It doesn’t feel like a month has really passed since my last blog but apparently we’re one month into 2018 already. I feel a little like I missed it somehow – lost in hibernation – but, when I took the time to reflect, this month has been quite productive afterall.

December wasn’t my finest month when it came to health and January started in a similar fashion. Over the festive period I struggled to leave my bed for more than a couple of hours at a time and spent much of it asleep or resting. It was an unusual lethargy, more extreme than I have experienced for a long time, and it stretched into the first week of the year. I then came down with an almighty virus that knocked me out for ten days. Chronic illness life certainly is no picnic.

Luckily, I now seem to have climbed out of that particular low and have seen my energy and resilience slowly creeping back up to a more manageable place. I’m back in my weekly routine: osteopathy and therapy on Mondays, working Tuesday to Friday and attempting fun but restful weekends. I’m not sure what it is but something seems to be helping. My GP is working really hard to try and support me and my osteopath is hopeful I may be in a much better place come the spring, so I’m beginning February in a positive frame of mind.

This month has seen me splitting my time between projects at Marie Curie and The Mix, working on engaging new volunteers with both of these amazing charities. My time with Marie Curie has now come to an end, but I’m thrilled to have extended my contract with The Mix until the end of May, in addition to picking up the role of Associate Trainer. I’m looking forward to getting more involved in their volunteering and training team over the coming months.

February is looking busy but I’ll have space in my diary again from mid March so do get in touch if you have a project that might benefit from an extra pair of hands or a fresh set of eyes.

This month has been a quiet one, as I’m sure you can imagine, given how I was feeling for the first few weeks. However, I’m glad I managed to make it out to a few great events all the same (by sheer accident, all unashamedly feminist – setting the tone for the year, perhaps?)

What Women Want: hosted by the brilliant Amy Annette, this show encourages a conversation on its namesake: what women want. The show takes the format of a panel discussion, with the panel made up of a group of comedians – so it’s both informative and funny! The show is on monthly at the Soho theatre and I would recommend checking it out.

Dear Damsels Get Together: celebrating the 2nd birthday of Dear Damsels and the launch of their 2017 annual, it was a delight to hear some of the brilliant writers featured by the collective last year and to amplify women’s voices. Fancy joining the collective? Sign up to the DD newsletter for updates on monthly themes and submission deadlines.

Rise Up Women: held at Waterstones on Gower Street, this event delved into the lives and labours of the suffragettes. I loved hearing about the expert panel’s favourite stories, from a woman who threw paint on the front doors of her neighbours after they told her that her involvement in the campaign was a disgrace, to Lady Rhondda who was the first woman to argue the case to inherit her father’s seat in the House of Lords. Added to my to do list now are to take a tour of women’s London with the endearing Rachel Kolsky and to visit the Voice and Vote exhibition at Parliament this summer.

One thing I learned in 2017 was that my ambitions for the blog and my body’s ability to meet them, amidst the many other demands of day to day life, were somewhat out of sync. In an ideal world I would blog a lot more regularly, keeping to the perfect schedules I’ve previously drawn up, but this year I want to recognise what is possible.

So, my intentions for the blog this year are pretty simple, really. I hope to write as much as I can, to offer a broad array of topics and conversations, but I’m not going to put pressure on myself to do so to the point where it stops feeling fun. My one promise is that I’ll be writing one of these round ups each month to capture what I’m up to, what I’m working on and what I’m thinking.

Watch this space!