Out of my comfort zone

January has been so full and chaotic I am unable to form any coherent thoughts and sentences, but these are two things I came across that struck a chord and are in some way part of my intentions for 2016 (the year is still so fresh, one can hope!):

|  The above questions in the Q&A with Hannah Kent, the author of Burial Rites, are questions I struggle with, too. In my 32 years I have spent way too much time and energy caring about what people think of me and based on what and why, and it is something I really want to do a lot less of and accept that my own thoughts and actions are the only thing I have any control over. Hanging out with people who are older and wiser is incredibly helpful in this regard. 

|  In a recent post Gretchen Rubin talked about being in an "atmosphere of growth", and it resonates, as this year I will be doing several things so far outside my comfort zone, my hands get clammy when I think about them. Of course I have no way of knowing whether I will feel great afterwards (it could all be a complete disaster), but I do know that the discomfort I feel when weighing up whether or not to say yes to something is one thing I need to say yes to more often, too.

Illustration | Red tractor

This little guy has accompanied me for well over a year, and it is now in the hands of the printers. The character was thought up by Amie Ní Nualláin, and we played around with a few different shapes to pin down what he should look like. I took inspiration from an old tractor in our friend's garden. The story will be published soon, all going well.

The builders arrived a day after I got back, and there is so much to do, I am getting by on six hours of sleep each night instead of my usual eight or nine. At night I slather myself in lavender oil to make the six hours as restful as possible, and I am doing my best to eat well to have the energy to get everything done. I imagine my current day-to-day is similar to what for many people would be their normal routine in terms of sleep and workload, but I know I wouldn't be able to function on so little sleep for very long.