Well, hello there blog. It’s been a while, and a roller coaster of a year.
There’ve been a lot of highs; the Soapbox Science events I was involved in went exceedingly well, I was recruited by Immediate Media to develop BikeRadar Women, one of my best friends got married, I’ve had a few little pieces published in MBUK magazine, I attended the Juliana product launch in Downieville, California – one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever been on…yeah, pretty good.

There have also been a few downs and low sides. I decided to leave Soapbox as it just wasn’t for me, though I am immensely proud of what I achieved there. I’ve been working so hard over the summer I neglected to take any time for myself which wasn’t really a good idea.
Happily, if you were to compare those lists side by side, I think it’s safe to say that the good outweighs the bad, even if some of the after effects of the bad are lingering on a little, shall we say.
I did completely fall into the cliched trap of the freelancer – I took on too much, didn’t leave time for myself, and nearly burned out.
So now it’s autumn and I’ve been working on generally sorting my life out.
The first step was to take a holiday, which I finally got round to doing in November. I realise this is hardly earth shattering news, but taking time off, without any plans or schedules, was a big step.
I’ve been so focussed on work this year, there hasn’t been one moment where I’ve thought ‘Ah, I’ve done enough today, I can relax.’ I was working, or thinking about work, every hour of the day and that really isn’t healthy.
It was also quite hard to shut down. I came away on the holiday with plans to go road cycling every morning, and mountain biking every afternoon, and do some cooking, and read some books, maybe some sketching, meet up with people. In the end, I realised what I needed was to just do nothing, make no plans, have no expectations and see where each day took me.
It certainly made a difference, and although I reckon I could have done with another week (or two!) it’s left me feeling like my creativity has returned.
So note to self. Remember to take time off now and again!