Are we nearly there yet?
In search of comfort, joy and a little silence...
“How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself.”
Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, which is why I’m sitting here with a coffee and slice of panettone going through the tracks I Shazam’d during Stuart Maconie’s stint on Craig Charles Soul and Funk Show on BBC Radio 6 the other night.
This (The Joubert Singers with Stand on the World) is my current favourite - think gospel meets funk meets soul. Perfect after a day on the shop floor (my second ‘peak’ at Ilkley’s Oliver Bonas) the final Saturday before Christmas. Think queues snaking from the tills in the middle of the shop past shelves with handbags and folded scarves, skirting round the books, passing the bath and beauty and fitting rooms to the bedroom accessories at the back before turning back on itself.
It was was hard on the feet, big on the smiles, plenty of ‘Can I help you?’ and customers just the right side of panic buying. Everyone on great form, responding with tired smiles to our, ‘If you’re queuing, can you queue down the left hand side so we can keep this aisle clear and make sure we don’t miss anyone out. Please thank you very much lovely thank you.’
Feet would shuffle, heads down checking lists on phones and 99% of people happy that someone else is giving them a straightforward instruction rather than head-melting WhatsApp chain messages full of present ideas from a multitude of friends and family members.
It is though, a Christmas miracle that the panettone I’m eating made it to Ilkley unopened and in one piece. It’s now Christmas tradition that my sister and brother-in-law send us a panettone and normally it’s Royal Mail’s responsibility to get it here. This year it was treated to a five-hour coach journey from Cardiff to Leeds and 30-minute train ride from Leeds to Ilkley in the care of my 19-year old on his way home from Uni alongside various rucksacks and random bags.
It was a punchy move by my sister but it made it, and I hope your Christmas has a few of these tiny moments of joy too.
I’ll keep this brief though because I don’t think there’s a lot of head space right now, and what I really want to say is really very simple, and its’s this.
Thank you. Thank you for reading and writing with me this year.
I write because I enjoy it and find it therapeutic but I’ve often struggled knowing how and what to share. It’s why I’ve spent the latter part of this year learning to get comfortable with sharing my words and thoughts more widely and regularly via this Gently Does It writing home of mine on Substack.
And what I’ve really enjoyed – now that I’ve mostly conquered the nerves as my finger hovers over the ‘Publish’ button - are the connections and conversations and comments that have followed. The role you’ve all played as readers has helped enormously, giving me confidence to keep going.
Whether it’s sharing Bella, our yellow Labrador’s, two-hour ordeal stuck in a pipe under the tarn, or reflecting on all things home and shape-shifting families, I’ve enjoyed writing for you, and me.
And I hope that if nothing else seeing the words ‘Gently Does It’ land in your inbox is a nudge to pause, take a breath and show yourself some compassion whether you get round to reading beyond the headline or not.
A few 2024 favourites
So thank you for reading and writing with me this year. I’m pausing Gently Does It for Christmas but I’ll be back in the New Year and I hope you’ll be there to keep me company. In the meantime, we are nearly there aren’t we?
Wishing you a restful festive few days and weeks.
Harriet
It's been so great to meet you - and enjoy your writing! - this year, Harriet. Wishing you and yours a lovely, restful (and, yes, gentle) Christmas break and a very Happy New Year :) x
A very Happy Christmas to you Harriet. Thanks- I’ve enjoyed taking a few moments out to read your posts which have often given me inspiration and things to ponder on. Here’s to a successful writing year in 2025 :)