For much of my life, I have considered myself a feminist.
I am deeply grateful to the women who fought for the rights many of us enjoy today. The right to vote. The right to own property. The right to work, create, lead and choose our own paths.
Women's rights matter.
They always will.
But lately I have found myself drawn to a different conversation.
Not a replacement for feminism, but perhaps a companion to it.
A conversation about women's remembering.
Because while many women today have more freedom than previous generations, I meet countless women who still feel disconnected from themselves.
Disconnected from their bodies.
Disconnected from their creativity.
Disconnected from their desire.
Disconnected from their intuition.
Disconnected from the wild and untamed parts of themselves.
Somewhere along the way, many of us learned to become smaller.
More acceptable.
More productive.
More sensible.
We learned to fit ourselves into the world.
But in doing so, many of us lost touch with something ancient.
Something instinctive.
Something that cannot be measured by success, productivity or achievement.
This is where mythology enters my work.
Not because I believe ancient stories contain all the answers.
But because they help us remember.
When we encounter Persephone, we remember that winter is not failure. There are seasons of descent, grief and stillness in every life.
When we encounter Lilith, we remember the parts of ourselves we have exiled in order to belong.
When we encounter Inanna, we remember that transformation often asks us to surrender what no longer fits.
When we encounter Mary Magdalene, we remember what was once sacred.
These stories have survived for thousands of years because they continue to speak to experiences that are profoundly human.
They remind us that we are not the first women to feel lost.
Or heartbroken.
Or powerful.
Or creative.
Or afraid.
Or wild.
The more I explore mythology, the more I realise that my work is not really about jewellery.
Or artwork.
Or even stories.
It is about remembering.
Remembering our beauty.
Remembering our power.
Remembering our creativity.
Remembering that we belong to nature and its cycles.
Remembering that our bodies are not problems to be solved.
Remembering that ageing is not a diminishment but an initiation.
Remembering that we are part of a much older story.
Perhaps this is why mythology still matters.
Not because it takes us backwards.
But because it helps us recover what has been forgotten.
Women's rights gave many of us the freedom to choose our lives.
Women's remembering invites us to fully inhabit them.
And perhaps we need both.