#DailyWritingChallenge Day 47: Beauty

I had a beautiful weekend. It was simple, but it made me smile, laugh, cry and embrace the joy in my life.  I saw the beauty in each moment and it filled me with optimism for the future.

On Friday night I had a zoom catch up with one of my London friendship groups, it had taken us a long time to tie down 6 busy people. Even in lockdown every has competing priorities with families, partners, extended family but we finally found a date and we listened, we laughed and we loved each other for a few hours. I went to bed smiling about the beauty of friendship.

My Saturday morning routine has become joining the HeadsUp4HTs coffee morning and being James’ wing woman. Each week there are old faces and there are new faces. The safe space that has been created allows everyone to stop, breath and share their week. I stay connected to the profession by hearing the realities of what it is like to be a school leader right now. There is beauty in listening and learning.

On Saturday afternoon I hosted and facilitated my first #IamRemarkable workshop for 15 phenomenal women. The session was full of powerful, positive energy. We held each other,  we encouraged each other, we praised each other. Spilling into a new DM group there are beautiful new friendships forming as we champion each other. My heart was full of the beauty of giving my time to others and seeing them grow in confidence.

On Saturday afternoon I cleaned my house. As I lifted each object to dust, I appreciated how lucky I am to have such a lovely home. As I hoovered to Lizzo I appreciated how sparkly every was. I then went out to the garden to check for weeds, as I bent own to remove a few mavericks, I appreciate the colours that have popped out in the last week. The beautiful purples and greens are stunning.

On Saturday night my lodgers and I had agreed to have a games night to break up the monotony of seamless weekends and the vortex of Netflix. We ate Mexican, drank wine and they taught me a new card game, which I picked up quickly and then held my own with. The beauty of a healthy competition made us all laugh lots.

On Sunday mornings and Sunday nights I facilitate peer support circles. I look forward to seeing everyone each session.  Over 9 weeks strong connections have formed as we share our vulnerabilities. The format is simple, I ask a few questions and the contributions flow. We hold each other accountable for an intention for the week. It is a a beautiful privilege to have created and to hold this space for others.

For the last year I have had a long commute. I have always enjoyed driving, it gives me a sense of freedom. I love the feeling of having the windows open, the radio on and being in control of my direction of travel. In 9 weeks I have been in to Oxford twice, both times to go to the hospital for the vaccine trials, this time I went into the city centre on a sunny Sunday to meet a friend for a walk. It was a beautiful drive in the stunning city which had a sense of stillness to it.

Lockdown has made people reach out more but to also pick up the phone more.  As a teen I used to spend hours on the phone, with the rise of social media and messaging apps, text has become the default way of messaging. As I parked and walked to meet a friend for a walk, I called another friend who had had a tough week. She is one of my soul sisters, and we always speak honestly and freely. We understand each other and know when to listen and when to challenge. We shared our weeks and shed our loads. There is beauty in being truly listened to.

Magdalene College was in its full glory as I met my friend who works there for a walk. The buildings are breathtaking, the gardens are stunning and the surrounding areas to explore by the riverbank are vast. I was that annoying person on the walk who had to keep stopping to take it all in. Everything was beautiful.

One of our circle actions for the week was to do a #RainbowWalk, to look at our lives through a new lens. My friend and I punctuated our walk around the grounds, along the river and through the park, by colour spotting. Summer was alive, colours were vibrant and I felt an unbelievable sense of excitement spotting each colour as a we walked and we talked. My rainbow montage of flowers and plants  is beautiful and perfectly captured this lovely afternoon, my first friend meet up in a very long time!

Sunday night I went to bed tired but happy, my heart full of hope, and my senses stimulated, by a weekend full of beauty.

Lockdown is teaching us many things, and there have been many #SilverLinings, appreciating the beauty in the most simplest of things being one of them.