In true February style, the week so far has been grey and drizzly, but this morning Ash and I have been watching the red kites outside our window and they don’t seem to mind the weather at all. In fact, they have been performing courtship displays for us - twisting and turning in the sky as they pass food between talons and generally try to impress each other. I can see one now, drifting across a line of skeletal trees that will soon be thick and alive with spring leaves.
Yesterday I had a minor epiphany in regard to my working life. I’ve always been quite ambitious and driven, but the downside of this means I’ve struggled to recognise my limits. I think of project ideas and can’t help but start them, even when I already have a full plate and my energy is spread thin. I’m coming up to five years freelance next month (more on that in the next newsletter!) and it turns out it’s taken me this long to realise where my limits are in terms of a work/life balance. Yesterday I looked at the list of projects I’ve been working on and removed half of them. Gone! Not forever, of course. I just wrote them on a post-it note and stuck them to the wall behind my desk, ready for when I have the time and energy to commit to them properly. But it was such a relief! I’m now able to focus on finishing my next book without feeling like my attention is split across too many projects. I feel like I’ve reached a point where I can let go of things more easily and focus on work, life, motherhood and the intersection of all three. Have any of you experienced something similar?
Before I go, the newest issue of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine is out today and contains my latest book review which is available online here. I reviewed John Lewis-Stempel’s Nightwalking and Johan Eklöf’s The Darkness Manifesto, both of which I highly recommend if you’re interested in nature after dark and the growing issue of light pollution.
