Hello y’all. You’ll notice that it’s got colder, and darker and generally busier. When I was still teaching, this term used to always be the hardest, and come Halloween I wanted to board a plane destined for the Maldives and stay there until April. And since I’ve left the profession, I’ve still noticed the pace of life in our house gathering momentum. Suddenly it will be Christmas and I’ll be thinking, how the hell did we just get here?
Lately I’ve been beset with the notion, and not in a terribly gloomy sense, though I know the news may suggest otherwise, that time is short. My children seem suddenly to have become so big, and I feel I missed out on some of their earlier years in a blur of work and busyness. I want to slow life right down and appreciate what’s important. I’m not always good at this.
In November, we always used to get sick, but I’m hoping (manically looks round for a piece of wood to knock) that we’ve had our fill of illnesses for now. I want to enjoy the rest of autumn, and not just put my head down and plough on as I usually do. In an effort to do this, I have set up www.Do1Thing.co.uk, as a sort of sister blog, to create a community of pro-activity. Each day I’ll put up some notion I’ve either had myself, or pinched from a clever person elsewhere, as a suggestion to make the month of November more fun-filled and less of an arse-ache.
Expect one or two, oh f**k it, you know me, at LEAST six ideas with a nod to environmentalism; some events with friends through which we’ll raise some money for charities and help declutter each others’ homes, (wine may be involved); and a couple of events involving our wider community through our local parkrun and running club.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll have seen that I often use the hash tag ‘joy-spotting’. This was after I watched a glorious Ted Talk by Ingrid Fetell Lee on the topic. I will thus also be including ways in which we can boost our own well-being and capture some moments of joy for ourselves.
I would love it if some of you would check out my new blog and join me on this journey. You can share photos on my Instagram, Twitter page or Facebook, using the hashtag #Do1Thingnovember. Already I’m feeling excited about November (and trust me, that has NEVER happened) and I’m looking forward to seeing if any of the ideas I share can radiate outwards. I think maybe I’m tired of being a Sourweebastard now.
