Sometimes, the way we think about ourself or our life can change in an instant. A remark, a conversation, an idea, can throw things up in the air and rearrange them in a different way.
We suddenly see with startling clarity - what’s not working, what needs to change, exactly what we want or where we need to be.
It’s absolutely brilliant! Now we know!
It can also be utterly overwhelming.
I love these new signs on the gates in Bushy Park!
I’ve spent years trying to open them the wrong way, or from the wrong side - and now I can get it right.
For my husband they are irrelevant (just look at the hinges!), but for me they are a game changer.
It’s a small prompt that makes it easier for me to do the right thing - and it’s nice to know it wasn’t just me who could use the information :-)
Last week I spent a joyful afternoon making a Christmas wreath in the kitchen of the brilliant Annie Jenkins.
It was both wonderfully organised and completely free - the best kind of supervised creative play. The time flew past, and we all left with a completely different wreath - no two the same size, shape, or mix of colours, each brilliantly festive.
What a gift.
Back in August last year, I shared a photo of an abandoned creative project - a large pile of painstakingly cut fabric strips. The skeleton of a patchwork quilt.
Making one was a long-held dream that felt so exciting in theory, but not in reality.
Luckily for me, my mum offered to take the project on, and a couple of weeks ago she delivered the finished article in person.
It’s absolutely gorgeous.
Over the course of a few weeks recently, I asked for a helping hand with all kinds of things:
My daughter painted my nails for our friend’s birthday celebration. It’s not something I do well, and she’s brilliant at it. It was a delightful treat to have glamorous hands for a few days.
My husband did all the late-night pickups in an unexpected week. We share most things pretty evenly, but he knows I power down early. It made a big difference.
Three local friends with dogs of their own took care of Freddie for a day when we all had to be somewhere else. They shared walking and being with him, he had a fabulous time, and we could focus on what we needed to.
What a gift.
You know those people in your life?
The ones you have a rich shared history or an instant understanding with?
The people who bring out the best in you, who it’s easy to be completely yourself with, and talk about anything and everything?
The people who you can dive straight in with without getting lost - from the start or after many years?
They’re simply your people, and they are a complete gift.
On Saturday my lovely adventure buddy Penny and I did a beautiful 7 mile walk through various green bits of London, some of which were familiar to us and some not.
We’ve walked a lot together before - mini adventures finding our own way from home to Buckingham Palace, and from Battersea Park to home.
This time we followed someone else route - a section of the Capital Ring - where there was a particular way to go and markers to help us stay on track.
The first half of May has mainly been about the Lake District, first on a family trip, and most recently at the Fred Whitton Challenge in Grasmere.
It’s an event that my husband has done solo for the last few years, first as a rider and most recently as an artist, but this time I went with him.
What a gift.
Time in a gorgeous location, a fun shared experience, a super friendly event with incredible community spirit, the loveliest people - plus, witnessing the true power of a support system.
Back in April a friend and I applied to take part in the BBC’s Race Across the World.
It was a spontaneous decision, prompted by a conversation on a very long walk, and a quick google search that showed the deadline was in a couple of days.
At first we dismissed it as a ridiculous idea! We agreed that:
It was terrible timing - perhaps at some point in the future?
It wasn’t possible, we couldn’t take 2 months off from our lives when we played so many roles for so many different people.
It was completely pointless - there was no chance of being chosen.
And then we decided to take a few steps…
