The last time I shared a blog post here, I started by writing: How did we get to September? At that point, I hadn’t shared a post since July and couldn’t believe how the time had just passed. And yet here I am, writing this post at the beginning of January, a whole four months later. I’m not really one for New Year resolutions. I think it’s good to have some ideas and hopes for the year ahead, but resolutions feel too inflexible for these evolving times. I clearly recall starting 2020 with resolutions (didn’t we all?). So, no resolutions, but perhaps an intention or two would be okay, starting with making/finding the time to sit down and write here. Just to sit and write.
I’m starting this year’s posts with a familiar place and a favourite walk that I’ve shared before: the coastal walk to Gullane Point. I’ve still a lot to share from the end of last year, but this walk from late December, and this glowing light, feels like a good place to begin 2022. This was the rainiest Christmas I can remember with so many days of grey skies – which only made this walk feel even more striking. These abbreviated afternoons of daylight can still be a shock, even though we’re used to them by midwinter, and this was one of those days when the light was changing quickly as we drove down the coast and I was kicking myself as I watched the sky shift with colours sweeping through the clouds, wishing we’d left home an hour earlier to capture more of this sunlight. But still, we caught these moments before the light faded.
So, talking of intentions, is this a good time to share a short – and flexible – list?
Okay, so there’s writing more here. There’s also reading more – which I struggle with after hours at a screen as my eyes are just too tired.
Spending less time on Instagram, creating the space for the writing and the reading.
Having a shorter working week, as my work has been very part time for a while now, yet can still stretch into five days (which is what can happen when you’re self-employed). So, hopefully, by tightening up those working hours, there’s time for a project or two…
Getting up earlier and going for a dawn walk. Not every day by any stretch as I’m a night owl, but I want to spend more time outdoors. During the first lockdown of 2020, we never missed that daily walk as we both understood the importance of being outside for our mental health as much as our physical well-being. And while no longer living with restrictions, time in the great outdoors remains as important.
Exploring more. That’s a tricky one as Covid has made our worlds a little smaller, right? But I’m longing to get out and explore more of Scotland given that we spent most of last year in East Lothian. So that’s an aim for 2022.
Gullane Point, December 2021.
