Start As You Mean to Go On

January 1st 2022 and by 10am I was visiting my go to place to feel close to home.

I will be the first to admit, I have drank better coffee and eaten better food in my time, but this isn't the point. The point is to be somewhere that connects me to home. It has been over two years now since I have been home and I am feeling more than a little bit homesick for my homeland and my family.

Being able to do something and go somewhere where my friends and family go as part of their weekly routines means so much. It means that I feel part of that weekly routine even though I cannot physically be there.

We have always gone to the Tim's in Cardiff. It is a bit of a trek for us. Lately I have been finding the whole adventure too big, too busy and it has been feeling too much. It has stopped hitting the mark for me and the idea of visiting is too daunting to bother.

However, this New Year's we decided to have a change of scene. Tim's in Gloucester opened late last year. We decided to try it out. The drive to Gloucester is shorter so we can get there earlier in the morning. Making an early start also avoids all of the day rush hour traffic that would normally accompany a drive to Gloucester. Tim's is also on the outskirts of Gloucester so no city center parking or congestion. Most importantly it was quiet and peaceful and scrupulously clean.

It was such a lovely start to the new year and I felt a real sense of calmness as well as a connectedness.

Inspiration can take on many forms. On New Year‘s day this year for me it was a more of an inner being inspiration. Inspiration to remember who I am and that sometimes we all need a bit of calm in our lives to reflect on what matters.