Pace & Savour.

So, I had written a positive, “ticks all the blog boxes” post about looking ahead to 2021. And, not that I don’t feel positive about 2021 - because I really do - I’ve found my thoughts changing as I’ve been reflecting over the past few days.

I’ve just come out of Christmas time with my parents, where for the first time all year I was able to actually switch off. One day, I slept for 11 straight hours and I cannot remember the last time I did that (apologies to all parents with small children, I know you would kill for straight hours…). Why? Because there were no distractions. I’d moved out of my house….which is also my office….and where I do my business crafting….a house which I am trying to sell…..

Let’s face it, I did not realise how much pressure I was feeling at the end of last year. Not from one thing, but from a build up of that lovely little thing we call “Life”. I’m not complaining - I am unbelievably thankful for everything that I have, but I put a lot of pressure on myself. Not to be perfect (I am the opposite of a perfectionist) but to keep doing more. To challenge myself. To get better in general. And it’s really tiring! I’m finding myself feeling stressed about cooking evening meals in the week. About when I can go for a run. Whether I am “there enough” (whatever that means!?) for my friends.

Which got me thinking. I am not one for New Year’s resolutions, however, I would like to keep progressing and learning about myself - particularly how I can try not to put so much pressure on myself. I saw Holly (who was co-founder of Not on the High Street) post about how she has a word of the year. What a great idea! Hers is “Thrive”; the idea being that last year was about small businesses making it through the year, and this year it’s about not just coming out the other side, but thriving! I love it.

So, I have thought about it for a couple of days and I just can’t choose one word because I have too many words in my brain! I’ve therefore chosen two: Pace & Savour. No, I’m not starting a quirky new alternative bistro, I want to try my best this year not to slow down completely, but to pace myself. When I start feeling stressed, I try and control everything so I start manically writing lists so that I can be productive, tick things off and feel IN CONTROL (again, is that even possible!?). I want to start being in control of my pace of life, and consciously slowing it down when I need to. And quickening it up when it’s exciting to!

But, that’s not all. I want to Savour what I am doing. I don’t want to become a tick list, I want to enjoy what I am doing and, if I don’t enjoy it, I will stop it. Take blog post writing, even that was feeling like a chore when instead, I could be setting aside some time, with a lovely coffee and writing - which I actually love to do.

You’ll see “Pace & Savour” stamped as the image at the top of this blog post. I stamped it in the front of my business book so that it is front and centre throughout the year. Hopefully it will keep me grounded. The irony of the stamp: I was rushing it. The “S” is upside down, the “a” is half overlapping, the first two letters I pressed down too hard…..I was going to re-stamp it perfectly somewhere else to take a photo of it and then I realised this was more honest. I’m not paced and I’m not savouring the little things at the moment and that’s the point! Whilst I have been writing this though, there is a bolognese cooking on the hob which will be a couple of dinners sorted for this week (Mr ACD made this after I told him a bit about how I was feeling). Small steps, people.

So, there it is. Well, it was definitely cathartic for me to write that all out, and if you made it this far - well done you! Here’s to a well-paced year where we savour every moment.

x