This is a very short note to you all, because life is lifing right now, and I’m not sure which way’s up.
I’m feeling particularly perimenopausal:
🥱 super fatigued
🚽 always needing to pee
🦵 achy hips (omg…)
😳 lying awake at night
🥺 tearful for no particular reason
😶🌫️ brain fog – with too much to do!
That’s just the tip of the complainy iceberg! Luckily, there are lots of lovely things too.
I’ve started serious plotting on the third in my magical middle grade series. It’s such a fun place to exist in, and after a long break away from it, I’ve put aside the self-doubt and refound my joy there, which is really special.
I’ve also started plotting a romance, which I may or may not end up writing, but I’m really enjoying the exercise. It’s funny; over the last couple of decades I have not been a plotter at all, except retrospectively, in order to pull a novel together or noodle through different ideas. At the moment, thought, perhaps because the rest of life feels so out of control, I am feeling soothed by planning a story and creating a logical progression from beginning to end, seeing how all the loose ends can be tidied up. Satisfying!
My daughter’s best friend brought me some seaglass that she collected on an Italian holiday in the summer, so since she has a birthday coming up, I’ve been creating some seaglass art for her, and it has been lovely to use my hands and eyes to put a picture together, especially after some of the challenging online stuff I’ve been battling with (see below…). Taking the time to slow down and create mindfully, without worrying about ‘productivity’,’ is immeasurably helpful to my mood and general wellbeing.
It’s soon going to be half term holidays here, so a break from 6am starts and lots of time to be spend en masse with the family, doing fun things and hanging out with the kids.
All of this to say: I spent a lot of time this week trying to wrangle with my booking system and then get a pop-up to work on my site (I know, I know), and failing utterly. So I’m just leaving it! I can come back to it another time, there’s no rush, I’ll resolve it at some point, but what I was trying to do was give my newsletter subscribers a 10% off code, now that I’ve reopened my books.
That’s it! Wishing you strength and sunshine, figuratively if not literally! 🌸