There is wind beneath my wings

Dear reader, I am so happy and grateful to be alive. Today was one of those days where all compass points tipped in the same direction, which is to say, it all lined up.

I MET DOLLY ALDERTON!

Her memoir Everything I Know About Love spoke to me on such a visceral level that I cried and had a minor mental breakdown for a week. I’d never felt so seen in a book before. It was like she had reached into my soul and put it onto the page.

I always had a feeling I’d meet her, but when or how I left up to the gods, and they picked today. We were on the same tube together, and she was so kind and we chatted for like six entire tube stops ahhhhhh! I’ve always hated the Victoria line, but today I could have kissed it.

They say don’t meet your heroes, but I’m so glad I did. What a lovely gal. And we met a corgi called Rosé who was in the same tube carriage as us, which felt appropriate.

I saw friends today and as a result discovered a beautiful little French café in Finsbury Park which has the most delectable raspberry macarons known to man (they will be seeing me again). We chatted and walked through the park as the sun was setting, and the world just felt like a lovely place to be.

On the tube home there was a Spanish family with four young boys, and the littlest reached out to the lady sat next to him and she waved at him and smiled, then we smiled at each other even though such interactions are like gold dust on the tube. The magnolia tree on the way home is in bloom and it smells lovely. It always makes me think of my mum, who loves them.

There is such a levity in my heart today, and especially recently. I’ve been trying to notice more, take in details and absorb how much gratitude I feel for the present moment. If you’re looking for an inspiring read about gratitude and making life better I recently loved listening to the audiobook of Miranda Hart’s book, I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You. She writes passionately about the importance of finding joy in the every day, which I’m learning is the true secret to contentment.

For example, as I write to you now, my fancy White Company diffuser is going and the room smells heavenly. My bed has at last arrived (no more mattress on the floor for me!) and I was keeping aside some new blue gingham linen sheets that I bought in the Black Friday sale from Piglet in Bed, waiting until the bed was here to put them on. I’m scheming, planning to change the bedding tomorrow then shower and shave so I can have that incomparable feeling of smooth legs and new sheets.

It’s really tidy in here (for once) and I’m grateful to my past self for being productive. I’m reading the first Maxton Hall book, which is a classic enemies-to-lovers. I was lucky enough to pick up a proof copy at work, where I am often able to get free books (the dream!).

But something else Dolly-inspired is sticking in my mind today: how lucky I am to have friends. Family aside (love you lads) there is nothing I love so much in the world as my friends. I have the utter privilege of knowing some of the most wonderful women and people in the world and every day I am grateful to have them.

Friendship, especially female friendship, is a big theme in Dolly’s book, and I can’t help but feel it is the thing that uplifts me every day. A grey cloud found me earlier this week and I was in such a grump, then I met one of my best friends for a riverside walk. I warned her that I was in a terrible mood as we started our sunset laps of Bishop’s Park, and without me even noticing, my cloud went away.

My housemate makes me laugh every day. Living with them is pure joy - we dance around the kitchen to the Joseph soundtrack, do the Hokey Cokey when we’re sad, and share hysterics when building furniture together.

I have friends I write with, friends I check in with every so often, but it’s like no time has passed when we meet. Friends who make me feel so loved, friends I could talk to do for hours, friends who keep me walking onwards when I feel like I can’t stand by myself.

All this to say: life is a scary, ever-changing rollercoaster. This can be a lot to handle, but it also means if things are bad, they can and will get better, because nothing lasts forever - especially the bad things. I choose to believe that better is always coming. You never know what the day - or the Victoria line - will bring.