slow starts

A gentle-ish start to 2026

The year didn’t begin with fireworks or big declarations.

It started with hills, cold fingers, muddy boots and pub stops - and choosing to walk things out rather than think them to death.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were spent doing what’s been quietly keeping me sane lately: getting outside, moving slowly, and letting fresh air do some of the heavy lifting. Frosty paths. Soft sunsets. The Malvern Hills doing their timeless, grounding thing. A cute shepherd’s hut that made me briefly fantasise about running away from emails forever. You know. The usual.

There were no resolutions made. No glow-ups planned. No dramatic reinvention scheduled for January. Just the gentle realisation that I feel better when I move my body, especially when I do it with Jonny and the wolves, and when the walking comes with a pub stop at the end. Preferably one with chips.

I’ve spent enough years thinking I needed to start strong, start loud, start better. This year, I’m trying something else: starting steady. Letting things unfold at a human pace. Remembering that doing fuck all for a bit isn’t failure - it’s fuel.

There’s still cheese in the fridge, mud on the boots, and a few more days of being technically “out of office”. I’m not rushing that. I’m letting myself enjoy the quiet, the in-between, the space before the to-do lists creep back in. And epic leftovers sarnies!

If 2026 has arrived gently for you, I hope you’re savouring it. And if it’s already come in hot and messy, I hope you’re being kind to yourself through it. There’s no prize for starting the year exhausted.

For now, I’m out of the studio, out of fucks, and very much back soon - with fresh ideas, calmer energy, and probably still a bit of mud under my nails.

Here’s to slow starts, fresh air, and letting the year meet us where we actually are - even if that's in a cheese coma and slightly squishier than we care to admit.

STEADY, SOFT + SEXY.

⚠️