Life Design for 2021

We have previously written about ‘Life Design’ and our approach to creating a life we are happy to live. As with everything, our ideas have begun to evolve and develop. For me, this has been strongly influenced by personal and world events of 2020. 

I was originally going to write a review of 2020 from my perspective. After thinking about it I have decided to write a forward-thinking post instead. I want to consider how living through 2020 has affected my/our aims for the future.  

2020 brought us ‘Baby Way‘ in July. As a self-confessed workaholic, Baby Way has turned my life upside down! For the first time in 12 years my work/career has not been my primary focus. I must caveat this by admitting that I did return to teaching (albeit online) when Baby Way was 8 weeks old. However, I will address that later!  

Baby Way has been a fantastic, all-consuming addition to our household. He brings us joy, tears, giggles, and tiredness every day! One thing we were determined to do before we had him was endeavour to continue the activities that make us happy – with him in tow. Little did we know it was not Baby Way’s existence that would have the biggest impact on our ability to continue these activities but COVID instead!! 

Countryside Living vs a Short Commute! 

In ‘The Skill of Life Design‘ Mr Way described our rationale when buying our house and picking its location. This house is a lovely home, located near several beautiful green spaces, which we love. However, I am increasingly missing the countryside, its space, the unpolluted fresh air, and less people!! In the first UK lockdown the lack of cars and decreased pollution on our daily walks was very evident and frankly wonderful! 

This started me thinking of where I grew up. It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields, open space and clean air and I miss it! We live in one of the greenest cities in the UK. Despite this I am still confronted with car fumes every day. Now that we have Baby Way, I am even more conscious of pollution. I feel a big pull to return to the countryside of my childhood. 

Contradicting this is the fact that we live so close to Mr Way’s work. Moving further out of town would mean his commute would not be the ideal, carless, 25 minute walk he has currently. This would change our original ‘life design’ plans!

So… we must decide what is most important. Or do we? COVID has meant that home working has now become more acceptable. The hope is that after this is all over it is something that Mr Way is able to continue. If this happens, we could effectively live anywhere! Fingers crossed, watch this space! 

Frugal & Eco Friendly – Can You Practice Both? 

This year we have enjoyed cultivating and harvesting our own small haul of fruit and veg, of which we were extremely proud (a hard task in such a small garden). This has led me to analyse how we shop for food. 

We currently shop at Aldi for all our fruit and veg. Whilst being frugal, Aldi is far from eco friendly with the amount of plastic packaging they use. I would like to explore other places to buy our fresh produce that ticks both boxes. 

My plan is to investigate supporting small local businesses such as greengrocers & veg box schemes. I aim to find the most cost effective, plastic free options. Ideally these would be equivalent to the amount we normally spend in Aldi. If not, I will have to look at decreasing our costs elsewhere. Any ideas or recommendations welcome! 

Making ‘Work’ Work for You! 

COVID has been devastating for the music industry and has had a big impact on music education too. We have all had to adapt quickly, getting to grips with technology we previously knew nothing about. However, this has actually been of benefit to me.  

I have transferred a lot of my individual lessons onto online platforms. I’ve worked effectively with Baby Way strapped to me in a sling. Covid has meant that I have been able to return to work and without the need for childcare. Don’t get me wrong it hasn’t always gone to plan, but I have always honoured any lessons missed due to baby related difficulties! 

I have taught individual lessons, full classes, conducted choirs and brass ensembles online, and created music videos. This has taken away my commute and opened up opportunities for the future. I intend to continue with some degree of online teaching even when we return to normality. This will keep childcare costs to a minimum. I realise as Baby Way gets older I may have to rethink how I entertain him whilst I’m teaching but I will definitely give it a go! 

Covid has also meant that I have had access to Early Years Music CPD course. Again, this would have been difficult to attend if it hadn’t been online. These strange times have actually given me a degree of freedom to work and spend time with our new baby and to make ‘work’ work for me. 

I do intend to go back to the classroom some time this year. Mr Way plans to take an afternoon off to spend with Baby Way. Until the virus is more under control, I think I will stick to teaching online. 

In Conclusion 

2020 has really made me appreciate our little family unit and re-evaluate our ‘life design’. I can’t wait to share Baby Way with our family properly. But I am thankful to 2020 for making me ‘think outside the box’. For challenging the way I do things and adapting quickly in order to ‘survive’. Let me know your thoughts on any of the above, especially where you source your frugal, plastic free produce. Here’s to an exciting 2021! 

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