Now I'm busy trying to keep a tiny human alive it sometimes feels like I barely have a second to think, no matter contemplate things I once carefully considered. It's easier to push away the bigger picture, focus on the short-term, wrap myself consciously (or not) in the baby bubble. I'm tired and following the societal flow is the path of least resistance.

Yet recently my responsibility to the long-term also feels all the more pressing. How can it not now I've brought new life into a dying world? I'm already baffled and jaded by the array of make-believe cartoon characters and over-stimulating amusement parks on offer that seem to completely detach kids from the world we live in. Don't get me wrong, they definitely have their uses, but they all seem so meaningless to me somehow. 

On an early morning walk the other day, we happened on two roe deer absorbed in their chase and oblivious to our presence. Our boy was silently captivated by nature's own show and the encounter jolted me into wanting to slow down and find that second to be more deliberate with my choices. I want to give him the opportunity to listen to birdsong, be dwarfed by ancient trees and feel the joy of knowing the world he lives in rather than trying to escape it. I want to remember that it sometimes feels like an effort to do the things which turn out to be the most rewarding and I want to challenge myself to lean in to that inconvenience and prioritise what we do with the time we have.