A Poem + A life update

It has been pretty much four months to the day since I last sent you something into your inbox / published on Substack. Life has been both busy and slow.

In one sense I have been working away with paid work, like clients and the part time job I began in January of this year. It has filled my days and weeks in many rewarding ways, and I feel truly blessed to be doing work that fills me up, with lovely people and in ways that suit my style of working.

If I am honest, it also feels good to have a second more reliable income stream to cover my basic living expenses after six years as fully self employed. Whilst I loved having full flexibility of my own time and diary, the uncertainty of income was beginning to take its toll.

Now I feel like I finally get to have the best of both worlds, by being part of a lovely team doing work that I enjoy, whilst continuing to also see clients who are looking to build a better relationship with food and their bodies, in my private practice! And I get to continue to work from home, which I know doesn’t suit everybody, but for me I really like it.

When I say that my life has also slowed down, what I mean is that I currently do the vast majority of my work over four days. This means that some of those days may be long days, but having three days for me to have flexible disposal of my own time feels both necessary to recover from the long days, but also to spend time with my partner, my dogs, friends and hobbies. It feels like it has taken me many years to get here, and it also makes me sometimes so anxious that something unforseen will happen and crash it all. Forboding Joy I think is what I think Brené Brown calls that kind of anxiety…

With this change in life rhythm has come changes. I paused on pushing myself to publish newsletters and podcast episodes, as well as publishing on Social Media. Now, I am finally feeling a pull to get back to it again. I don’t know how often or how much I can do, but I really would like to get back to sending you some (hopefully) useful stuff over the coming weeks and months.

So far I have only released one podcast episode of Season 5. I have many more interviews that I recorded earlier this year and to honour the people who so generously donated their time, I want to make sure that they get edited and released. There are some great and useful conversations that I feel may benefit many, so that is another great motivation to get them out there. Hopefully I can get back to releasing at least one a month from November onwards. Keep your ears peeled😉

I also have some fresh ideas for some blog articles, and with a bit of luck I will get to write them too.

Another reason that I have been kept busy for the past number of months ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

When I lost my beloved Ojay in early Spring, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about getting another dog. I still had Buddy who is now also an old dog. How would both of us feel with out Ojay? The answer was a bigger emptiness than I had anticipated. The house was too quiet! I still feel his loss deeply, and miss his little fluffy face all the time. And I also feel incerdibly privileged to have had 18 very full and loving years with him, including catering to all of his needs (and demands!!) in his later years.

Having Xena has kept me busy and I think somewhat stopped me from wallowing in self-pity. Raising a puppy is so intense and s o m u c h w o r k. But she is a lot of fun too, and I think she’s cheered up Buddy a bit too. Right now both of them are a sleep on the couch next to me, which is nice.

Before I leave you, and thank you for reading this far, I want to leave you with a poem by John O’Donohue. I hope it will nourish you today and beyond. Because in this world with so much darkeness it is important that we remember that there is also so much goodness.

For Presence

Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.

- John O’Donohue