Be a verb, not a noun 🩷
I think I might just be the queen of reinvention.
Most mornings I feel like I have to rise from the ashes, dust myself off and work out who on earth I’m going to be today.
For a long time, I called my life post-divorce Plan B. It certainly wasn’t the Plan A I’d imagined. But perhaps this is my Plan A after all. Just not the one I imagined.
I’m a journalist, TV & radio presenter, podcaster, teacher, writer, piano teacher, content creator, MC, marketing manager, speechwriter & a million other things. I’ve worked in newsrooms, TV stations, charities, convents (true!) & universities, managed teams & told people’s stories.
I’m a mother, grandmother, stepmother, daughter, girlfriend, sister, friend, single mum, netball mum and dog mum. Also an amateur gardener, enthusiastic cook (with mixed results!), occasional gym goer & Mahjong novice.
I’ve stood beneath the pyramids in Egypt, marvelled at the Acropolis & walked the streets of the Italian islands where my family’s story began. I’ve had wonderful adventures, spectacular setbacks and plenty of moments wondering what on earth I’m doing.
And lest this sounds like one fabulous, never-ending holiday, I’ve sent off 3 job applications this week alone. I’m still knocking on doors, revisiting old passions, looking for the next opportunity (and pay cheque!). The hustle is real. Some days it’s exciting. Other days it’s exhausting.
I thought by this age I’d have it all figured out. Instead, I’m still learning, trying to be a better mother, friend and human, and usually making it up as I go along.
I love Stephen Fry’s interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s philosophy: we are not nouns, we are verbs. Not just the titles we give ourselves, but the things we do.
We love. We create. We fall apart. We get back up. We begin again.
Here’s to the peeps who’ve lived a hundred lives in one, who keep dreaming and starting over, even when life hasn’t gone to plan.
Maybe the secret isn’t choosing Plan A or Plan B. Maybe it’s learning to love the life you’re creating, even when it looks nothing like the one you planned.
I’m a work in progress. A woman in motion. And I have absolutely no intention of stopping. ❤️ ...
