A haircut for the soul

This weekend I've left my hometown of Brighton for the first time since... well, you know when. I'm writing this on a train (an actual train! Imagine!).

There are signs that things in the UK are (rightly or wrongly) beginning to open up. I can't say I'll be at the front of any queue for retail therapy, haircuts or a pint (I do all of these things from home, anyway!) but perhaps it's time to put some markers down. To get out of survival and existence mode and back towards some flourishing and forwards-momentum.

I know it's been a hard year for so many of us. I'm having my first days to myself (with no work and my son at his mum's place) for what seems like years. And up until I started packing my bag on Friday, I hadn't even thought about it, looked forward to it, or even thought about what it might mean to be changing gear.

If you're like me and have spent most of this year stuck in what seems like an endless loop, then rest assured, there is a world out there, still. It's full of possibilities. It's waiting for you.

Changing gear is OK. If you feel like you've been on some weird treadmill (as I do) then perhaps you need to give yourself permission to spend a couple of days in the slow lane first. Rest is still OK. Have a day staring intentionally at a blank to-do list. Say to yourself "there's nothing I need to do. Everything is as it should be for today".

And after this collective drawing of breath, we can find the old grooves. It's all still there.