Hello September 8th!
This part of the year feels like a natural point to pause and take note. Not to get off the train or take my foot off the gas completely, but we’re far enough into the year to see what has taken shape and to weigh up whether there is still enough of it left to make progress.
Looking back at the mood board I made in January, I can see the things I’ve managed to tick off, things that still remain a cute picture, and others that have unfolded rather differently from how I imagined them. That’s the strange thing about making plans in January: you have no idea who you’ll be, or where life might have taken you, by September.
Usually, I have a weekend low-down list, but last Friday I sat there wondering what I wanted to do and it finally came to me: something I’ve been meaning to do for most of this year...bake!
My weekend of pet-sitting an entire ark of animals somehow nudged me into a strangely wholesome frame of mind and before I knew it, I had fully embraced a slower sort of time off. All I needed was an animal to look after and a free weekend to unlock my inner domestic goddess.
Baking has actually been sitting on my mood board for the past nine months, and ticking off that one small thing made me look at everything else on there again. September has a way of doing that, but there’s still enough of it left to ask: what haven’t I done yet and do I still want to do it?
Reaching this point in the year is also a reminder that progress isn’t usually made through one enormous, life-changing moment. It is built quietly and consistently through the way we spend our days. Individual moments or events may not feel significant while we’re living them, but eventually create a year.
That’s one reason I love making BTS videos, especially of my film projects. It's a visual reminder of the adventures that have happened in the year and proof that I've kept showing up.
The idea of showing up doesn’t always feel huge or exciting in the moment. Continuing to keep on going even when you can’t yet see where everything is leading is what is matters. And then suddenly when you take a look behind that you realise how each of those days have added along the way.
Consistency doesn’t always feel exciting in the moment and sometimes it simply means continuing, even when you can’t yet see where everything is leading. It’s only when you look back that you realise how much those individual days have added up to.
So, my September audit isn’t only about what I can tick off my mood board. It’s about recognising everything that has already happened and remembering that there is still time for the unfinished parts of the year to surprise me.
Even on those quieter days, I’m still learning and secretly achieving, perhaps what I'm learning is more in a way that is more personal than career-focused which shares the same worth.
2026 is still up for grabs!
The Pen & Paper Girl
XOXO