A family friend commented this week that I seem to make time for the things that are good, and it dawned on me that somehow, despite it all, I do. I do spend 15 minutes sitting down with a coffee each morning before the rest of the house wakes up. I do read every night before I go to sleep. I do go for walks even when I feel I don’t have the time. When my children were very small, I remember for years seeking that elusive thing called balance. I now know that, at least in this chapter of life, it doesn’t exist, and I no longer yearn for it like I used to. Instead, I utilise the smallest of moments between this and that for things that are good: taking a book to school pick up to read in the car, pausing between domestic tasks to put the kettle on, sitting in my front garden while the oven warms up. Most of these things are done in 10 to 15 minute increments, and are sandwiched by all the usual things that come with the day: emails, work, ferrying children, washing, folding, vacuuming, cooking, negotiating. This doesn’t mean that I’m immune from feeling a crushing sense of overwhelm at times, despite best attempts. But come the end of each passing week, these small things add up. (An important caveat for parents of small humans: the early mornings only became possible when my children consistently slept all night, prior to that I always prioritised sleeping in.)
Along this vein of balance and life choices and time: this fortnight I was lucky enough to be front and centre at the opening session of Manningham’s Inspired Living Series with keynote speaker
. I have been a big fan of Sarah’s work for a long time and it was a thrill to see her speak in person. Sarah touched on some of the key elements of leading a life of value and purpose. She talked about ‘tilting’ into the good and important things, a concept that also often touches on. She also shared a pertinent quote from Seth Godin:‘People like us do things like this.’
This quote was in relation to bringing people along with us, instead of perpetuating the polarisation we see in the world. I like the idea behind this quote - which is also something we were sometimes taught in school (!) - to model something you believe in, and be the spark that might encourage others. This could be anything from exercising, to working on a community environmental campaign, to minimising your use of soft plastics, and so on and so on.
I have used a keep cup almost religiously for many years, and a while back when a friend told me she had brought her keep cup because she remembered that I always used one, I felt super smug - mission accomplished. If you influenced just one other person to use a keep cup, cut down on plastic use, plant a tree, go for a walk, read a book, choose something that is good, can you imagine what we could achieve? The key, according to Sarah Wilson, is being the change - not preaching the change. I have to say I wholeheartedly agree.
Other things:
We went camping this fortnight, and it was hot. The pictures throughout this post are from the five days we spent away. I got up early to soak in some quiet and cool moments. I find that spending time in nature in this way holds me for weeks afterwards. You? I noticed someone put out a bowl of water for the hot possum living in the toilet block. With that in mind I put out little containers of water around our campsite and while drinking my morning coffee I watched white-browed scrubwrens and tiny fairy wrens having baths and ruffling their feathers.
I read this post by
about contemporary American life. The part of the article that resonated with me was about friendships; the back and forth and fizzling out of text messages, and the inability to connect with people in a way that felt easier in our younger years - due to busy-ness, work, exhaustion. I really related to this - for weeks I’ve been bouncing around in at least two WhatsApp groups of friends attempting to book in a dinner… to no avail.I listened to Arielle Gamble being interviewed by Berry Liberman on climate justice and finding joy. At the end of this (thought provoking) episode Berry asks Ariel what has been giving her joy. And I just adored her answer which was that she had been finding ‘joy in being a little mammal’, being in her body and experiencing the beauty of the world. She said that she can ‘know all of the terrible factors of the world, but there are still birds in the tree above me. And they’re singing.’ Listen here.
So it’s time for another fortnight to begin (how this newsletter comes around so fast is beyond me) and in my world this next week is one of the busiest on my annual work calendar with World Down Syndrome Day on Thursday 21 March. After this week I am looking forward to the joys of Autumn incoming (my favourite season), some time off over the Easter holidays, and I’m feeling the anticipation of lighting our fire for the first time in coming weeks.
What is the vibe in your world?
Until next time, travel light.
Lucinda x
A lovely letter, so many thoughts popping around my head after reading. Thank you for the link to the Wisdom and Action Podcast, I can’t wait to dive in and learn about finding joy and hope in a time of climate change, natural disasters etc. Sarah Wilson is super inspiring too. After reading your letter I am going to leave some water out in my garden tomorrow morning and see who visits 🌟
‘joy in being a little mammal’ - yes!!