Joey
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Month five and – yep! – I still very much love this project and love even more that I’m doing it. I also love this month’s mosaic, love love love! There seems to be a lot of love going on here… and there is! I reached the lowest point in the project so far in May and realised a couple of useful things from it. Number 1: things improve when I write about them; the written reflection really helps me see through the mist, clear my head, gain perspective and focus on the important bits – it’s great! Number 2:…
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I woke up. I ran 4K. I had breakfast. With a proper cappuccino, gotta love Nespresso. I got to work. I had another coffee, a cappuccino from Costa’s this time, catch up with colleagues on the way to get it and back. That’s good. Back to the desk. Work. Work. Work. Pause with homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Meeting. Lunch. Work. Work. Work. Meeting. Meeting. Work. Work. Work. Home. Cuddle Olivia. Cook dinner. Put the washing on. Eat. Sit down. See photos, oh so pretty, oh so amazing, oh wow! Write. Publish post. More photos? More laundry? Sleep?…
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“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” Zen proverb
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Today was the day to focus on the wants and let go of the shoulds, even if just a bit. The garden still got tendered to, the house still had a good clean, but above all – I chilled! I read in the garden, soaking up the sun and not minding the time. So nourishing for the soul!! And a little bit of Sunday wisdom, from… the Peanuts!
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I ran not one, but two half-marathons on consecutive weekends (in different countries, because that’s how I rock!), last autumn. As a natural born non-runner, training was hard and that first race in Lisbon was tough! By the time I ran Oxford’s half though, I knew – and my body knew – we could do it. And so we did. Back then – a whopping nine months ago! – I was under this sweet illusion that I would keep running after the races and keep my fitness level up and enjoy life. Turns out, it didn’t quite happen like that! All the training…
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Olivia learned how to use the cat flap. She keeps coming in and out for the sake of it, making the most of her new found freedom and yet not quite sure what to do with it. The flap itself is currently more interesting than the outside world… wait, what am I saying? All those puddles to jump on and invisible bugs to chase and hidden corners to explore… yeah, all of it is her favourite right now. It's amazing to watch and even better to still have her come to the lap for some cuddle time at the end…
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I flew home after work today – because I can be that fast on my bike if I so wish, yeah! (not) – to enjoy the sunshine in the garden. With Olivia. And a G&T. On my sun lounger. And it felt amazing! Summer – I have missed you! You were so fabulous last year, so fabulous!, that I thought it fair to let you go when the time came, make others happy, and patiently wait my turn again. I was getting a bit on edge feeling that my turn was due and then today, there you were – everywhere!…
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There was a plan this morning – to leave early and photograph in town on this beautiful day. After all, it’s been far too long since I photographed the Radcliffe Camera and mornings are my favourite. Yes, that was the grand plan. But then the above (and below) happened and the plan had to change. I mean, it just had to. This week has been busy and I think little miss may be missing my attention. I sure miss our little moments of chillin’ together as if nothing else needed doing. Ever. Cats, and pets in general, are a great reminder…
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A year ago today I started a new job which I love. Every single day, including the tough-ones-I-need-gin-now days, I’ve felt lucky and LUCKY and very lucky that I get to do what I love with people I respect and admire (professionally and personally!). A year ago I could only hope that leaving behind a world I knew, with people I respected and loved would be a good call, the right call! I was excited and scared and had butterflies in my tummy. A year ago today it was sunny and I felt straight at home in my new job.…
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***SPOILER ALERT – this post is incredibly long*** There’s a huge amount of writing I never do, yet it’s an actual thing. It’s happening all the time in my head, when I’m walking places, when I’m waiting for someone to arrive for a meeting, when I’m cooking or doing the laundry. It’s an incredible volume of work; so much so that if it were on a single topic, it would rival War and Peace on word count. But… none of this gets to leave my head. As with a lot of people, my best wannabe-writing takes place when…
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Month four and I am very much still in love with this project! The sun is out and I love photographing in day light! These are the first things that come to mind when I look at this month's images. As per usual since entering my life, Olivia features heavily – don't all love stories? But I also see blue skies, that amazing spring sunlight that warms me inside and out, yummy foods, and travels and events that were all happiness! Oh, and a car. Yes, I have a car now and somehow that is as life changing now as it was…
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Photographing every single day has its ups and downs. On occasion, it is just plain tough. Today, I felt this hardship so much more than on other days, including the long winter months when all my free time seemed to be in the dark, like a cave woman! Whilst I've accepted that most of my photos are taken with my phone's camera, today I felt quite disappointed about this whole project. The ultimate goal was to reconnect with my photographic eye, tell the story of my year in images and photograph more. All of this can be done – and…
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I started a six-week mindfulness course this week and it was great! I'd heard amazing things about mindfulness, from people whose opinion I trust, and I was keen to give it a go. For months now, I've been feeling the need to pause and be less hectic or busy or rushed. I used to be quite good at it; pottering was a favourite of mine and I excelled at it. But one day it was all gone and I need my pottering mojo back! The first class was nothing short of amazing! I'm typically quite skeptical of these things, even…
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I went to a fantastic talk today by Thomas L. Friedman, the three-time Pulitzer-prize winner and New York Times columnist who seems to win a prize for pretty much everything he writes. He's an amazing speaker and his talk was, above all, a lesson in communication! One thing in particular stayed with me – a column is meant to provoke. The moment he said it, I felt like grabbing a pen (or my laptop, let's be practical) and writing away. I'm not controversial nor particularly thought-provoking with my writing, but that one sentence inspired me to get those thoughts out…
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I’ve smashed my big toe on the bike’s pedal on Friday. The toe and I barely slept, we were in pain. I went to Thorpe Park on Saturday for a hen do. In flip-flops. My feet were cold. And wet. My toe was nothing short of disgusting. And painful, blimey was it painful! My toe and I then sat through drinks and nibbles of said hen do. Everyone on the floor, feet out, chatting away! Toe was washed and dry, but still cold and disgusting. I hoped everyone in the room was short-sighted and had left their glasses at home, because you know,…
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Month three and I am very much still in love with this project! Which is good, considering we’re only 3 months into the one year goal! I can also still do it, even if it was a bit touch and go earlier in the month (winter nearly had me!). March finally made me accept that weekday photos will mostly be with my phone - and therefore most of this project won’t be done on the big camera – and that is ok. I work full time, winter was long and only now am I enjoying that blissful feeling that…
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Bank holiday Mondays are one of Britain's best inventions! And a good insight into how cool it would be to have three-day weekends as a rule! Even though this was a four-day weekend… oh well, you get the gist! This Easter break was fantastic and packed with smiles, experiences and… sunshine! There were a couple of firsts this weekend for me – I saw Cats, the musical and it was utterly A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I also went to the Emirates to watch Arsenal – Liverpool, my debut in a Premier League match and that too was utterly A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Seriously, this weekend was…
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Ah, inspiring Mondays – serving the world (or is it just me?) much like Nanny McPhee. Spring revives me. And it gives me hope. Hope for the calm after the storm. Hope for sunny days, in more ways than one. Hope for a future I can't quite see, but I know it's there. After spring comes summer, right? :: decisions. how sometimes you make a mistake and that's precisely what you needed to know exactly what you want. tough that the chance is gone though… oh well!**:: blue-skied crisp mornings.:: photography.:: knitting. oh the peace that comes from knitting.:: windows…
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I finally got Sky Sports! This meant a weekend of… you guessed, sports. There was the Six Nations (ok., that was on free view anyway) and plenty of football (hello, Sky Sports!), British and non-British. And then there was something else. The TV was left on between matches, as I prepared dinner. Background noise, you know? And through the noise came the voice of Paul Canoville. Paul Canoville was Chelsea’s first black player and regardless of how many times I watch the documentary on his life, his story at the club will always be beyond my full grasp. It seems…
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… which I’m yet to master! I’m listening to Pico Iyer’s TED talk on the importance of taking time for stillness. I agree with everything he says and yet seem unable to stop what I’m doing and be still. Just be. This is something that doesn’t come naturally to me. My grandmother used to say that your hands could always be busy with something. She never just sat watching TV, no. There was always something to do, to sew, to knit, to mend. She would sit with us in front of the TV alright, but her hands would not stop…
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