About me

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." - Lao Tse

My story

I want to see social justice become a reality for us all. Like many others who have been part of organising, activism, and other forms of collective action, the drive for this comes from past experiences and from an intrinsic belief that change is not only possible, but necessary.
I have come to realise that I want and need to stop being quiet out of fear to elevate not just my voice, and especially to amplify the voices and lived wisdom of others who may not otherwise have the opportunity, platform, safety, or readiness. I want to allow myself to be seen and heard. It is my hope that what I put out in the world might, one day, be compelling enough to plant seeds for action or let someone know they're not alone.
Nose and lips with pink lipstick, breaking through a pink piece of paper. Photograph by Ian Dooley
Adele Aria. Author and owner of Adele Purrsisted Website and content.
I have “always wanted to be a writer” and like many others, I was told by society and well-intentioned individuals that it was a precarious career and a risky goal. I am and have been many things and I'm glad to have realised that I have always been a writer. This narrative about creative expression, storysharing, and worthiness is one I'm keen to refuse and defy. Please feel invited to join or follow me in the adventure of being a writer, artist, scholar-activist, and whatever else feels right at the time. I'm an eternal student in my own life and I aim to allow my voice to be present and available while supporting others to know that their voices and lives are valuable and valid.

I am committed to the messy, imperfect, and hard work of being a part of a brighter future for all.

Adele: A Bookworm

My reading had, for a long time, been strongly dominated by non-fiction. I realised this was very much influenced by my work, studies, and human rights advocacy and project commitments and I am trying to balance my reading differently nowadays.

Some of my reading choices are driven by a desire to revisit stories I’ve read before to see how my perspective and experience of them change as I am changing. My reading list will often include such a trip to an old haunt, not necessarily a favourite, and not necessarily one from a particularly long time ago.

I’m experimenting with tracking my reading with StoryGraph, a relatively new reading community-based website that is similar to GoodReads. One of the attractions to StoryGraph is that it provides an alternative to Amazon.

 

UPDATE 31/03/2022

Well, I definitely strayed away from this whole endeavour. It’s become apparent to me that I read anywhere from 12-25 books at one time. I’ll finish some in a day (if I have the good fortune to be able to dedicate so many hours of a day) and others in several months. At least a couple of them have taken me a few years because I’m savouring the gaps where each time I pick it up again, I am pleasantly surprised by how differently I feel and think when I revisit it.

Books arranged to create a circular window with hands holding a book in the middle. Photograph by Allie Smith

Creating in the age of a Global Pandemic

As many of us are keenly aware, our global community is continuing to evolve in response to the ongoing and dynamic challenges due to COVID-19. Many of my typical avenues for paid (thanks capitalism) work have dwindled or are high-risk for me, as a disabled person with chronic illnesses.

If you are financially able and find my words, visual art, or other projects, to be meaningful, valuable, or in some way helpful, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi or being a supporter through Paypal or Patreon.

Sharing my writing (with attribution please!) is also a much appreciated way to support my work.

Thank you for visiting and thank you for your time.

Two hands holding a papercut heart. Image by Kelly Sikkema
Paypal Adele Aria
ko-fi Adelepurrsisted
Patreon launching soon

Acknowledgements and Gratitude

Black dog holding a greeting card with the words Thank You! Photograph by Howard Riminton

Interviews

Thank you to Oli at Odd Voiceovers for the audio engineering assistance in the production of the podcast.

WebSite

Thank you to Monolith Industries, S. Frost, M. Boyle, and N. Baxter, for your support of this website and my work.

Images

Images in the Gallery are my own and all rights are reserved.

Other images throughout the site are sourced from Unsplash.com unless otherwise specified. The credits and image descriptions are included in the image attribute information.