Annia Baron

Words: Annia Baron I was thirteen years old and the infectious beat of “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” was thumping hard from the chunky speakers on each side of the DJ. Inside the school community hall, students were celebrating the end of term with a supervised disco, and I was buzzing with excitement. My romantic crush had arrived at the party, and I knew that this would be the night I would have my first kiss.

How would you respond if you were taking medication, feeling that it was helping, to then learn that when clinical trials were undertaken to gain its approval, the effects of the drug didn’t outperform that of a sugar pill? What if you also knew that during the testing period, the sugar pill produced better results than the actual drug. Would you continue taking your medication?

For the first month after giving birth, women from some Eastern cultures undertake a practice that has been honoured for thousands of years. Zuo Yue Zi, which translates to “sitting the moon”, encourages a new mother to enter a period of confinement for at least 30 days. During this time, she prioritises rest and stillness, eating nourishing food, and disconnects from the schedule and duties of everyday life.