I’m feeling very pleased with myself this week. Here I am in Dorset, sun streaming through the French doors and a light rain drumming a lulling beat against the roof lights in my little writer’s cottage. The view of Wimborne Minster looming from where I’m sitting and logs sizzling nicely in the grate make for a an ideal winter’s retreat.
So why am I pleased with me? Well, I don’t usually drive. In fact, I’m a rubbish driver; the furthest I travel alone is an hour to Gill’s on a non-Bailey’s day. I become transfixed by motorway lights and veer off course; I can’t judge the lights of oncoming traffic in the dark and I panic on zig-zaggy country lanes. I also get exhausted. So a six hour drive to this beautiful part of the world was a huge challenge for me, and an adventure.
The idea, as I’ve mentioned before, was to come away to this lovely home from home and write the book I started two years ago. That hasn’t actually transpired. I set the goal alright: it was specific, measurable, achievable (to a degree) and the timing was right.
It’s my second purposeful attempt. This time last year I ventured up to Scotland to Marion’s isolated historic cottage with my laptop, notebook and a pocket full of ideas. That didn’t happen because the lure of lovely days out with her was too overwhelming. Village tea shops, ancient churchyards, cathedrals, museums and one of my favourite places – Holy Island – naturally took precedence.
Which is why this year I’m away on my own. Only… some lovely people have found me. Wayne, Lydia and David each arrived at varying times with invitations to dinner, lunch and tourist attractions. Friends on FaceTime distracted me with scrabble and chat, and the opportunity to do nothing but eat locally grown organic food and watch Netflix surged forward in my unfocused mind.
I talk a lot about planning, especially with my clients. Business planning is essential, of course. But on a personal level, a good plan doesn’t always have to have an ending… It can lead to more plans, different plans, better plans, more challenging or easier to achieve. There’s no use beating ourselves up about plans that don’t make it to fruition; we have to accept their fluidity. My plan was to come to Dorset and work… it evolved into a nicer plan to enjoy a holiday. So that’s what I’ve done.
Wimborne’s quaint cobbled streets, craft mill, village tea rooms, antiques shops and the largest bric-a-brac market in the south west… What else could I do? And added to that, venturing further south to Christchurch I found the obligatory monastic ruins and the ivy-covered gravestones that I so love.
I’m really not used to relaxing, so all this taking time out is new and wonderful. It’s nice learning the beauty of simple pleasures, like reading the paper over a cup of mint tea rather than catching up on the news on my iphone app while on the tube; or applying my lipstick in front of a dressing table mirror rather than multitasking in the loo!! So you’ll understand why I’m staying a few days longer than planned. This means there may be some writing in the offing. Who knows? Right now Astrud Gilberto is playing on Spotify and my paperback is calling from the sofa.
The original girl from Ipanema says (in a different song): “Quiet thoughts and quiet dreams, quiet walks by quiet streams. And a window that looks out on Corcovado. Oh, how lovely.” My window looks out on a quintessential English small town, but equally as lovely as anywhere immortalized in a lyric. (Thank you Wayne; I love you!!) I’m here for another week, but I’m also here, as always: @WeekendWitch.