Category: I KNOW.

And so it is, after a Friday night that has turned into an early Saturday morning, that I find myself awake, in the silence and darkness of night, wanting to write something. Needing to write something.

It’s fair to say that I’ve neglected this blog of late. That perhaps I’ve been in the thick of it a little too much. It’s easy to get swept up – in work and plans and all sorts of busy. And it’s even easier to make excuses. So I won’t make any.

What I will say is that it’s nice to have something to go back to. A place to find again. For me, writing is a place. A little pocket of the world that is all my very own.

The thing is that, like being in any place or pocket in the world for too long, sometimes you just need to get away. To refresh and recharge and reboot. So every now and again I lose my way – for a few days or weeks or months – and if I do it’s because I need to. Because there are things that need to be seen and felt, things out there that need to be discovered.

The problem is I’m always slightly disappointed with what I find, and the truth is, nothing is really as good as my world. Nothing really compares to the rush of creating a perfect sentence, or placing an emotion in the form of words so eloquently on a page. There’s no way to replicate the feeling of a finished piece of prose you’re happy with. Or of something that might, just maybe, change someone else. Help someone else. Resonate with someone else.

I always find writing to be so self-indulgent. Which is part of the reason I ebb and flow – because I don’t think I should spend so much time doing it, or enjoying it, because honestly, is it supposed to feel this good? Is it supposed to flow so easily? I find nothing difficult about writing, nothing awkward about it, and that scares me.

It’s not something that I plan, or equate, or manipulate. I usually start a piece with no solid idea of how to end it, but somehow it works. Somehow it happens. And what a rush that is. What a rush to make something out of nothing. To mark a page. To leave a scar, maybe heal a wound.

No, nothing, not anything, is as good as my world.

I won’t make any excuses, or even promises for that matter, but I will say that I’m much more flow and a lot less ebb and that’s a very good thing to feel. And a very good place to be. In my pocket, my little pocket, of the world.

• Your intuition is your best alarm. When it goes off, listen, don’t ignore it.
• Some people are just nasty. The same way some people are just nice. They don’t deserve to be treated equally.
• Don’t kid yourself into thinking that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s the sincerest form of someone not being able to think or create on their own.
• When you get screwed over, fight it. Correct it. Fix it. Ignoring it for the good of avoiding an issue, or a drama, is no good at all. You are allowing yourself, or someone else, to be screwed over again.
• I often internally debate what my stance on ‘people’ as a whole is. I’m wowed, astounded and in love with people that are kind, funny, giving and intelligent. But I, far too often, come across people who are dull, selfish and malicious. I’m still deciding.
• Once you’ve been burnt, the best thing you can do is carry on, but more fabulous than ever. Don’t hide. Don’t wallow. Come out shining.
• Don’t expect people to be happy for you. If they are, they’re genuine. The most important thing is that you’re happy for yourself.
• And, much the same, everything that you do should be for yourself. The way you dress, carry yourself, what you do, why you do it, where you go, what you watch, everything should be for you. If you’re soaring, then the people that you love will be too. Do things because you want to do them. That’s the only way to be successful. The most amazing people that I’ve met – even the ones with children – do things for themselves, and rather than being selfish, they are exactly right. When you’re occupied, inspired and happy, it makes everyone else around you exactly that too.
• Eleanor Roosevelt once said, ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.’ She was right. Stop giving people so much power.
• If you’ve been burnt, never assume that you’re silly, in any way at all. It happens to everyone. And so it should – to be a reminder of who and what is good in life, and who and what is not.
• Choosing sides is never an easy thing, but it is always, always much better than sitting on the fence.
• Getting burnt in life forces you to toughen up. So toughen up. Don’t accept ridicule. Don’t accept rudeness. Stand up for yourself.
• Disappointment and hurt is everywhere in life. Happiness and wonder is also everywhere in life. Choose what you will focus on.