Like a fish in the wind
jumps right out of its knowledge
And lands on the sand.
From Memorial, by Alice Oswald. How I feel each 1st January, before finding myself swept up in the tides of routine again.
Starting the year with some very sincere thank yous. A number of you reached out to get in touch after my last blog in October, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all the generous messages.
Just after writing it, a wonderful whirlwind of a puppy arrived as a gift from many kind friends for my birthday and she’s bounced through every spare hour since. I am horribly behind with thankyous and even simple Christmassy hellos to many dear people. Hoping to make up some of the gaps in this swoop.
I wanted to take a moment to write this rather practical little blog today, to hold myself accountable to my intentions for the year ahead.
You are entrusted now to be my witness.
I embarked on Chasing Angels on 9 December 2021, with no real idea what I wanted beyond the desire to make myself write something, anything, again.
I’ve talked before about listening, but for me writing really is an exercise in jumping off the train of life to hear what else is beneath all that noise. Listening in search of clarity. Listening to make sense of what has been experienced. Listening out for the version that will help us keep moving forward. Listening to the future…
Starting completely afresh, 2022 was a say-yes-to-everything year. And I am so immensely grateful to have had lots to say yes to. Biggest thankyous go out to my amazing neighbours, Assheton and Alex Stewart Carter, both of whom have kept me busy with work. Alex’s new website for her beautiful decoupage glassware will be ready soon; Assheton’s brilliant company, TDi Sustainability, where I’ve been sharing stories as their Content Specialist, will be my main employment for the year ahead, giving me the freedom to make 2023 a say-no-to-more-things year.
Special thanks, too, go out to Tovi Sorga, Auriol and Mehdi Colquhoun and Emma Clout for trusting me with the deeply rewarding, co-creative process of making their websites last year.
Emma’s insightful life coaching skills sent me into a slightly obsessive planning mode as the juggle came to an end in December and I tried to map what I most want in the months ahead.
Perhaps I’ve been asleep, but the journal planning craze completely escaped my notice until last month. A kind friend pointed me towards the Year Compass – a brilliant online workbook which helps people look thoughtfully back over the past months and set clear intentions for the time ahead.
My intentions always feel pretty clear but I have enormous trouble navigating the rushing tides of life which seem to flow endlessly against the still quiet rock I write on. So, following on from the Year Compass, I’ve spent a few rare empty days at the end of this year not writing, but instead creating a planner that hopefully has all the systems I need to achieve my writing targets for the year ahead.
Speaking to friends about what actually works, it’s having a mechanism for keeping the overall goal in sight, while breaking down intentions into achievable, bite-sized chunks, that feels like a game changer. Having laboured over my annual planner in super-geeky detail - complete with culture, cooking, reading, adventure… wish lists and accountability reviews every week, month and quarter - it seemed like an easy step to make it available to anyone else who might be looking to pin creative projects down this year and make some serious inroads into their ambitions. (Yes, I am laughing at my hubris, don’t worry. But my theory is, if I manage even a tenth of what I’d like to squeeze into the year, it’ll be a fun and fulfilling one.)
You can find the planner here, alongside some fun warm-up writing prompts that I use to shift my mind out of work into a more inspired strata on creative writing days. There’s a version for writers and another for creators across any medium. Please feel free to share with anyone who might find them fun to try.
So, for full accountability, these are my intentions for 2023:
Write 3-4 Chasing Angels blogs each month, scoping out nourishing and share-worthy culture for you all.
Start a new Listening Angels podcast (sister to this) that I was trying to find time for all last year – a forum for you to learn from artists, writers, musicians and creators of all kinds about how they live their creativity.
And last but really first… Actually start the 2 bigger projects that have remained nagging in my ears, despite the noise of the last 12 months. This is the hard goal. The one without quick feedback, the one I’ve been avoiding because it takes prolonged focus. It takes the strength to sift through ten thousand other ideas that flood in when you have a rare hour to write. The loudest whisper that I need to obey.
A slightly scary step for me - but don’t be scared off…!
As part of my commitment to these intentions, I’m taking a leap today by turning on the paid subscription option for Chasing Angels.
This platform, Substack, was designed to make it possible for audiences to support individual writers directly, releasing them from dependence on the publishing industry.
I’ve no desire to put any kind of pressure on either you or my writing, so for the foreseeable future all my work here will continue to be free for everyone to read. But the option to support it with a monthly (£5), annual (£50) or Founding Member subscription (up to £200) will now be available.
Every subscription will help me dedicate a few more daylight hours to the bigger projects that it felt impossible to carve enough quiet space for last year.
At some point, if I can stick to the targets above, I may start to put some selected content behind a paywall. One of the lovely features Substack offers is also the chance to gift or donate a subscription, in case that’s ever of interest…
Thank you for every moment you’ve spent reading these strange little experiments over the past twelve months. Time is utterly precious, and we have so many demands on our attention. It’s the greatest honour that you share a few of your sacred minutes in this space.
I will be back next week with a beautiful stash of culture recommendations saved up over the past few months to share with you.
In the meantime, every good wish for these first tender days of 2023. May the year bring you untold blessings, and may you dare to reach out for all you desire.