What do you think of when you hear the word legacy?

Perhaps you think of children, a career, a house, money, something you built, a business you started, charitable work, an award on a shelf or a name that people remember. Perhaps you imagine the sort of thing that gets written into an obituary, the achievements and milestones that supposedly add up to the mark we have left on the world.

But what if we've made legacy far more complicated than it needs to be?

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August in Review + what’s coming up.

Image credit: Esther Hall

What is the benefit of a memento more walk? Here I share a little insight into one of my favourite ways to connect with nature.

Image credit: Esther Hall

One year ago this month, I launched This Mortal Life.

I didn’t really know what the year ahead would hold. I simply knew that I wanted to create spaces where people could gather with intention, have the conversations we so often avoid, make things with their hands, spend time in nature, and remember that none of us are meant to carry life alone.

Image credit: Esther Hall

Interested to learn about options for recording your family’s stories? Here’s eight ways to capture the memories of those we love beyond just photographs.

Image credit: Esther’s personal family archives

This year's Lughnasadh gathering marked something significant: our eighth Seasonal Gathering and the completion of our first full turn of the Wheel of the Year together.

A year ago, these gatherings were little more than an idea and a hope that there were others longing for slower, more intentional ways of marking the passing of the seasons. Sitting together on the sand dunes at Sand Bay, warmed by the sun and surrounded by familiar faces alongside newcomers, it felt like that hope has taken root.

Image credit: Esther Hall

Many of us don't live within the traditional image of a married couple with children and nearby relatives who naturally step into caring roles. We may be single, divorced, widowed, estranged from family, child-free, living alone, part of a blended family, in a long-distance relationship, practising various forms of non-monogamy, or simply have friends who know us more deeply than some of our biological relatives ever could. Families and support networks come in countless forms.

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A year ago, I invited a small group of people to begin marking the seasons together.

This August, as we gather for Lammas, we'll complete our first full turn of the Wheel of the Year. Eight seasonal gatherings. Eight opportunities to pause. Eight invitations to step outside, notice the changing landscape, share food, create together, reflect together and slowly build relationships within a community that didn't exist a year ago.

Looking back, I've realised that while these gatherings have been about building community, they've also slowly deepened my own understanding of the mission I’m on.

Image credit: Esther Hall

Last weekend we gathered to mark the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and a seasonal invitation to pause and take stock of the journey so far. With the sun making a full appearance for the Solstice, we made the decision to leave our usual spot on the beach and gather beneath the shade of the woodland at the beach’s edge. It proved to be a beautiful setting, offering shelter from the heat while still keeping us connected to the landscape that has become home to these seasonal circles.

Image credit: Esther Hall

We spend years building digital lives; storing photographs in the cloud, running businesses through email and websites, managing finances online, documenting memories on social media, and collecting subscriptions, files, passwords, and conversations across dozens of platforms. Yet very few people make a plan for what should happen to those accounts when they die.

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International Picnic Day is Thursday 18th June and you’re invited to join me for one of life’s simplest pleasures…a picnic in the park.

Image credit: Esther Hall

Beltain asks us to consider what makes us feel alive. To mark this seasonal festival we brought life and colour to the WeSee Trees Community Tree Nursery, shared a delicious meal, connected with new faces and learned more about the local happenings across Weston.

Image credit: Emily Burnell

It brings me a great deal of joy to bring people together for creative exploration, and I’m so pleased to announce the following creative workshops I’ll be offering in 2026. This page will be updated as new opportunities are announced.

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Long before it had a name, people have been supporting one another through life’s most profound transitions; birth, death and everything in between. These roles were held within communities: by family members, neighbours, elders and those who, through lived experience, became skilled in offering care, presence and guidance at the end of life. This wasn’t seen as specialised work. It was simply part of being human.

Over time, much of this care shifted out of the home and into institutions. Death, like birth before it, became increasingly medicalised and professionalised. What was once held collectively was gradually handed over to hospitals, care systems and the funeral industry.

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Get curious, come and eat cake and discuss mortality with strangers. Coming this Summer to Weston-Super-Mare, the Dead Curious café, community conversations exploring the inevitable, weird and wonderful. Join us at the Front Room - 14th June, 12th July and 9th August.

Image credit: Esther Hall

We marked the Spring Equinox to the sound of the waves and the warmth of a fire on Sunday evening. Creating space for reflecting on what’s beginning to emerge for us as we move through this year. There’s something really special about taking time to pause and reflect, especially in community with others.

Image credit: Esther Hall

Beltain invites us to reflect on what makes us feel alive, what we nurture in our lives and what we steward with care. It feels like the perfect seasonal festival to gather in a place that embodies all of that. We’re teaming up with WeSEE Trees, a community seed nursery in the Maltlands area of Weston-super-Mare. Assisted by Weston Town Council, community members, with Emily Burnell at the heart of the project, are working with North Somerset Council to transform the disused plot next to Maltlands Play Area into a space for growing trees from seed, caring for them and preparing them to be planted across the town and wider region in the future.

Image credit: Esther Hall (Emily Burnell photographed)

Dying Matters Awareness Week is coming up in May, and This Mortal Life is partnering with the Front Room Theatre in Weston-Super-Mare to bring you some of the most delicious cakes and fascinating conversation at this extra special Death Café on Thursday, 7th May. It’s free to attend and the bar will be serving a variety of cold and hot drinks, snacks and, of course, cake. Join us!

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I love reading about women from the past, those whose paths helped lead the way for me to live and breathe the way I want today. I am privileged in many ways to be able to say that, as we know millions of women globally have yet to experience freedom to the extent I have being a white woman in my forties in the UK.

Whilst we still have a long way to go to achieve equality in all corners of the world, and at times it feels as though we are moving backwards rather than forwards, I remain deeply grateful to the women who came before us and simply refused to stay inside the boxes they were born into. For anyone who knows my story, it’s clear I have been inspired by the rebels that came before me.

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I love a list, and I am nosey, so I love to browse other people’s bookshelves. Today I’m sharing mine. In honour of International Women’s Day I’m showcasing women writers, some who I’ve seen speak in person and have followed for awhile, others who are new on the scene, but all have offered something of substance. In no particular order, directly from my bookshelf, here is a list of just a few of the non-fiction titles and authors that have helped support my learning journey over the years.

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