Mia Likes White Noise's Page

I've been making zines since I was 15 - so starting about a decade ago ! I had no idea that what I made as a 15 year old was even called something or that other people made them too. My first zine was basically about 3 - 4 pieces of collage worked xerox'd pages composed of a few poems I'd written, a recent and somewhat reoccuring nightmare I'd been having and my hopes and dreams for my future. I called it '3 Minute Miracle'. Since then I've made several other zines - under various names but the zine with the most issues under it was 'Amoeba Diaries'. I took a hiatus of a few years from zine writing although I did make more attempts. After a bad relationship and starting university full time I sort of experienced a writers block. Now after the birth of my first child, Mia, my writers block has finally dissipated and I'm ready to begin making zines again ! I've missed the smell and warm feel of xerox'd paper !!

My work in progress will be called 'Mia Likes White Noise' - after my daughters love of white noise quite literally ! It used to be the only sound which would put her to sleep (reminded her of her 9 month stay in my belly). This zine will be an obvious radical departure from my previous zines, seeing as I am a first time mom and I never imagined I would have children - or for that matter, get married. I had every intention of pursuing a University degree in film studies/review and living on my own - with maybe a dog or cat. This zine is written from that perspective ... it's also written from the total shock of realizing that absolutely nothing (no books, or alternative birthing classes, or talking to others) can properly prepare a person for childbirth or taking care of a helpless screaming baby. This zine is about navigating through the cultural expectations put on women as mothers - and among other things, about my own personal fight to not lose myself in the exhaustion of it all.