Not making resolutions in January (or am I?)

I'm starting out here not really sure what I want to write about. All I know is that I want to write. Because it's been a while! Well, and I'd quite like to use a laptop for something other than Google Classroom if only for a short while.

Have I been up to much? Not really. Have I been thinking much? Probably too much. So there is a danger that this could all turn rather philosophical, which I would quite like to avoid as I'm sure we've all got our own philosophy to be preoccupied with without having to take someone else's on board!

Usually in January I kick off with a resolutions post. Even when I've had no resolution, writing this post has been my tradition now for the past eight years. So this year it felt strange not to launch into one on New Year's Day, but it also didn't feel right to do so. Having spent the last year having no clue what was going on or where I would be or who with, I thought this year I'd just stick to taking every day as it comes. Which perhaps is a resolution in itself? But after last year's resolution being met with minimal effort on my part (yeah, thanks Covid, I guess you'll take care of my 'slowing down'), I'm reluctant to formalise anything this year for fear that it will take an unexpected turn again.

I must confess that in contrast to last January where I was all for finding the light, this year I've definitely been in hibernation mode since Christmas (probably before that if I'm really being honest with myself). I'm definitely getting better at not feeling guilty if I've not been particularly productive when I'm not at work (I've said it before, and I'll say it again; we could all learn a lot from cats). 

So one thing I have resolved to do is to set an alarm at the weekends. While I am all for listening to my body and sleeping in until I wake naturally around 10am; on these occasions, it's midday before I know it and the sun is setting not long after that. I want to make more of my days whether that's a day in or out. Especially in the winter!

Yesterday, I went for my first proper walk this year and it was so good to get outside beyond the route to and from school, and especially to see some sunshine! We made our way around a bit of Bushy Park (there's just so much of it to cover) and then along the river a little way from Hampton Court. The last time we'd been in the area was early Autumn in that strange time where it was ok to meet a small group to enjoy a brunch at 'socially' distanced tables, popping your mask on whenever you weren't seated. The leaves were falling from the trees, and it was rutting season. Yesterday, the trees were bare, and the stags quietly sharing hay from a bale. An Egyptian Goose was fiercely guarding her four little floofs. For nature, life goes on.

I've decided I'd quite like to return to Bushy Park February-March time when the green tufts of bulbs that were beginning to break through the mulchy ground will reveal themselves fully, and when a few more Camellia may have blossomed.

It was only recently that we discovered how easily Richmond Park can be reached on foot from home (don't worry, Boris, this is all very local exercise) so really we should make more of that knowledge, then, and I think that we will. But we're still making the best of those lazy days, too. 

I'm definitely getting better at not feeling so guilty when I don't do something productive every day whether it be week day, weekend, or holiday. It's funny the things it's taken a pandemic to truly reveal to me. I can talk the talk, but only recently have I begun to walk the walk. I've appreciated the value of rest, I've been more spontaneous (totally out of my comfort zone as an INFJ), I've made the most of each day often in really small ways. None of this in a forced way, I hope, but with gratitude.

Going ahead into 2021 with little to no plans, but I'm still looking forward to whatever awaits me! 

Slowly into the New Year

2020 has arrived, and with it a little sunshine at last.

Yesterday's lunch spot.

I've been quiet for a while. Not because I've had nothing to write about, but partly because of a lack of energy and inspiration, and partly because of a lack of time (a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario, if I'm honest).

On reflection, 2019 was a strange year because it was the first in a while where nothing momentous happened. I'm settled in my job. I'm settled in my home. I'm settled in my relationship. I'm settled. And with being settled comes a stupid sense of having not achieved anything; which is ridiculous. It took almost reaching the end of the year to realise a few things. One of these things was as above; relatively speaking, 2019 was a quiet year. Which is fine. Only it wasn't entirely fine, because another thing I realised is that what happened was that I crammed my time full of social events and occasions to make myself feel like I was doing something worthwhile. Which is fine. Only it's not totally fine when you feel completely and utterly shattered by the time December comes around.

So in December, I started to slow down. And while that may sound like leaving it too late, I'm going with the notion that this slowing down is how I'm moving into a New Year. So it's not too late; I just started my resolution a month early.

Is there anything better than sitting on a bench, 

knowing you're in no rush?

As always, I've already plotted a few social events and occasions into my diary and onto the calendar so poor Steven doesn't get left behind (it's no wonder he can't keep up..), but I'm plotting them with care. I'm taking each month into consideration as a whole, not living week by week. If one major event that involves travel or people coming to stay is happening in a month, then that's it. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, then I embrace a slower pace.

There were many elements that I loved about 2019, not least the places that I got to see and the people I got to see them with. With a few empty days between New Year and the start of a new term, I've enjoyed slow wanderings closer to home. Yesterday it was a new stretch of the Thames Path from Kingston to Richmond with the sun on my back, and today it was to and from Wimbledon with the sun in my eyes (all in the name of Vitamin D).

Got to love a line of Cormorants.

Was I wearing sensible footwear? Me? Never.

Relief for my tired tootsies when familiarity was in sight!

Tomorrow looks equally as quiet as the past few days. Perhaps we'll make time for a dog walk before the return to reality on Monday. Slowly, I'm ready to make my way into another New Year.

Rabbits

Oddly enough, when I visited UEA before I started applying to universities, I was convinced I wouldn’t be attending because it was just too grey and dull. Four years later I’m still here and still loving the campus, even if it is dull and grey. I dread to think how many people I have forced into going ‘for a wander’ with me in the past come rain or shine, snow or thick fog, and yet the novelty still hasn’t worn off. Of course home has the beach which will always triumph, but the wonderful thing about Norwich is how the lake, the river, things in fields and so, so many rabbits are within walking distance. The hill, the back of the Village, Eaton Park, the walled garden at the law school in Earlham park, the bluebell woods, the horse and donkey sanctuary, just a few favourite haunts. I always feel a little silly wearing my wellies en route to walking destinations because of course I do live in a city (admittedly a city in Norfolk). However I can always be secure in the knowledge that where I’m going, there will be mud!

Today the winter caught me out. I still don’t think I’ve quite grasped just how early it gets dark, so at half 3 (bearing in mind sunset was due to be at 5 to 4), iPod at the ready, I decided to venture out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYUKsRL-YBM – The Burgh Island EP was the soundtrack today, it really is too lovely.

Thick fog meant it was already feeling pretty dark by the time I left (although in true British style I must comment on how mild it was for the time of year!) and I admit I got a bit wimpish and chickened out of venturing too far (plus I wasn’t actually equipped with wellies for any muddy encounters). Instead, a circular wander in the direction of campus – destination: cash-machine-with-the-ability-to-produce-a-statement-in-the-hope-that-it-would-tell-me-I-had-money (how very exciting). It did not.  The problem with making New Year’s resolutions before the New Year is that you think you’ve got a neat little achievable list, and then you add to it. Because I’ve decided that I definitely need to get back into my wandering – somewhere along the road that was third year I lost any form of energy that would get me further than downstairs to the kettle and back up again with cup of tea in hand – but then I suppose this one can come under ‘Stop being so lazy!’? I must confess that wandering alone is not quite as satisfying as wandering with poor, unsuspecting friends. Nevertheless I would hate to waste the opportunity, especially when Ben Howard is playing in my ears, and the ‘countryside’ really is, right on my doorstep.