In case you’re new around here {or somehow managed to miss my incessant social media updates while I was away}, last month I returned from six weeks in Australia. Before I departed, I had a vague plan to work ON my business rather than IN it while I was away.

‘Although I’ve completed all my client work until mid-August, I’m taking my laptop with me and I plan to spend some time writing while I’m away. I’ll still be responding to enquiries and I’d like to think I might book the odd client or two.’

 

Letters From Love Audrey, July 2022

Well, spoiler alert, that didn’t happen.

I pictured myself writing in cafes, dreaming up new ideas and planning launches. In reality, I lugged my laptop to the other side of the world and opened it twice the whole time I was away. I responded to a handful of emails and issued a couple invoices, but I didn’t write anything longer or more complex than an Instagram caption. There were no new ideas, no lightbulb moments. I didn’t even really think about work that much.

Guilt crept in a few times. I also had the odd wobble about money {although this was largely fuelled by talk of the impending cost-of-living crisis rather than my actual bank balance, depleted as it was}. For the most part, not working felt good. More than good, it felt amazing.

On Becoming a Lady of Leisure

It may sound ridiculous, but my business, my brand and the work I do is such a massive part of my life and identity, I wasn’t sure who I’d be without them, even if only for six weeks. What would I think about if I wasn’t thinking about work?

In the end, switching off was easier than I thought it would be. I felt a bit untethered at first, especially while I was waiting for Carl and the kids to join me, but I soon found my feet. I thought I’d miss writing every day, but I didn’t. It was refreshing to focus on inputs rather than outputs, soaking up inspiration without the pressure to create.

The ease with which I was able to step away is a strong indicator of how desperately I needed a break. I’ve been working or studying {or both} non-stop since I was 14 years old. Even when my children were born, I didn’t take maternity leave in the traditional sense, returning to college when Izzy was 9 weeks old and sitting my university finals when Jesse was 11 weeks old. {Of course, even if I had been able to take some time out, maternity leave isn’t the leisurely break many people seem to think it is!}.

Having children so young and juggling motherhood alongside university also means my twenties were a lot more serious and grown-up than they were for many of my peers. Before launching into their careers, I watched my friends take gap years and go off travelling while I potty trained a toddler and spent nap times writing essays.

I never felt jealous at the time, but looking back, it seems the thing I really missed out on was the time and space to consider what comes next, to figure out who you are and what you want. Not that everyone ends their twenties knowing the answers to these questions, just that it’s a decade well suited to considering them.

I started my business straight out of uni, and although I’ve always been pretty good at stepping away for short periods during the summer and at Christmas, I’ve never switched off so completely before. Then there’s the small matter of the pandemic. I don’t need to tell you how that went down.

None of this is unique to me, I’m sure. We’ve all worked hard. We’re all exhausted, for one reason or another. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m deeply grateful for the pause. When I think about summer 2022, the word that comes to mind over and over again is ‘spacious’. My life has never felt so spacious before. So expansive and brimming with possibility.

What Did I Learn?

In the online business world, there’s a great deal of pressure to immediately transform experiences into a neat, succinct list of key takeaways. What did I learn from the experience? What can you, the reader, learn?

If I did this now, a month after our return, it would be surface level stuff. I know I could turn it into a good read, but the thing is, for me, this experience was far from surface level. It was deep. Profound. Transformative.

Post-Covid travel. My first time leaving the UK since July 2018. My first time seeing my sister since November 2019. Spending more time with her than I have in around 15 years. Becoming an auntie to her much longed for first child. Filling our days with things that felt unreal and impossible just 18 months ago. Marvelling at the vastness of the world, and Australia in particular, after living so small for so long.

In many ways, it already feels like a dream. I was a different person in Australia, living a make-believe life with minimal responsibilities. I felt lighter. Less stressed. Happier than I’ve been in years. I’m still figuring out why and whether any of this can be recreated now we’re home.

So, I can’t give you a neat list of things to do. I can’t tell you how to replicate what I’ve done in your own business. I can tell you it was worth the hard work to make it happen and that I’d like to do it again some time. I can also thank you for cheering me on.

Now that I’m back, I’m excited for the months ahead. As well as working on website copy and content for clients, I’m booked to deliver two online workshops this autumn. I’m also thinking about launching a service for new and aspiring copywriters. I’ve always offered mentoring informally, but I think it might be time to make it official. Watch this space!

Love Audrey xxxx

P.S. Read Notes From a Summer Sabbatical – Part 1

P.P.S. A version of this post originally appeared in my monthly newsletter. If you’ve enjoyed reading this and would like more of my words in your inbox, you can sign-up here.

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Love Audrey
Notes From a Summer Sabbatical {Part 2}
May in photos 🤳

1. Finally, some Franky weather. One of the best things about this month has been dusting off my summer dresses and being able to wear sandals ☀️

2+3. Coronation weekend. So many thoughts 💭 But the food was good! I made a vegan version of my mum’s famous coronation chicken and it was delicious.

4. Jesse staying upbeat during yet another trip to hospital. That steroid buzz though. IYKYK.

5. Some of the food served at the first meeting of Bristol Cook Book Club since 2020. It felt so good to get this going again. I can’t wait for our next feast!

6. Me among the cow parsley, snapped by Jesse.

7. I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot this month while working through the ‘The Artist’s Way’. 

8. Breakfast outside.

9. {Still} scrapbooking December. Fingers crossed I can finally wrap up this project in June 🤞🏻

10. Izzy’s final show at The Tobacco Factory. After tonight, she’ll be done with college {and compulsory education} forever 🤯

We packed a lot into this month. Enough to fill two carousels! This might explain why I’m so tired! I’m looking forward to June though. Everything’s better when the sun shines ✨
@_charlieswift has been raving about ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron for years. I finally caved, ordered the book and agreed to work through the course with her and some other artists. 

The book focuses on ‘guiding you through the process of recovering your creative self’ to ‘help you unleash your inner artist’. It’s early days {I’ve only read as far as week two and I haven’t even started my morning pages yet - IYKYK}, but I’m enjoying the process so far. 

Today I took myself on my first Artist Date - ‘a block of time… especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist’. I decided to treat myself to a solo cinema trip to see ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ The film was brilliant and taking time out midweek to do something just for me felt… kind of naughty? And fun! It definitely filled my creative well {again, IYKYK}.

Have you read ‘The Artist’s Way?’ Where would you go on a date with your inner artist?!
Franky weather ☀️🌅🔆🌻✨

That’s it, that’s the caption.
April in photos 🤳

1. Our trip to London over Easter was a definite highlight this month. Here’s the obligatory ‘flowers outside Liberty’ shot.

2. Finally! Some sunshine! More of the same please, Mr. Weatherman ☀️

3. Dressed for a day of sightseeing in my new favourite pink jacket. It’s Boden and I bought it in the sale 💖

4 + 5. Scenes from a trip to the big Waterstones in Piccadilly. This poem by @charlycox1 floored me. Crying in a bookshop. Not awkward at all.

6. I was proud of these steps, so I’m posting them here for posterity 🚶🏼‍♀️🥄

7. The Easter holidays also featured lots of lazy days 🎮😴

8. We bought a nutribullet and I’m officially in my smoothie era.

9 + 10. Dinner and drinks at @thecoconuttreeuk with our IzzyBee. Taking your daughter out for cocktails is a season of parenting I’m very much enjoying.

Not pictured: a family funeral and the chest infection I’m still getting over 🤒 How was April for you?
Easter weekend in my hometown 💃🏼

No trip to London is long enough for me to see all the people and do all the things I want to do while I’m there, but we always manage to pack a lot in. It’s 17 years since I moved away, but somehow it still feels like coming home. Here’s some of what we got up to…

1. Being tourists.

2. Shopping at Westfield.

3 + 4. Hanging out and eating at Southbank.

5. Refuelling in Chinatown.

6. Enjoying the big Waterstones in Piccadilly.

7. Admiring the spring flowers outside Liberty.

8. Visiting the Imperial War Museum for the first time since I was a child.

9 + 10. Seeing Elton John at the O2 with my mama 👓🎹🎤🪩✨

I hope you’ve managed to enjoy the long weekend, whatever you’ve been up to! That sunshine though!☀️🤩
March in Photos 🤳

1. How it’s going…

2. How it started.

3. My in-laws were involved in a terrible car crash earlier this month. They’re very, very lucky to be alive. It was a horrible time, so I’m grateful there was a happy ending.

4. My husband sent me this photo of a photo from our wedding day while he was visiting his parents. Turns out his mum carries it in her purse ❤️

5. While I was waiting for news from Derby, I took myself out on a walk and ended up in @thesmallcitybookshop. It was like my feet knew books would bring me comfort.

6 + 7. Just spring things.

8. Vegan lemon and almond loaf and a green smoothie from @theorchardcoffeeco 🍰🌱

9. I bought it 🌸

10. Other music? I don’t know her. 

How’s March been treating you? Personally, I’m ready for April and spring PROPER!
There is a past version of me who cannot believe I get to do this every day 💭📝💻

She’s around 12yrs old, working on her first novel in a little ring-bound notebook, dreaming up stories, devouring books and trying to imagine a life filled with words. Everything that makes my business possible now barely existed then, so even she’d struggle to conjure up  an image of what my life looks like now.

I’m grateful that I get to do this, for the clients who trust me to find the right words, and I’m grateful to that past version of me too. Without her, I wouldn’t be here now. Sure, she’d probably want me to hurry up and get back to that novel, but I think she’d be proud of the business I’ve built and the way I’ve managed to create a life filled with words.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Lockdown memories, three years on 🦠⏳

Very little of my life made it on to the grid in 2020, so this is the first time I’ve shared these images. They’re all from the first lockdown and most were taken between March and May. I think the arrival of spring will always remind me of this strange time.

When Boris made his announcement on the 23rd, our children had already been out of school for a week. Jesse, who was initially deemed clinically vulnerable, spent the next 6m shielding. He left primary school one day not realising he’d never go back. He did not see another child his age until the summer. Like many kids and adults in the same situation, the experience had a deep impact on his mental health. 

Izzy was in Year 10. As the pandemic raged on, she did most of her GCSEs online, celebrated her 16th birthday via Netflix Party, finished secondary school with minimal fanfare and missed out on prom completely. When she finally had a normal night out with friends in the winter of 2021, I cried quietly in the kitchen when she got home. Seeing her so happy and animated after a simple ‘cheeky Nando’s’ only highlighted everything she’d missed out on in the previous 18 months.

It’s easy to forget how little we knew about the virus in the beginning and how frightening that was for everyone involved. We had it easy in comparison to some, but I still marvel at the way we coped with it all. The way we isolated, home schooled and kept our businesses ticking over. My goodness it was hard! As my children often joke, I hope we’re done living through major historical events for a while.