Life comes at you fast

Most weeks, sitting at the bottom of my to do list is to write. Write on this blog. I’ve always thought it was important to tackle the blank page and keep that writing muscle whirring away. Hopefully it can inspire or help people, how others writing has helped me in the past. Or just help me figure some things out.

But, it seems, that box on the to do list is always empty, never filled. I’m ticking it off today.

Excitement

Life has been exciting. I’ve managed to travel far and wide this year, including a bucket list work trip to Australia, racking up 25 flights and it’s only June. I’m spending almost all of my time on Uncensored CMO, as Jon (bossman) has gone full-time on the show and it’s demanding more episodes and travel.

Loss

Life has been hard. I lost one of my cats, little Eddie. My buddy. He was only four, taken by a “golf ball-sized” cancerous tumour he decided to act all normal about until it was too late. He went out in style, much like he lived his four action packed years. My flat feels empty without him and it hit me like a freight train. It might sound odd, but I learned a lot from him, about love, persistence and energy.

Work

It feels like I now have a regular job, living like a more normal human. It’s nice to have the security of a regular pay check, and the flexibility to work the way I like to, but it does mean I don’t have a great deal of energy to work on the personal projects - photography, writing, the wallets. Any creative endeavour really. I probably have the time to work on them after I’ve finished work, but by then I want to vegetate. And that’s ok.

Overlords

I’ve been both embracing and resisting AI. Not liking the idea of us all outsourcing human thinking to machines, but equally enamoured by what can be achieved by collaborating with our robot overlords.

Analog

Phone time is down, reading time is up. This year I’ve powered through about 20 books, tracking every one in my little notebook. I’m using the “read through everything quickly and see if anything sticks” approach *although I read at the speed of a snail so it’s still a lot of time spent in the pages. Physical books only. It’s satisfying only bringing one book out with you and not having the decision paralysis with 100 options on your kindle. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is my standout read so far this year. Followed by Beyond Belief by Nir Eyal.

The tiny pocket notebook I carry around with me everywhere has been a big change. Instead of instinctively picking up my phone and tapping on whatever apps give me my next dopamine hit, I whip out a little Field Notes book and write down whatever thought comes to my mind. When someone gives me a recommendation for a restaurant or a film, it goes into the notebook, instead of the notes app. Then I sometimes hand over a blank page to a friend and see what they put in the notebook. Here’s what Nir wrote:

Creating

I’m not creating as much as I’d like. Work has been busy, and I felt the wind knocked out of my sails when I lost Eddie, my mojo is spluttering. I know it will come back, I just have to start again.