Same same but different is the phrase that springs to my mind. Words borrowed from a tapas bar in Bath that feel bang on for the first week of this January
I’m glad to have found you and your writing Harriet. I too love living in a place, a small town on the Tipp/Waterford border, where I can walk to access almost everything.
Thank you so much Margaret for reading and sharing. I think the being able to walk everywhere is a huge part of why I love it here. Even the mundane task of popping out to get milk usually ends up with a conversation with someone I've bumped into.
And it’s part of what we lose when people have to drive everywhere! Slow Ways drew me up short recently with a survey finding that there’s a huge number of addresses in England that you cannot safely walk to (without dangerous bends on country roads)
That’s so true. I remember mum always muttering about the Beeching cuts to the railways when we moved to rural Buckinghamshire when I was 11. We’d lived in St Albans and Harpenden before then and used to walking to the local shops & jumping on the train to London. Village life would have been fine if the railways had still been running & buses more frequent.
Love this, Harriet. Here's to all this in 2025. I relate to "the start to 2025 has been less about what I want to do this year than how I want to feel". Just last night I was talking to Frank about *being* rather than doing – about simply being ourselves in the world, and that being the thing which (almost unwittingly, it seems) brings us the happiness, success, fulfilment that we seek... In a society which values productivity and action, I also think it's quite radical to concentrate on being and feeling rather than doing! But here's to doing that (or rather: not doing :)). xx
Happy New Year to you Harriet! Glad to read about your more settled state of mind and body. Thanks for asking - I want to feel hopeful and outward-looking in 2025, something more transformative than just 'positive'. I have spent much of the years since my accident feeling the opposite but now seem to be turning a corner so coming into this year with a different mindset.
I love that sense of wanting more than simply 'positive' Transformative feels exciting and has an energy about it. Here's to a happy, transformative 2025!
One of our Xmas temps at work said she didn’t ’get’ Gavin & Stacey and I didn’t know what to say 😂 I thought she was great but this? How can you not get or love G&S? I had to rethink my whole opinion 😂😂
What a beautiful read Harriet and what a lovely way to start a new year feeling at home. My year promises change and adventure and I want to lean into that, discovering wonder and joy.
I loved this Harriet, your writing is so evocative!. I am considering relocating in a couple of years time, funnily enough to bath, but probably more likely Bristol where most of my family are. I feel nervous but it feels like the right thing. I crave that feeling of belonging and want to go home, to where I grew up. ✨
Oh this is so interesting, the planning and thinking ahead about the relocation. Ours have always been knee jerk / crisis driven. I love the idea that you have this picture of where your future lies, and it's somewhere you know too. We lived in Bath for 13 years, it's where we were married and the children born. My husband is Bristolian though and his family live there, plus my sister went to Bristol Uni and it's where my brother lived after he graduated from Newcastle. I've never lived in Bristol but have been a frequent visit for decades and will always have a soft spot for the city, same with BAth.
My son is in Bristol now and we’ve pondered going there if he stays. I’m a Yorkshire girl though - born in Shipley and raised in Baildon - so these moors are just home.
I love your piece and have more to share when I go back for another read. I’ve barely awoken into 2025 yet - something I’m sharing a bit about in a piece tomorrow - but this has inspired me to write more on it.
And I must come to one of the events at the bookshop. I’m so close by!!
I really enjoyed this thank you Harriet - the moving and settling in really resonates with me. We relocated to Orkney in 2022 and I absolutely adore the place but it’s only in the past few months that I’ve started to get to know people & it’s given me hope that this truly will be home. I moved up from Yorkshire & love Ilkley - it’s a cracking spot!
I’m glad to have found you and your writing Harriet. I too love living in a place, a small town on the Tipp/Waterford border, where I can walk to access almost everything.
Thank you so much Margaret for reading and sharing. I think the being able to walk everywhere is a huge part of why I love it here. Even the mundane task of popping out to get milk usually ends up with a conversation with someone I've bumped into.
I totally agree Harriet - it's those interactions, small conversations that are points of connection and are very precious.
And it’s part of what we lose when people have to drive everywhere! Slow Ways drew me up short recently with a survey finding that there’s a huge number of addresses in England that you cannot safely walk to (without dangerous bends on country roads)
That’s so true. I remember mum always muttering about the Beeching cuts to the railways when we moved to rural Buckinghamshire when I was 11. We’d lived in St Albans and Harpenden before then and used to walking to the local shops & jumping on the train to London. Village life would have been fine if the railways had still been running & buses more frequent.
Love this, Harriet. Here's to all this in 2025. I relate to "the start to 2025 has been less about what I want to do this year than how I want to feel". Just last night I was talking to Frank about *being* rather than doing – about simply being ourselves in the world, and that being the thing which (almost unwittingly, it seems) brings us the happiness, success, fulfilment that we seek... In a society which values productivity and action, I also think it's quite radical to concentrate on being and feeling rather than doing! But here's to doing that (or rather: not doing :)). xx
It seems so simple doesn't it, being and feeling rather than doing, and yet we find it so hard. Looking forward to writing with you on Wednesday. Hx
Happy New Year to you Harriet! Glad to read about your more settled state of mind and body. Thanks for asking - I want to feel hopeful and outward-looking in 2025, something more transformative than just 'positive'. I have spent much of the years since my accident feeling the opposite but now seem to be turning a corner so coming into this year with a different mindset.
Here's to a 2025 full of what we want :)
Tx
I love that sense of wanting more than simply 'positive' Transformative feels exciting and has an energy about it. Here's to a happy, transformative 2025!
Gavin and Stacey were big in our Christmas too🤣 This all resonates Harriet. Excited to see what unfolds this year ❤️
One of our Xmas temps at work said she didn’t ’get’ Gavin & Stacey and I didn’t know what to say 😂 I thought she was great but this? How can you not get or love G&S? I had to rethink my whole opinion 😂😂
What a beautiful read Harriet and what a lovely way to start a new year feeling at home. My year promises change and adventure and I want to lean into that, discovering wonder and joy.
Thank you so much, have a lovely weekend and take a deep breath of sea air for me 💙
I loved this Harriet, your writing is so evocative!. I am considering relocating in a couple of years time, funnily enough to bath, but probably more likely Bristol where most of my family are. I feel nervous but it feels like the right thing. I crave that feeling of belonging and want to go home, to where I grew up. ✨
Oh this is so interesting, the planning and thinking ahead about the relocation. Ours have always been knee jerk / crisis driven. I love the idea that you have this picture of where your future lies, and it's somewhere you know too. We lived in Bath for 13 years, it's where we were married and the children born. My husband is Bristolian though and his family live there, plus my sister went to Bristol Uni and it's where my brother lived after he graduated from Newcastle. I've never lived in Bristol but have been a frequent visit for decades and will always have a soft spot for the city, same with BAth.
My son is in Bristol now and we’ve pondered going there if he stays. I’m a Yorkshire girl though - born in Shipley and raised in Baildon - so these moors are just home.
I love your piece and have more to share when I go back for another read. I’ve barely awoken into 2025 yet - something I’m sharing a bit about in a piece tomorrow - but this has inspired me to write more on it.
And I must come to one of the events at the bookshop. I’m so close by!!
I really enjoyed this thank you Harriet - the moving and settling in really resonates with me. We relocated to Orkney in 2022 and I absolutely adore the place but it’s only in the past few months that I’ve started to get to know people & it’s given me hope that this truly will be home. I moved up from Yorkshire & love Ilkley - it’s a cracking spot!