This time it feels different. It feels different because I’m pottering about with a naked person on the morning of my birthday, and that naked person isn’t my husband. It feels different because on the night of my birthday party, I am delighted to be in bed by midnight. It feels different because this year, it’s not really about me, it’s about us, and our journey.
I recently read an article over on the Pool (SUCH a great site) by Lauren Laverne on how having kids made her more efficient. I love this article, especially the part where she says “Looking after a small baby is like rolling a huge boulder up a hill – simple, just bloody hard.” However, whereas Laverne talks of prioritizing what she works on, I find myself saying “yes” more and more often. I am embarking on new projects, not knowing where they will lead, surely knowing some will fail, but trying all the same. I am putting myself out to the universe and seeing what or who might want to talk back. (this blog you are reading now is a case in point)
Turning 30 has made me assess where I am, the kind of person I am and where I want to be. And time and time again, now that I’ve started a family with my number one, now that I am stable, the theme of living free and having adventures all together comes up. Call it an early mid life crisis, but turning 30 and becoming a mother makes me want to do more, learn more, give more, travel more and basically live more. I am addicted to travel blogs, to making things from scratch, reading about overseas current affairs.. but it doesn’t feel overwhelming like it may have done a few years back, it feels exciting and within reach.
So we will see where the next decade takes us but as we cruise, the bed will go unmade, the pottering will continue and the journey will surely evolve. All I know right now is that I feel younger than ever.
This post is dedicated to a very special person, Rebecca, my second cousin who lives on the other side of the world in Australia. She is one of the mothers out there who most inspires me – check out her business and you’ll see just one of the reasons why. She made the beautiful spoon that features on the front of this blog post and she is insanely talented. Please go say hello.