The woman behind the diary

I believe that behind every bigot is a broken heart.

That doesn't excuse harmful behaviour. It reminds me to stay curious. To value self-responsibility over blame, education over judgement, empathy over certainty, and to believe that people are capable of change. Everything I write, teach and explore grows from that belief.

I'm Lucy Hutchings Hunt: writer, poet, meditation teacher, qualified Life Coach, founder of PMDD Power, and an MSc Adult Nursing student at the University of Dundee. You can find the rest of my work at lucyhutchingshunt.com.

For most of my life I unconsciously fell into the trap of Good Girl Conditioning, striving to become the well-behaved, well-educated, middle-class woman who was reliably pleasant at the school gates and fluent in the art of putting everyone else first. It wasn't who I was. It was who I'd been taught a woman ought to be.

I'm a recovering alcoholic in long-term recovery and a recovering trad-wife-wannabe from my twenties. In my mid-forties I began training as a dominatrix. It became an unexpected lens through which to explore power, boundaries, intimacy and what it means to be fully alive.

The diary that gives this site its name is where I think out loud. It explores pleasure, power, politics, parenting, trauma, shame and healing through one central question: how do we stop living inherited stories and start living our own?

I hold a BA (Hons) in English Literature, specialising in post-colonial critical theory. It was my first education in how power writes the story and calls it truth.

Since then I've built award-winning digital marketing businesses in the UK and France, founded PMDD Power, teach meditation on Insight Timer, co-host the Pleasure and Power Recoded podcast with Elizabeth Gilmour, and mentor people navigating PMDD, ADHD, CPTSD, addiction and shame.

I'm currently completing an MSc in Adult Nursing, where my research explores women's hormonal and sexual wellbeing. It's one small way of addressing the historic power imbalance in women's health research and helping ensure women's experiences are better understood, taken seriously and properly represented.

I'm interested in the places where psychology meets politics, where sexuality meets spirituality, and where science meets lived experience. My work is informed by trauma awareness, tantra, recovery, contemplative practice and an enduring curiosity about what helps human beings flourish.

I don't believe I have your answers. I believe you have your own. My work is to ask better questions.

You're very welcome here.