100 Days of Wonder – #58
After yesterday’s brain shutdown, I feel better today. There was definitely joy to be had. It was in the conversations with colleagues, the teaching, the individual chats with students and in the black, hot, strong coffee I sipped while finishing off one thing before immediately moving on to the next.
But I had to look for it. Joy wasn’t exactly jumping out at me. Work at the moment is just ticking things off. None of it particularly difficult but there’s just too much of it so I never feel like I’m doing anything properly and I never have time to stop and reflect. I find not having time to reflect (some might say overthink) hard. And I hate the feeling of just rushing from one thing to the next without pause.
Maybe that’s why I am particularly looking forward to Disney World this time. I don’t feel the pressure to do all the things or even anything when there. I’m happy just being. If I can’t really manage to have little brain re-sets during the working day right now then maybe a full re-set is just what I need. 43 days to go and I can’t wait to stand and stare at this view
100 Days of Wonder – #56
As I sit at home curled up under a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ themed blanket feeling grumpy that the current snow means I can’t make it to the work Open Day and therefore put extra pressure on colleagues who have been able to make it to cover for Law, I am trying to turn my focus on to happier things. But it’s cold and I have spent as much time worrying about logistics and whether/how I might be able to get into Leeds and then how we can still cover the day for potential applicants who have been able to get there as I would have done actually working the day. And I haven’t had the fun of talking to all the fabulous prospective students. So, Meh!
Meh also applies to cold days in Florida. As I have mentioned a few times, the first time I went, I was just in it for the winter sun and warm. And that’s what I got. The early mornings could be chilly but after that it was always very comfortable shorts and t-shirt temperature and sometimes it was actually too hot. The first time I experienced anything different was in 2009 where, for a couple of days, it was colder in Florida than in Alaska and there was a very fine sprinkling of sleety snow one early morning. Disney brought in big warm air blowers/fans to keep the little reptiles from dying and falling out of trees and I went and bought a hoodie and some thicker socks. Since then, I have been conscious that there is the possibility of a cold day or two but in 2013 and 2016 we had only warm days. In 2019 and in 2023 we did got a cold day or two. I particularly remember at the 2019 marathon weekend, on 10k day being huddled together to try and keep warm and using black bin liners over our running gear to help. Still, it was just a day or two. Today’s photo is from one of the coldest Florida days I remember. It was in 2023. We must have had a few cold days from what I remember because I was seriously considering having to buy another pair of long pants. So here we are, on Main Street USA waiting for the fireworks, feeling the cold even in our proper jackets. But we’re smiling and it was a fun evening and sometimes it really is just about deciding that you are going to enjoy it or make the most of something. So looking at this photo is making me think about what I can be happy about and enjoy right now:
- I had extra cuddles with Storm cat
- Odin and Einstein cats are curled up with us and their snoring is really funny
- The snow looked really pretty earlier
- We are safe and my team is safe
- I have coffee
- I can catch up on some life admin
- There’s a new lego set with my name on that I might start but even the anticipation of doing it is kinda fun
- I have been scrolling through Disney photos and am beginning to settle on the Christmas countdown selection – you have been warned!
- I can make a proper yummy lunch rather than relying on what is available on campus
- …there’s lots more once you start thinking about it – give it a try!
100 Days of Wonder – #53
I have been drinking too much coffee. And I haven’t been drinking it in that lovely ‘mindful first cup of the day slowly inviting in the day’ way. It’s been more like ‘do task, drink coffee, do task, drink coffee, do task, drink coffee and repeat…’ Not great because it means I drink way more coffee than I normally would and I don’t even pause to enjoy it. So it seems fitting to pause and think about coffee moments. I have had so many lovely conversations, giggles, good cries, bitching sessions and putting the world to rights chats over coffee. So many reflective moments cradling a mug of hot black liquid, so many ideas – good, bad and ridiculous. I have lots of coffee moments and my favourite ones are the first coffee of the day moments, whether I have it sitting in bed slowly coming round, sitting outside watching the world wake up around me or whether I am sipping it from a reusable mug on the go. My first coffee of the day at Disney is extra special because I’m at Disney but it serves two purposes – it allows me to come round and wake up gently before jumping into the day and it provides a moment of pause to enjoy the promise a new day of adventures holds. We usually get a resort mug which means we can refill at the drinks station in the hotel throughout our stay but there are also coffee machines in the rooms. Depending on our mood, we can take a few steps from the bed and press a button or we can stroll from wherever our room is to the drinks station. Here’s a picture of the 50th anniversary blend dispensers at Disney World in January 2023. We were in the Garden Wing of the Contemporary Resort in 2023 and there was something lovely about the walk across to the main tower to fill our mugs. Somehow that first coffee is as much about the making or going and getting it and holding the mug and thinking about the day to come as it is about actually drinking the coffee. So I can’t promise I will drink less coffee but looking for this picture and thinking about coffee moments made me realise that I do want to at least drink it more mindfully and enjoy my coffee moments again.
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