demanding haircuts than the one I want, so why am I being charged a fortune?
Every piece of clothing I buy is matched by a parting: one in, one out. It focuses the mind
Clothes well made by fairly paid people out of good quality fabric are not cheap, nor should they be
Jewellery might not always leave us with a clear conscience but it’s fun, and pleasure is not trivial
Sparkle is not a necessity for survival but aesthetic delight is part of what makes us human
People trying to sell diets enrage me on good days. On bad days I feel inadequate
We keep coming back for more, hoping for rules that will allow us to feel okay about inhabiting ordinary bodies in a culture committed to anxiety and hierarchy
Women are safer on the streets and men are safer at home, despite the stories we tell ourselves
Fear is determined by storytelling more than by data, and women have been taught to fear being outside for centuries
Here’s why you should never set ‘reading goals’ in an effort of grim self-improvement
The idea that reading is innately virtuous, other than religious material, is modern
I navigate new places without the internet because I believe in getting lost
I am convinced that way-finding without a phone schools us to pay attention in a way that we lose when we merge with a blue dot on a screen
There’s a clear difference between those who grew up taking photos of themselves and those of us who didn’t
Unlike the generation which has grown up with mobile phone cameras, when I am photographed I look awkward, wooden, smiling like someone who just wants this to stop now
If we really wanted to be good and healthy in 2025, we’d resolve to pester our politicians
Childhood rickets is back in Britain – and it’s not because ill-health is the logical outcome of poor choices
Christmas - and the perfect family life it represents - is an oppressive fantasy
Most families have someone missing even if the table is holly-decked and groaning