OUT NOW Late Summer Issue 68

from the editor…

Listen and Reflect

Like many, the JUNO team has spent the last couple of months listening and reflecting on discussions, campaigns and protests happening around the world. We have considered as a team (still remotely) what this means for us and JUNO. We have always tried to be diverse and to reflect all families, but we are aware that we have more to do and we apologise for our shortcomings. Our aim is for all families to feel welcomed by and reflected in JUNO, and we would encourage all families to send in submissions.

To inspire everyone to get involved with JUNO, we have made the theme of our Instagram feature this issue #sharingvoices and it was fantastic to read all the generous and insightful posts. You can find a selection on pages 30 and 31. Do continue to find us on social media to be part of the conversation and to share your voice with us. We take on board all the comments from our readers and thank every contributor for their time in speaking to us – it is a jam-packed Share Your Thoughts page this issue!

At the heart of this is a desire to respond sensitively and appropriately to others, and that theme runs through features in this issue: The Power of Touch is about how infant massage can help us connect sympathetically with our babies; Naomi Stadlen writes about the “special time” after birth and how it would help mothers to learn more about life with a newborn before they embark on it; Suzanne Askham writes about intuitive healing; and Cath Darling reflects on the ways she supports herself as a single parent.

All we can do in this complex world, I believe, is to keep listening and reflecting and trying to learn and improve. And alongside that, we need to let go of guilt. Guilt is not productive; it takes us backwards, constrains us, when we need to be moving forward with a positive purpose. But that is easier said than done!

We hope you enjoy this beautiful issue of JUNO and find words and images to inspire you onwards.

Find out more: https://shop.junopublishing.co.uk/product/current-issue/issue-68-late-summer-2020/