Two steps back, three forwards

Life is definitely more of a rollercoaster than an ice-skating rink. That would be challenging but predictable. Who needs predictable?

Progress in life is generally two steps back and one forwards. There are always set-backs, challenges and unforeseen circumstances, but then we find our rhythm again. I've been very busy at work recently but over the last few days I have really enjoyed rediscovering simple satisfactions - my first batch of homemade yoghurt in a month, breakfast scones with a pot of coffee to start the Sunday, and slowing down to savour the ironing, the washing up and sweeping.

In this, I am very much enjoying having Rhonda Hetzel's book Down to Earth, which my lovely lovely sister gave me for a belated birthday gift and which is just perfect for dipping into for a moment of reflection and not a little inspiration.(If you haven't discovered Rhonda's blog then you need to follow this link now.)

Even though the housework, balcony garden, this blog and myriad other aspects of my simple living journey have fallen by the wayside in the last weeks, I notice that each time I come back to simplicity with renewed focus, renewed energy and renewed efficiency. This is partly because of the accumulation of skills and basic equipment (so I can now whip up a batch of yoghurt on demand without needing to do research) and partly because each time the whirling world of work and social life draw me away from simple living, it's even more blissful to come back to it, even more satisfying to gradually find a tidy, clean home emerge from the chaos. 

It's like taking a really deep breath, the sense of a knot of tension unravelling in your stomach that you get when you walk out of a major client meeting that you've been really anxious about.

So hello, everyone. I'm back. What did I miss?