I am a night owl and love the quiet of the night to think and write.  I typically get to bed somewhere between 2-3am. Yesterday though, I arranged a child-free day today to work on my book, The Simple Garden. I thought a full day of writing would be good to clearly plan my work.

After my family headed out, I quickly washed up, fed the animals then launched into it – researching, planning, mind-mapping … I was working but I wasn’t focussed or effective. To be honest it felt somewhat awkward without the usual hubbub of a household with a 3 year old and two boisterous homeschoolers (8 yo & 10 yo).  I love the homeschool/unschool dynamic of active learning, following interests, getting into projects, discussions about fascinating questions that always arise.

I have been getting a bit frustrated that my work is beginning to leak into my time with the kids, and my evenings are getting later (quite a few 4 ams last week!). After my initial attempt at frantic typing and note-taking, I slowed down and found myself reflecting on the pace and fullness of my ‘simple life’ and how too much time is spent sitting at my computer. I decided that perhaps today would be better spent rediscovering my balance and inner calm – a wellbeing day.

I headed straight out into my garden to graze on the salad greens and have a chat with the birds and wildlife.

This mummy wallaby has a gorgeous little joey who has just lunged into the pouch when I took out my camera. They live mostly around garden. I see them every day.

Around lunchtime I took another break and headed off for a mind-fog-clearing ride up the valley. I love my bike. I always find clarity out riding and feel energised for the rest of the day. I don’t go too far – perhaps 10-15 kms with a few good hills. Like always, when I go out with a specific question, I found a sense of clarity again in purpose and direction.

Later in the afternoon, I headed 2kms up the road to a fabulous local organic farm – Baranbali. We play tennis together each week, but it seems ages since we had a chance to sit down, catch up and share our ideas. I put my computer to sleep again and headed over for a cuppa.  A big cuddle with an orphaned lamb was a huge bonus!!! So cute – the kids had it on a little lead and walking it around the garden.

So today, instead of a writing blitz – I mostly wondered, wandered, gardened, cycled, visited.  In the end I only spend 3 hours at my computer but to my amazement, I managed in that time to clearly lay out the chapters of my book and outline the framework for the next two.  I have rethought my schedule for the next six months and clarified the direction for my next series of educational programs.

One of the little things I started today is a quick guide for simple living… and in an initial search for other similar guides, I uncovered this ‘Simple Living Manifesto’. I like it – the bit about ‘leaving out the unnecessary’ was a good reminder for me today. I’ll post my simple living guide soon when it’s finished.