LIFE EDIT: SEPTEMBER
Yes, yes, I do realise that we are now basically in December but I have finally been able to sit down and reflect on what kind of month September was for me and put my musings into words. So, if you feel like jumping on this train and venturing into an adventure of time travel with me then scroll on down my friends.
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On a day that felt like every other day at work I was surprised with a most peculiar email invite. The names E4 and Chewing Gum and Michaela Coel jumped out at me each for different reasons. There were only two possible reasons for me - little ol' me - to have received that invite popped into my head at the time: [one] it was a scam because how on earth would E4 have gotten a hold of my email account [two] it was clearly a mistake due to an unknown glitch in their email service provider that led the invite to lay its head in my inbox. So, I did what any 21st Century human being would do - I googled the sender. And low and behold, she existed (!) and had a LinkedIn profile for me to peruse. Now, by this point I had stopped the work I was doing prior to my phone notifying me of a new email that I just had to read and was madly trying to convince myself that it could not be what I thought it was. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided (after conferring with Karina because with these kinds of things a second opinion is always a good idea) to send a reply. And after a few more reply emails, I was booking time off work and sorting out my travel itinerary for the 11th of September where I would be attending the preview event for one of E4's newest shows this year. To say I was giddy with excitement is a bit of understatement.
When the day eventually rolled round and I successfully made my way to the venue and even spoke to a few of the other other attendees I had to pinch myself. This little blog of mine had taken me further into the world of cinematic storytelling and I was over the moon with joy. By the time I got home I was wiped out and ready to head over to Leeds to see one of my favourite women for a much needed catch up.
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It was unusually sunny that day - the day I went to go visit Rach - but we were certainly not going to complain. Arming ourselves with a cool glass bottle filled with yummy and fizzy lemonade, we made our way back to her lovely, this-is-what-home-feels-like flat where I offloaded my bags - the one filled with my clothes and the one filled with my woe and joy - and settled in for a bit. The skylight started to dim a little and that was our cue to quickly nip out to the shops to get ourselves something to eat for dinner. We decided to make homemade pizza as I had never done that before and boy is mozzarella weird!! For those who know me well know that cheese and I have the most complex relationship known to human and food. Anyway, despite me almost vomiting when handling the mozzarella, my pizza turned out great. We are lucky I have a picture of it because I remember how hungry I was whilst waiting for our dinner to be served. Thankfully we had a delicious bowl of garlic dough balls to keep our mouths entertained. Chatting with Rach over food about almost everything under the sun is one of my favourite things to do. My shoulders slope down, my heart rate finds a nice, relaxing rhythm and my mind feels like a cloud - time with the girl is magic I tell ya! - but before I know it, it is time to go home, clutching the serenity and lightheartedness for as long as possible.
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Taking part in Tori's #TalesofSeptember IG challenge became an unexpected and unusual but totally fun way of grabbing hold of the coat tails of serenity and lightheartedness. By publishing pictures that were related to the daily prompts shared and accompanying them with snippets of my thoughts on those days and engaging with other members of the wonderful community that grew over the course of the month, I was forced to work on my ability to be creative and open and available which was strangely what I needed at the time. I ended up "meeting" a bunch of new, warm and funny people who have amazing photography skills and know how to string words together in ways that captivate the readers. It was truly a chapter in my version of September 2015 that I greatly enjoyed. Without a doubt there were times when self-doubt, sadness and guilt drew my spirits to depths that led to me disengaging with the world for a time but I am forever thankful that I am able to find reasons to rise about those waves when they come. All in all September was a good'un. And now, it is November and I have no idea where October went but, keep your eyes peeled for my notes on my favourite month of the year. It was equally filled with days filled with excitement, laughter and despair. Anyway, until then, I hope you are having a great day!
Mo x