Hey,

Tomorrow’s my 29th birthday.

Getting a bit reflective on the cusp of a new year, the first thing I want to say is a big, sincere thank you. It’s really cool that you’re here, whether this is your first Slow News Day or your 57th! I write this newsletter primarily as a way to keep my own writing practice sharp, to carve out time for my own thoughts, and as a bit of a public journal. The fact you’re here, finding something useful or meaningful in my brain’s witterings, means a lot to me.

What’s 28 been about, then?

Well, settling into a digital nomad / intentional homelessness / location independent lifestyle has been a pretty significant theme. I flit between those three titles, depending on my feelings and fears of being seen in certain ways. It’s been enriching and exciting. It’s been exhausting and worrying. It’s been life, as usual, with a different commute and background on my video calls. The macro changes but the micro stays, mostly, the same.

I’ve also spent plenty of time working on my emotional and mental health. Lots of time in therapy, which came to a close a couple of months ago. A very, very slow stop to antidepressants. Adjusting to both of those big changes in the last few months has been pretty consuming. It’s weird to be fully back in my body without my go-to defences. I have to do a lot of work every day, in little and middling moments of anxiety and stress, to stay present and balanced. It’s kind of nice to be tuning into my body and calming its responses throughout the day — and it also takes a lot of energy. I hit breaking point sooner and have to pull back from places and plans. I enjoy the rawness of it all.

I’ve done a lot less refereeing and a lot more running. I’m still settling into a comfortable routine with movement and keeping connected to my body, but it’s a journey that I’m really savouring.

And what’s to come in 29?

I haven’t a clue. More travel (and a continued eye on permanent housing and the turbulent markets therein), more movement, more somatic work, more balance, more writing, more doing stuff that I think will make me look stupid.

Oh, and more Slow News Days. Plenty of them to come.

Slow down guide

Need a little help moving slower?

Ease your way out of Friday afternoon with this newsletter, a nice cup of something, and a little background music. Steal my setup if you aren't sure where to start.

After I press send, I’ve not got a clue what I’ll be drinking or what you should try, either. Our ferry docked in France two days ago (we’re back at Château Coliving for the second half of summer) and I scheduled this email a couple of weeks ago to account for my fortnight off. There’s coffee here, of course, and some of those delicious little lemon-flavoured low-alc beers in the supermarkets. I'll see what takes my fancy — that's the best suggestion I can make to you, too.

Give Blanco White’s Tarifa a go whilst you take your drink-what-you-fancy break. I tweeted a few weeks ago that this song sounds like how I want my life to feel... maybe this’ll be my guide for being 29.

Under an Atlantic sky I'm crossing over / Lucky as the thousand stars that line overhead

Take it easy,