Day 1: taking stock #40daysto40

The rain is diagonal at the moment. It’s lashing, smashing, splashing it down onto the concrete pavings of the back garden. Soaked up by the newly planted lawn, an attempt to prevent runoff, a meagre gesture towards flood mitigation.

Apple tree in the rain, with the remains of the fence the last storm took out.

Apple tree in the rain, with the remains of the fence that the last storm took out.

In 40 days time, I will be 40. I thought it might be worth taking stock of the last decade, plus lob a load of random other thoughts out in this blog, my little corner of the internet. (Hello reader, thanks for reading!)

I was ecstatic to leave my twenties; I was quite miserable in my late twenties. I embraced entering the thirties with open arms and heart. So, entering my fifth decade comes with a little poignancy, the feeling of certain things coming to an end but the positive feeling that there are potential adventures ahead.

So with a vague countdown, here are some life stats (for what it’s worth)! Over the last decade:

  • I have moved house four times
  • I have completed two university courses (PGCE and MA) and about to complete the third (and final?!) one
  • I have had two jobs (one of which I honestly loved) and a fair few freelance/temporary contracted opportunities
  • I have co-authored a book, and have had several poems published. I am now not scared to call myself a writer (I was reticent for a long time)
  • I know a little more about botany and wildlife identification but am always learning
  • I gained four stone (70 pounds / about 32kg), lost four stone, and then re-gained two stone (35 pounds / about 16kg), in terms of ongoing fun with my weight (ah, the ongoing, and pointless, battle with my body image)
  •  I adopted three felines in a new quest to become the ultimate cat woman.
  • I have had the great fortune to travel around the world to: Hong Kong (via a looong stopover in Doha airport), Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Alicante, Rojales, Benijofar, Mercia, Torrevieja, Valencia, Paris (twice, not quite by choice), Bordeaux, Toulouse, Andorra (like a big outdoors duty free shop!), Barcelona, Cartegena, Bilbao, Oviedo, Spokane, Moscow (in Idaho), Chicago, New York City (twice – NYC kind of has my heart), New Jersey, Corfu, Copenhagen (twice, I love the city!), and Malmö. Plus wonderful trips around the UK (fun fact: I’ve now nipped to various places in every single county in England) and Ireland. The earth is so interesting, and I’m constantly astonished by the fact that I will never see all of it. And that’s OK; I’ll do my best to see as much as I can while trying to tread as lightly as I can. (Several of my travels were by train and boat, however, not all of them. My carbon footprint has expanded over this decade.)
  • I have done more things on my own which has become less scary as I get older but I’m aware of my place in the world and of my own privileges. (Or, at least, try to ensure that I’m more self-aware!)
  • I have made more friends which I’m completely blessed with, and have had the joy of working with fantastic colleagues
  • But I have experienced life-changing loss and the deaths of my step-grandfather and my granddad
  • Yet I am always learning.

Over the next forty days – not promising every day though because I don’t need that kind of pressure piled on myself – I will try to throw out some other thoughts, writing and photographs in the run-up to forty.