“Things are both fine and not. Beginnings and endings are happening side by side. Life is messy and important and joyous and heartbreaking.”
These words from Meg Fee sum up August for me. This month, grey days stretched into sunny evenings with people I love. I worked, rested, then became ill and played less than I would have liked to. I visited the Peak District with work friends, appreciating slow, shared meals and a break from screens.
Autumn’s approach is accompanied by a sense of freshness – a new academic year, new projects, new colleagues, a new home further along the coast. But it also looks set to bring loss, change that isn’t so easy to prepare for.
Managing positive and difficult circumstances simultaneously has reminded me to be gentle with myself and others. This currently looks like prioritising time with my favourite people and finding comfort in quiet moments. It means maintaining motivation but not berating myself when I’m not on top form. Whatever the close of summer brings, I hope you can tread gently too.
I’ve been writing:
I’ve been reading:
- The Organized Mind
- Zine queens: how women’s magazines found new life via indie publishing
- How to Feel Progress
- Could you run your house like you’d run an office?
I’ve been listening to:
- Chimene Suleyman: My Name is My Name – The Pool
- Sheryl Sandberg – Desert Island Discs
- How To Do Summer When You’re Not A Summer Person – The Debrief
- 500th Episode Special – The Moth
- Semper Femina – Laura Marling (Always This Way and Nothing, Not Nearly are my favourites)
I’ve been watching:
