It’s time to stop hiding…

What do you hide from? Opening envelopes that arrive in the post, doing that thing you’ve been putting off for ages, having a tricky conversation or something else?

Why do we do it? Why do we hide? Does it feel like a big weight on our shoulders or lots of rocks in an old boring sack that we drag behind us? It sucks not being able to escape from the things we have lingering. So why do we do it? 

I think it comes down to fear. Fear of what we give it meaning to.

So here we go. I’m going to share with you what I’ve been hiding from. 

Back in August 2020 I had this awesome conversation with my colleague Therese. She is based in Lake Forest south of LA and we discovered we both have a real love of the outdoors. How had we not realised this before?! Not only that, I discovered that Therese lived only hours from Zion National Park, which made me wish for Covid to disappear, jump on a plane and go exploring with her.

Now I don’t remember the details exactly but Therese and I got talking about what we do when we wild pee (random I know!) and she started telling me about this magical cloth I had never heard of before - a Kula Cloth. 

I was shocked, excited and annoyed all at the same time. Shocked that I had never known such an important piece of adventure kit existed (yes, I have a lot of kit), excited that my wild peeing experience (which I do A LOT) was about to be transformed forever and annoyed that I had been adventuring all this time and had been ‘putting up with’ a rubbish solution. 

And then came my frustration. Therese introduced this awesome solution into my world, but I couldn’t buy one, as Kula Cloth doesn’t ship to the UK. 

So that tiny little conversation led me to making an epic decision. The short story is that I have teamed up with Kula Cloth (SO EXCITING!) to bring their magic creation to the UK for anyone who squats when they pee.  

Why is it magic? The Kula Cloth is the solution to drip drying, shake and drip, using a leaf as toilet paper, carrying toilet paper while adventuring and taking it home, or like some humans unfortunately using toilet paper and then leaving it on the ground, littering the natural landscape around them. 

So how does wild peeing, pee cloths and my shocked, excited and annoyed self relate to me hiding?

Until now, I haven’t told you what I am up to! 

I haven’t shared publicly what I am creating.  

I haven’t shared the website I’ve taught myself how to build. 

Why? 

Because it’s so public and all of my ‘but what if’s.’ 

Within my own vacuum of a world I feel safe. Out here though, it feels a little more scary. 

I was recently gifted with some awesome advice from Claire at the NZ Women's Business Start Up Club that I have recently joined - 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing. That advice moved me into action. I am human. I am not perfect. I have a lot to still do and learn.  

BUT. 

I am RIDICULOUSLY excited about

• Sharing what I have learnt to help others

• Inspiring awesome humans to go on an adventure in the outdoors and get out of their comfort zone

• Sharing more openly about what barriers we come up against, so we can learn from each other

• Creating a business that makes a real difference to the wellbeing and the mental health of the awesome humans in this world 

AND 

• To make available a cleverly designed antimicrobial pee cloth to everyone in the UK who squats when they pee! 

It’s time that I stop hiding.

What is it that you’ve been hiding? What do you need help with? 

Let’s get sharing and remember what Claire said ‘80% of that something is better than 100% of nothing?’

Let’s make shit happen. 

Shells x

(P.S. Kula Cloth is making its way to the UK and hasn’t arrived yet. If you are like me and want an awesome Kula Cloth to add to your adventure kit, or want to give one as a gift, register your email address here and I’ll let you know as soon as they arrive in the UK. It’s looking likely that touch down will be late December / early January.)