Weeknote 13 – A positive start to the year

I’m back at work today after a four week break. I’m not sure it feels like I’ve had four weeks off but it does feel like a positive start to the year.

After a Christmas laced with Covid anxiety and lateral flow tests, my partner and I made it to Tenerife on the 2nd January.

I recognise travel may not be the right move for everyone right now. I also acknowledge my privilege in being able to jet off overseas. However, I think I’d forgotten the huge impact travel has on my mental health.

I’ve always loved travel. When I was young I got more excited about holidays than birthdays and Christmas. I realise now that two years of being grounded by the pandemic has taken its toll because I’ve been without something that brings me real joy.

So, swimming in the morning sun I made a pact with myself. To take a trip somewhere warm every quarter this year. These will probably be solo trips and may well be working holidays but I know being in the sun exploring new places and cultures is something I really in my life.

I think another big reason I’m feeling positive is being able to finally embrace freelance life and a more flexible working pattern. This is the first time in 15 years I haven’t had to be sat at a desk by 9am every weekday morning. I find it hard to describe this feeling without using cliches but it just feels so freeing.

As someone who’s never been a morning person this gives me that little extra time I need to find the motivation to get myself to the swimming pool three mornings a week. Something I’ve always struggled to maintain when I have to leave the house before the sun rises!

I think it’s the small things like this that will make such a big difference to me.

I know there are many challenges, learnings and likely failures ahead but for now I’d just like to capture this feeling.

I was given Brene Brown’s new book, Atlas of the Heart, for Christmas. In it she tells a beautiful story about joy. She talks about being on a boat with her daughter and watching her daughter as she made a ‘picture memory’ of their moment together.

When times get tough this year I want to try and remember:

1. Feeling the sun on my face as I swam alone in the morning in Tenerife
2. The mix of contentment and excitement I felt (rather than depression and dread) as I went to sleep on Sunday night before the first day back at work after Christmas
3. Sitting in my armchair by the radiator with a tea in my yellow mug to start my first real day of working for Joy

I hope everyone found some peace and joy for themselves during the holidays. Happy new year.