A Rising Tide

A Rising Tide: On community, support and walking alongside one another.

I watched The Salt Path recently.

The book has been on my bedside table for over a year now. I meant to read it. I still mean to read it. But, as often happens, it just sat there quietly waiting for the right moment. So instead, I watched the film.

It stayed with me in ways I didn’t expect. The hardship of the walk, the weather, the physical toll, oh yes. But what I found most moving was the relationship between Raynor and Moth. Not dramatic. Not flashy. Just solid.

A quiet, steady companionship.

It got me thinking about the kind of relationships I want to build and hold close, in life and in work.

Because truthfully, one of the most important things I’ve realised recently is how deeply I need community, not just socially, but creatively and professionally too.

That feeling of being alongside other women doing good work. Women who challenge you, who witness your mess and still cheer for you. Who ask the right questions. Who understand your quiet doubts without needing them fully explained.

Like Sofia — my business partner at Four Otter Craft Studio. We’ve built this thing from scratch together. There’s no hierarchy between us, no one trying to be the boss. Just shared purpose, shared responsibility, and a lot of shared coffee.

Like Maya at Knit With Attitude, who always seems to just get it. She leads with integrity, and that reminds me to do the same.

Like the women I met on that business trip to Poland. I almost didn’t go. I worried I didn’t belong, or wouldn’t keep up. But being there, hearing their stories, seeing their courage, changed me. We still check in with each other now, quietly (ha!) supporting one another from afar.

There’s a phrase I love: a rising tide lifts all ships.

And I think that’s what I want from my work and my relationships — not competition or comparison, but connection. A sense that we’re each doing our bit, and because of that, we all get a little further than we would alone.

I don’t always know how to ask for help. But I’m learning that support doesn’t always need to be big or loud. Sometimes it’s just someone walking next to you. Holding a bit of your load without being asked. Reminding you that you don’t have to do it all by yourself. (Like Body Doubling with Jude!)

So that’s what’s on my mind this week.

Support. Companionship. Knitting and business and life, held together in soft, sturdy stitches.

If you’ve got people like that in your life, tell them.

And if you’re still finding your people, keep going.

They’re probably just around the corner.

Nessa