July was always going to be a big month in our family. In addition to my husband and my usual work commitments, our daughter Isla’s performing arts activities all culminate in performances, competitions, and examinations at this time of the year. She has been preparing for them for months.
At just 10 years old, that’s meant a fair share of my time and energy too — driving to lessons, supporting practice, wrangling costumes, organising travel and accommodation, and covering the million little details that come with it.
These last two weeks, we’ve been inside theatres night and day as Isla performed at two different dance Eisteddfods. I’ve been ‘Mum’, taxi driver, nutritionist, mindset coach, supporter, cheerleader, volunteer usher, adjudicator runner, and scribe, witnessing first-hand the time, effort and dedication that many people put into events such as these for children to explore and express their passion and creativity through dance.
Our girl has done well – it has been a pleasure watching her growth and development over the past year, taking new opportunities in stride and clearly showing her physical, mental, and emotional evolution. These are special occasions that we will all remember for years to come – achievements, funny stories, and lovely moments as a family, where we have all been together to watch her shine.
All the while, it’s also been a significant period of awareness in my own Matters Experiment.
I entered these two weeks with a plan to continue my weekly blog posts and regular interaction with The Matters Experiment email community. I gave no indication a few weeks ago that anything unusual was going to happen – in my head it was to be ‘business as usual’ and I was looking forward to fitting Isla’s once-per-year milestone events amongst my normal working priorities. Hey, I’m my own boss, right? This kind of flexibility is a key perk of the way I do business.
And yet….
The truth is, I’ve barely sat at my computer. My inbox is full of unread emails, and my content calendar has two weeks of missed dates. When I let myself think about all of this, I feel pangs of guilt and worry about dropping the ball, internally chastising myself for overcommitting my schedule and not being serious about all I had committed myself to do.
And yet, still….
My last two weeks FELT like I wanted them to feel. I was present with Isla, open and willing in the moments and little experiences that played out – her electric, pulsing joy and energy after dancing out of her skin for a packed theatre, my nervous adrenaline when my volunteering role as paperwork runner turned into sitting side by side with the adjudicator as I captured his constructive feedback for the dancers in real time, and my delight to share the experience in the audience with my sister as she reminisced about her own dance experiences as a child.
As the days went by, I realised I was LIVING my Matters Experiment – I was exactly where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to be doing, with the people I loved.
I felt defiant. What is the point of just talking about living like I matter? I was DOING it!
And here’s the part I’m most proud of — I didn’t feel torn.
I wasn’t trying to cram blog writing into the car park between dance items. I wasn’t sneaking emails in before bedtime or staying up late to schedule social posts. I allowed myself to be there. Even when the occasional doubt crept in, I could see clearly – this wasn’t a collapse of discipline or a failure to show up. This was showing up — exactly where I meant to be.
The only thing I would change next time? I’ll call it from the start.
I’ll name it — out loud, with confidence — that this season matters, and I’m choosing to be open, willing, and fully present for it. I say this here not because I owe an explanation to the regular readers of this blog, but because this is actually what The Matters Experiment IS.
Living it. Choosing differently or again. Trusting and having faith.
Being willing to pause in my external progress or best-laid strategic plans to actually live the life that matters to me.
So this post isn’t a catch-up — it’s a marker in the sand.
It is a special moment of recognition that this is what real progress looks like for me – being in it, not just writing about it. This feels deeply integrous to me – my feelings of contentment and satisfaction help me know that I am on the right track in my own Matters Experiment. And that means a lot.
If you’re here too — somewhere in the middle of a big moment, something you have been working towards for some time, or you simply sense there is something that deserves your presence right now — let me encourage you:
🔬 You get to choose what matters.
🔬 You don’t have to ‘do it all’ to be doing your life right.
🔬 You get to trust yourself enough to live it, not just explain it.
Try it. Just for a day. Then see how it feels.
P.S. Are you keen to give it a go? Go deeper into what The Matters Experiment can look like in your life by joining our email community! Sign up below.
