Tuesday 7th April

There is something sobering about being thrown back into work full-scale after a great holiday. Makes one come back down back to earth with a little bit of a bump!

Add to this the fact that I don’t have an office at the moment, because I am being moved and today brought a little of a change in pace and a feeling of homelessness!

Then, the girls and I trekked off to the dam for a paddle. Mike came with, willing to sit it out while we paddled. Paul decided to take his walk – to the dam. And real life became about finding time to do what we enjoy in between work and other commitments. It became about grabbing the moments to keep the idea of holiday alive.

It’s there for all of us if we just look for it.

I have become adept at juggling several different balls, some of which make very specific demands on my time and others which rely on me working out my own schedule. These are the balls that are sometimes a little less predictable in the way they fall and the time it takes to gather them together again. They are also the balls that are a little more interesting to deal with.

There are so many things that we are all always busy with all the time. It’s not difficult to become subsumed by everything and lose sight of what it is that holidays offer: time to just be, just have fun – and usually with those we care most about. It’s important not to forget to grab the opportunities to have a little bit of holiday when we can, even in the middle of the busiest our lives can be.

I think that’s something the cancer thing has reinforced for me: life is about what Mum always reminded us is the ‘daily round, the common task’, things that tend to consume our attention, energy and time. There are other things, too, though, other things that are important to us, other opportunities we should seek to reinforce little bits of ourselves all the time.

There are always little bits of holiday around us, if we just look for them.