I am currently on a walk, and dictating into my phone. (Well, not now, I’m at a computer turning my ramblings into something vaguely coherent, but anyway).
What is special about this walk, you might ask. Nothing particular. It’s a walk I often take, which involves going down a back road onto a track between fields, picking up the Trans-Pennine Trail, and then heading home. It’s a circular walk, without hills, with some nice views (only not today because it’s a bit misty), and not too long.
But what’s different today is that I’m doing it the other way round.
This may not seem like much, but it’s enough to make me see things I normally wouldn’t, or experience them differently. That cottage has a house number on the side of its porch which I’ve never noticed before. The small hill which is a bit of a beast towards the end of the walk is a gentle slope taken the other way. It’s a simple step, but it makes you look at things in a slightly different way.
Before I took my walk, I was reading the start of a book called Newsletter Ninja (spoiler: I’ve finished it now and it’s very good). One of the things it recommends for your newsletter opening sequence is to sign up and experience it for yourself. I have never done this, but I will. I imagine it looks very different when you are on the receiving end.
Perhaps this should be one of my aims for the next year: to occasionally go the other way round.
And bonus: I’ve seen my first snowdrops for the year!
Liz Hedgecock 