We owe ourselves inner peace: facing our fears as single women

Yesterday fear coursed through me when a swarm of angry bees began diving at me as I walked through the park near my house. I was on my way to water the plants in my patch at the allotments (I don’t have a full plot yet but a 8ft by 8ft square that my friend kindly let me have in his plot) and saw a man in a bee-keeper suit and two other people putting up signs. A hive of bees had been moved to the allotment that morning but the box had been dropped and the bees were angered and attacking those walking nearby. At least three people and one dog were stung. The woman holding the signs, which explained the situation, suggested I head to a different gate and as I began to walk in that direction, the bees went for me.

“Just walk calmly and they’ll leave you alone,” the woman called to me, not realising that one of the bees had landed on my head and was now tangled in my hair. It’s angry buzz was getting more deafening as it struggled to get loose. “There is one in my hair,” I called back. …