So it’s the last day of Writing 101 – such a pity. Our final task is to write about the future. As usual I drafted my post in my head on my drive home; my best writing often happens somewhere between Worcester and Malvern. But it all became quite melancholy so I threw that virtual draft away and rebooted my inner Pollyanna and started again.
Starting in the near future I think the Writing101 course will help my blogging going forward. I had got into a real rut and the past month with the prompts has made me think outside the box and explore different styles and approaches. Interestingly Susan has commented that she thinks my writing style has changed; we shall see.
Beyond the immediate future I don’t have any real plans but I do have some aspirations. I want to travel more and I am sure that my travels will somehow fit around my plant passions not just visiting gardens but also looking at plants in the wild. I would also love to do some trips that involve seeing wildlife. Next year I am hoping to go somewhere really special – maybe Japan and I have already made plans to go to the east of the UK to finally see Beth Chatto’s garden. Maybe I will dabble in a little more horticulture learning by attending a course at Great Dixter or at Arne Maynard’s garden.
I will be turning 50 next March a big deal maybe but I don’t think so. I have enjoyed my 40s much better than my 30s and definitely better than my 20s which weren’t good, so I am hoping that my 50s will continue the upward trajectory. Over the last few years my life has entered a new phase. My sons are adults with their own lives and I have few demands on my time outside of my work commitments, and work is becoming more flexible, so I have the opportunity to please myself more which is really liberating and exciting.
Long term I suspect I may move house in the next 10 years. I have toyed with placing the house on the market a few times this year but I am quite happy at the moment and I think it will depend on who buys the house next door. There is though a bit of me that craves more space in which to indulge my hankering to plant trees and shrubs and to have a larger greenhouse but I don’t want to move too far from the Malvern hills which I have grown to love since we moved here. Oh yes in the next I need to finish my challenge of climbing each of them.
So who knows where I will be in 5, 10, 20 years but that is what makes life interesting, anything can happen. I believe that if you plan too much you miss out on unexpected opportunities and those are the things that are often the ones that really transform your life.
