I’ve been listening to TED talks in the car lately – what an amazing way to make driving a pleasure – and found this one the other day. It’s by the lead singer of OK Go, the band who are famous for having the best, most surprising videos. He’s talking about where they come up with the ideas and the answer is – most of the time – by playing! What fun. Also: How to find a wonderful idea may be the best title for a talk ever.
Oh, the internet! You funny beast. Look what you turned up today, that I had completely forgotten about – a trio of interviews that I thought were helpful and even maybe a little bit inspiring…
I know most people wouldn’t describe their day jobs as beautiful, but I really think there’s something rather wonderful about content strategy. This may be because there’s nothing that saddens me more than people speaking in tongues and pretending it’s English – you know, paragraphs and paragraphs of marketing speak that you can’t actually understand no matter how slowly you read it. Similarly, it is a rare and precious joy to read a website or blog or get an email that sounds like a human has written it.
It’s been an exhausting week. Ella has had German measles and fluid trapped behind her ear – a double whammy, as the doctor said – so she’s been super grumpy and not sleeping well. Poor poppet. I am not used to a grumpy baby! I feel like the whole week has been a single note plucked on a guitar: ‘sick baby, sick baby, sick baby’. Alternated with ‘I’m so tired, I’m so tired, I’m so tired.’ But aren’t we all walking around with a recurring thought on repeat?
I’ve just finished the most remarkable book, and read a beautiful essay, and a lovely blog post. And they’re all saying the same thing: let’s find joy in the everyday. Because really, what’s the other option? Hanging on for a big break, or something epic to happen, or a holiday? No thanks!
While I will not miss the frequent night wakings – not one little bit – I will miss Ella being so excited to see me when I get back from work that she grabs my face and tries to eat it.
I’ll miss the funny little cooing garbledy sounds she makes before she learns how to talk properly.
Torture is a big word. I do not use it lightly. If you haven’t had kids yet, maybe don’t read on…
I love food. I always have and I dare say I always will.
I’m by no means an adventurous eater – I was the fussiest child ever – but food brings me a huge amount of joy. I can (and usually do) get excited about dinner at breakfast time, and there are few things better than a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate for lifting my mood.
Lately, though, I’ve been feeling a little guilty about food…
I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about how the things we should be most grateful for are often defined by their absence. Do you know what I mean?
I’ve never been a particularly maternal person. I like kids and babies when they belong to people I love, but I won’t walk up to a stranger to coo at their children, and I’ve never felt that motherhood would be my defining role in life. Still, that was before I met Arthur and Ella (who are, without doubt, the most remarkable children the world has ever seen – of course!) and at the moment life is all about mothering, all the time. I think this is probably true of anyone with a baby and a toddler, but I’ve been thinking, lately, of how I learnt to be a Mom… And the answer, of course, is from my mom.