This is an old post I wrote back in July – how times flies – but feels just as relevant now as it did writing it then (with some updated sections)

It’s been a while since I last sat down to write something, and there’s been a large number of reasons for that, even if I haven’t fully acknowledged, accepted or understood them all.

So it’s taken me pulling myself away from London, and sitting in an Airbnb in Nottingham, to force myself to sit down in front of my screen and write.

It’s strange having a job where I write for a living, and then hanging up that specific cap at the end of the day to write again, even if it’s work/medical copywriter vs personal life/blogging. I am still working out how people manage to switch brains so easily and have a lot of time (and admiration) for them! (edit: still working on this )

I’ve called this blog post distraction as well…as already mentioned you can see for yourself I haven’t written anything for a while.. but also as we approach the end of lockdown and things begin to open in earnest, the word that resonates with me a lot is distraction.

Whether for positive news ‘distraction from lockdown/COVID news’ or negative ‘distraction from the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic’, it’s a word which is very much a double-edged sword at the moment.

Although I’m waffling, I guess what I’m trying to say is that all distractions whether good or bad serve a purpose – the only eventual thing to consider is whether when the moment of realisation hits, whether or not the distraction was a good one or not…..  

Meeting up with a friend a couple of weeks ago and now sitting down writing this post, one thing he said that stuck is a comment he made about dating and how’s it’s a distraction that means you can ignore the need to work on yourself as someone is coming along and accepting you how you are ‘flaws and all’. Not that I’m advocating dating people with huge red flags but food for thought no?

Now summer’s come to an end, and we move into autumn… although I don’t think we can claim we had a summer and the distractions of (too many to list so honourable mentions for now):

• Euro 2020
• The Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics
• The Hundred Cricket Tournament
• The ability to be able to travel albeit in a highly confusing (and often costly) manner
• Summer birthdays because let’s be real the weather sucked
• Summer holidays – for those with kids of school age
• Festivals, honourable mentions to the ones that got shouted out for the wrong reasons… looking at you YAM festival

For those who have been working from home for most of the last 18 months, and for some this has already happened but something to consider is returning back to the office. Personally, I’m sitting on the fence with this one as in the small amount of times I’ve been back in the office – I’m literally distracted every time someone walks past me…like an excitable kitten and a ball of wool..

So here’s to distractions, the good and the bad – and what we choose to take from them, for better or worse.