Hello. My name is Briar and I am currently living in Wales. I make beautiful rugs on a peg loom from fleeces I buy from my neighbours.

Before that, for nearly 20 years, I lived in a beautiful cottage on a country estate, with no electricity. Our water came from a spring at the back of the house. There was no road access. I raised 3 children, grew alot of my own food and got an Open University degree while I was there. I never paid any rent and so I had to leave when they decided to turn it into a holiday cottage.

I'm in a folk band. I sing, play whistles, guitar, mandolin and fiddle.

I've usually done creative writing in the past, stories and poetry. I've been working sporadically on a book for about 3 years now.

I'm really enjoying helium because I read like a maniac and now I can make some use of it.

My passion is ...

playing music

I know too much about ...

the fickleness of fortune

My parents always told me ...

That I'd never amount to anything -but they were wrong.

My childhood ambition ...

I always wanted to sing in a band -I am.

My favorite memory ...

Galloping about bareback on a shetland pony.

Why I write ...

I love words. I love learning.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Reading philosophy and modern physics just now. Bees and trees. Science fiction

My first job ...

Mucking out horses

My best moment ...

On stage. 200 drunk people roaring, laughing, Gradually falling silent as I sing and their wondering faces turned towards me.

My inspiration ...

All the gaps in my knowledge that I want to fill

Relationships & Family > Domestic Violence & Abuse Childhood abuse: How it affects us as adults

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The effects of childhood abuse do not go away simply through the passing of time. In fact, the problems can be compounded and reinforced over and over again. Only when a survivor starts consciously working with them can they be resolved.

Abuse takes many forms, sexual, physical, emotional. They can all seriously affect how we live our lives, how we relate to other people, how we see ourselves.

A common mistake that survivors make is to feel that the severity of their abuse wasn't 'bad enough' to justify how bad they feel as adults. It doesn't work like that and however bad or mi...

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