Definition(s) of the word Crumbs:
I first started saying ‘crumbs’ as a way to stop swearing. It’s true, I swear like a sailor, and it was after University (or College for the Americans among us) when I moved back home for a stint that I realised I was swearing more than my father - which is saying a lot.
In an attempt to curb my foul language, I tried to use the technique of using a different word in place of a swear word, and the one I stuck with was “crumbs”. It’s very satisfying to say, I challenge you to try it - the hard consonant of the ‘c’ with the ‘bs’ makes it feel like you’re swearing when you’re not. I can also be known to shout “Jesus Christmas” when startled, “Jiminy Cricket” when cold, “Bugsy Malone” when cross, and when it’s really bad, it’s “Crumbs a Million”.
But this space is not about swearing, pinky promise. But it is about crumbs. What started as a replacement swear word, became a signature word for me: when I moved to Nashville from London, people asked me if that was a British expression and I had to inform them that it was just a “me-ism”. As it became part of my identity, I really dug into why I’d chosen that word and began to realise that there was a lot of depth to it and how it linked to my creative life.
Crumbs to me are the small and tiny little scatterings of ideas I have, downloads I pay attention to, art that moves me, songs that inspire me, people that I meet on an idle Thursday evening that change my life and led me down a path that wasn’t on a map.
This Substack is a place where I want to share the crumbs I’ve picked up along my way, to help someone along their own path or go down a rabbit hole they weren’t expecting to and discover something wonderful. I want to connect paths, have them cross over and merge, sometimes walk alongside, sometimes dip back whilst others forge ahead.
And I want to do this through sharing my songs that I hope will help along the trail, through choice quotes that might help them find their north, through movies that aim to inspire and see life from a different point of view, through poems that might be the next right thing they need and by sharing the work of others who I adore and admire and get to call my friends.
Thanks to my mother, I was brought up on Grimm’s fairy tales and Greek myths when I was younger, so no stranger to a little death and destruction. And though Hansel and Gretel is very dark in places, for me it’s about noticing what is there and following the small things that will ultimately lead you to the big wins. As the saying goes, something that happens overnight, ends overnight.
I’m excited for this next winding road, and I really hope you’ll join me on it - may the crumbs lead us all to our own Gingerbread Houses.