At last! After a two week hiatus this week’s musings are bought to you from a shiny new website. Welcome. Not being able to post anything the first week was unsettling. I likened it to FOMO (fear of missing out) but in reverse, kind of. I was caught in a flurry of engaging activities and experiences, but without my usual outlet I was suspended in radio silence. There were a few nerve racking days, as over a year’s work moved from one site to another and I could not view anything. I was unexpectedly protective and worried about the potential loss of my writing journey so far, also how long it would be until I could resume adding to it.

With excitement and wonder I watched my vision of the new site take shape. My web designer exercised patience with my requests, limited technological knowledge and general confusion. It represents another tentative step into the big wide world (or web in this case) and it was worth the wait. The real test will be learning how to access, add and amend to satisfy my personal foibles. Far more time than I could have imagined was spent looking for the perfect photograph(s) only to find they were the wrong size. What started as inspiring, quickly became a chore after a few days of trawling, but going forward this should be less intensive.   

In other news, I completed my first 10k walk. Having grown up with miles I confess it didn’t mean that much to me and I chose not to look up the conversion into miles beforehand, preferring to just get on with it and see how it went. There were a range of participants including a few dogs and music lovers belting out show tunes at various stages along the way. It was well organised, with checkpoints and signposts well placed en route. I wasn’t exhausted by the end, but my legs and feet let me know they had been working. By contrast I spent the following day mainly seated travelling via a bus replacement service to Birmingham, quite a surreal couple of days when I look back on it, but there were more fun and games to be had.

My weekend activities caught up with me the following Monday when I found myself drifting off to sleep in the middle of the afternoon! I was properly snoring and everything, highly unusual for me. It was probably a good thing though, because I did not want to miss the writing for children workshop later that evening. My contribution to The Bride Wore Parachute Silk is a click away (I’m loving this shiny new website).

The unexpected highlight of that week had to be the invitation to a meeting at a perceived big scary writing institution. Nothing could be further from the truth. Far from being scary it was warm, friendly and inviting. I recklessly described myself as an imposter and was still welcomed as a kindred spirit. My declaration as an imposter seemed almost like a prerequisite, once spoken out loud I could now be considered for access to other areas. It was comforting and I’m glad I made the effort. My head was buzzing all the way home torn between committee duties or throwing my hat in the ring as a participant. I shared my concerns only to be reprimanded several times before being instructed to say ‘yes’ to any and everything offered in future.

As thoughts of creativity were largely replaced by technology, I did not mourn for my schedule. Instead, I used the time to embrace the changes, commission a bespoke logo and attend a meeting about what the potential next business step should be. The business scheme being touted did not match my expectations, but I did make contact with a photographer, so it was still a good use of my time.  I’ve been far from idle, but a return to my routine will be welcome.