I adore the power of a new year. Who am I kidding? I adore the power of a brand new week! All that untapped potential, it’s like magic waiting to be unleashed, promises just waiting to be whispered. And so as we end 2019 and are promised not just a new year but a whole new decade, can you imagine … Read More
Love is the only antidote
When I woke up yesterday morning to see one of my friends in the US had changed her Facebook profile to a union jack in the shape of a heart, I knew something bad had happened. The caption on her photo Pray for Manchester told me where and BBC news filled in the details. Thanks to our increasingly connected world, whether it … Read More
This year I resolve …
To love more. To smile at a stranger every day. To make eye contact. I promise to be in each moment. No more multi-tasking or sharing myself out. If I’m talking to you, that is all I will be doing. If we’re playing a game, I will not be secretly lost in thought. And when I mess up (because hey, … Read More
Wishing you a happy, messy, (very human!) Christmas
Two days before Christmas my nan died. Three years ago (I had to ring my mum to check and ended up making us both cry. Sorry mum x) and yet I still remember the phone call, early that morning. And, as I just found out, it still has the ability to make us cry. She was 83. She’d been in … Read More
What if we stopped consuming and just started, right now?
OK, so this isn’t exactly a traditional Christmas post. But it’s something that bugs me from time to time (probably because I’m massively guilty of this myself and need the reminder!!) and it feels really apt as we get ready for that big ‘end of one year, beginning of the new’ milestone that is New Year.
I love New Year. Fresh starts. Clean slates. All that jazz. (I get a similar (albeit smaller) feeling on a Monday morning. The sense of expectation. That yes, this is going to be amazing and totally rock!
Until it doesn’t!
But here’s the thing … January 1st … it’s just a day. Yes, we usually enjoy a nice family meal (although this year I’m going to have to cook it in my own house – what’s that about mum?!? ;)) and yes, traditionally at least, lots of people have a lie in after staying up late to yell in each other’s faces “Happy New Year!” and sing that Scottish song that no-one knows all the words to.
But aside from all that stuff, it’s still just a day.
It’s like that idea that you must start your new diet on a Monday. Why?!? Why can’t it just start? Unless of course you want the days leading up to Monday as a chance to eat all the stuff you’ll be refusing yourself once you start the aforementioned diet. “This is it, no more chocolate, so I might as well eat two pounds of the stuff in the next 53 hours while I can!”
And yes, you’re right, I’m not a massive fan of diets. They make you fat. But that’s a whole other blog post!
But what if there was no one best day for stuff?
What if every day was just a day and on that day we just did our thing?
No tomorrow. No fresh starts. No ‘I’ll just read up on this thing so I know how to do it best and then I’ll think about starting for a little bit before finally realising that it’s late now so I might as well leave it.”
What if we stopped reading, stopped learning, stopped consuming, and just started, right now?
Goodwill is for life … not just for Christmas? What if?
I was thinking about how nice this time of year is (parking and over-spending aside!) What with the twinkly lights, the music, oh and the Bailey’s coffee. Very nice. 😉 And yes, it gets stupidly busy and yes, it’s a bit stressful. But people seem, I dunno, a little bit extra kind and tolerant? It’s fab! So then I got … Read More
Sweetness, without the calories! ;-)
What is it about the red and white stripy wrapper, set off with the obligatory twinkle lights of course, that makes those candy canes look soooo appealing?!? Every time I see one I’m reminded of Elf (“don’t eat the yellow snow!”) and my pulse speeds up with just the thought of all that sugar. Yummy! Of course the little darling … Read More
What are you hoping for from Santa?
Because hope. It’s a funny old word. Ask the kids what they’re hoping for for Christmas and they’ll reel off a list long enough to daunt a whole troop of reindeer! Do they really hope to get it all? I don’t think so. I hope not at least! 😉 We were hoping to put our Christmas trees up yesterday. It was … Read More