Here in Wales the start of the year has been very cold and this morning we even had a light dusting of snow. So close to the coast it rarely snows a lot, but the ice on the roofs I can see through my window as I sit at my desk is a good reminder that winter is here.
In a few days, I’ll be back to work as usual, but for the time being my other interests take up the majority of my days, alongside the daily dog walks: namely reading, running and art.
Reading
For the first time ever I am trying to keep a record of what I read (using StoryGraph), and I am curious to see how that goes. I’ve always loved to read and I read a lot, widely across genres both fiction and non-fiction. I tried previously to blog about books I’ve read, mostly from a coaching perspective, but that didn’t stay with me for long and so it’ll be interesting to see if and how this interest shows up on the blog this year.
Given how much I love reading and how much time I spent reading I’d like to find a way to represent that particularly interest in this space.
Running
Running is continuing to make progress, and training for the Half Marathon in Vancouver in May is growing more intense. I am not particularly into going to races, so every time I do it feels like a big adjustment to be running with people. Thus, I have finally signed up for Parkrun and am looking forward to going to my local race on one of two Saturdays each month and get more comfortable running in company.
We did Parkrun on Christmas Day, which was a wonderful morning out, if bitterly cold with an icy wind, which offered me more inspiration to give this a go. Barcode tags ordered. Here we go!
Art
I’ve also spent a lot of time painting over the holidays, and the house is starting to fill up with seascapes and coastal landscapes in various shades of blue. After experimenting with a lot of different creative pursuits last year, this feels like a good fit for something to focus on and to deepen my practice.
I’m also looking forward to seeing more art and exhibitions this year, and spending more time on exploring creativity.
This blog has always reflected my various interests, mostly professional ones, and this year I want to try and sprinkle some of my interests from outside of work through my posts, to reflect more of what inspires me and what brings me joy.
You might find it also shows up in my newsletter, so look out for the first edition next week 🙂
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