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And there's more to come
This has been the place where I’ve shared so much about the process I’ve been in, discovering dementia in my life. The process has been...
Maxine Linnell
Dec 5, 20233 min read
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Are we understanding?
Poetry has been the centre of this blog so far. I find myself thinking more and more about our society’s attitudes and responses to...
Maxine Linnell
Oct 29, 20236 min read
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Pasta, herbs, spices, rice, three kinds of flour, nuts, sultanas, oats, seeds. And the rest.
Recently I've been talking to so many people, trying to change how dementia is seen, treated, experienced. It feels urgent. This is for...
Maxine Linnell
Sep 27, 20231 min read
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Days
There's a strong sense of gratitude right now. A year after the diagnosis I'm living in a way I could never have imagined then, around...
Maxine Linnell
Sep 1, 20232 min read
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Another way
Pippi Longstocking is a guide. She sits in the porch, welcoming and wise at the threshold. Sometimes it feels like there's no choice....
Maxine Linnell
Jul 21, 20231 min read
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Talk
Recently I was invited to write for a feature with this title. I found the title very difficult, and the poem starts with anger, but it...
Maxine Linnell
Jul 7, 20233 min read
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I get stuck
I've been writing about the warrior. Here I'm writing about the hurt. Maybe they're not so far apart. I get stuck. I know I’m stuck when...
Maxine Linnell
Jun 12, 20233 min read
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Dementia warrior versus Paris via Eurostar
People have asked about Paris, hoping for a delighted answer. I hoped to be able to give one too, but the trip wasn't quite like that....
Maxine Linnell
May 27, 20232 min read
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Dementia Alliance International blog
I've just been to Paris for a week - my first attempt at using support to travel. I'll maybe write more about it when I've recovered!...
Maxine Linnell
May 18, 20234 min read
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fish strawberry wasp
This lovely pot was made by Roderick Hill in response to fish strawberry wasp. And the poem was written many years ago, about Joy Allen....
Maxine Linnell
May 4, 20231 min read
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I promised
The Old Courtesan (La Belle qui fut heaulmière) Auguste Rodin. I promised I would never choose flat shoes or elastic-waisted trousers or...
Maxine Linnell
Mar 31, 20231 min read
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'I am God in nature; I am the weed by the wall.'
If I could stop the world turning, it would stop now, and now, and now, and now, for ever. Now squats unsettled on the growing pile of...
Maxine Linnell
Mar 17, 20231 min read
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Forward with dementia
I've been volunteering for some research work, doing questionnaires and interviews, and on Monday I talked to Claudio Di Lorito, at...
Maxine Linnell
Mar 2, 20231 min read
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Song
It's not as if there's been nothing going on, and it's not as if there's been nothing to say, but it's been a while since I last posted...
Maxine Linnell
Feb 24, 20231 min read
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Why be quiet? An understory conversation
Charlotte Gann and I have been talking/writing about this writing and project, and the result is published here. Thanks to Charlotte for...
Maxine Linnell
Jan 28, 20231 min read
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What if? (Part one)
Imagine this. There’s something wrong, but it’s not clear what that is. You miss things, lose things, forget. You used to be organised,...
Maxine Linnell
Jan 16, 20232 min read
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New day
A new year - a new day is enough to be going on with. Another stepping stone in this change-river, another noticing in another moment....
Maxine Linnell
Dec 31, 20221 min read
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Half way
This is the picture of the Balfron Tower in London, by Simon Terrill, which is mentioned in the poem. My son Benn was Project Manager on...
Maxine Linnell
Dec 16, 20221 min read
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Kate
Kate was such a joy. We went to the Hay Festival, to Bruges, to Paris, to Cornwall, to poetry festivals and exhibitions, Akram Khan and...
Maxine Linnell
Dec 6, 20221 min read
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Losts
Mind full of past. Dust collections in corners. Last year’s spider webs. Last century’s bus tickets. Trip over fabric piles that might...
Maxine Linnell
Nov 20, 20221 min read
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