Life in the fast lane...

...it's funny, you know, but this blogging lark really has put the breaks on in my life, and in a really good way...

I can't tell you how many years of my life seem to have shot right by, just "getting on" with things, well, it's either that or this year has just been more interesting than most, but I honestly think that taking a step back each day, taking the time to reflect on what I would like to write about, and perhaps capturing a moment or two of each day on camera, has made me much more conscious of the passage of time and has imprinted *many* more of my experiences firmly into my mind...it's almost like, rather than just *doing* life - hurrying along with my head down, heading towards the inevitable destination - I've stopped, looked up and realised what I was doing, and deliberately started walking along at about a third of the pace, stopping to smell the roses....it's like Yoda's remonstrative - "Never your mind on where you are, hmmm? What you are doing!" - while he gave Luke an accusatory poke or two with his gnarled little stick...those were some wise words, in retrospect...and that really was the space I was in, rushing along...would be a bit of a shame to get to the end of the journey and realise that you have largely missed it because you forgot to look out the window...

Anyway, I digress - this year is now marked out as having a real sense of scale for me, i've only been blogging since March and now that seems like the distant, distant past. Why would I remember one lunch out of all those meals I have eaten subsequently so clearly? Because at the time I judged it as noteworthy...It doesn't even feel like this *year* that I planted all those seedlings, let alone a couple of months ago... !

So I guess I am saying, I owe a lot to that spur of the moment decision...despite sometimes, and I guess inevitably, feeling like blogging is a pain, it's *easier* not to bother, not to write anything, not to Flickr the photos and link everything up, but persisting with the exercise has done something extremely profound to my experience of "life", which is something I should grasp with both hands and hang onto as hard as I can...

So, reminder note for next life -

1) Keep a diary, even if the internet hasn't been invented yet