The Joy of Rediscovery

A reflection on curiosity, change and the unexpected ways experiences can reconnect us with forgotten parts of ourselves.

One thing I have learnt over the last few years is that curiosity has a way of quietly guiding us towards the people, places and experiences we need most.

A recent visit to the Stratford Literary Festival felt like a perfect reminder of that.

Over the course of the weekend, I listened, laughed and learned from four very different authors, each with their own story and perspective to share.

Tim Spector talked about the importance of the gut microbiome and how, 80% of the time, the gut controls the brain rather than the brain controlling the gut. His book Ferment focuses on the importance of fermented foods in balancing the gut microbiome, which he believes, following scientific research, may help with dementia, Alzheimer’s, anxiety and depression, amongst other conditions.

Arthur Snell, a political commentator and former diplomat, he was the UK High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago and across Africa for a time, gave an insight into his book Elemental, which looks at the impact climate change has on geopolitics. From the perspective of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Thankfully he predicts that the future isn’t all doom and gloom, but it certainly made you stop and think.

Artist Matthew Rice gave a hilariously commentated workshop, sharing how he works with watercolours and puts a composition together. His book How to Look, Draw & Paint is beautifully illustrated and a genuinely helpful guide for novice painters like me.

Finally, Prue Leith. At 86, her new book Being Old - and Learning To Love It which seems a strange title, as she certainly did not look or act old in any way at all. Prue explained that she just wanted to call the book Being Old and embrace it but her publishers preferred to soften it with ‘and learning to love it’.

Prue expressed with humour and passion the joys and delights of ‘being old’. She did not shy away from the fact that not everyone was fortunate to be in good health, or indeed relishes the inevitable frustrations of ageing, but she had the audience in fits of laughter as she explained her need for an afternoon nap whilst filming The Great British Bake Off and skiing with her children and grandchildren last Christmas.

She explained that she was wrapped in blankets in what she described as a “pram on skis”, with someone skiing behind and steering her, but she still loved the exhilarating feeling it gave her.

I have seen many authors in recent years, including the wonderful Cally Beaston and Anna Murphy. Literary Festivals really are a lovely introduction to new books and a brief insight into the authors thinking.

When I started on this unexpected journey of rediscovery, the biggest surprise has been my reconnection with books.. 

I mention this in my monthly newsletters and often share a couple of books I have discovered that month, should others find them of interest too. These may be coffee table books, wellness books, whether body or mind, business related, or simply a good novel I have read.

I say rediscover because, as a child, I loved books.

My bedroom was a small box room, just big enough for a single bed and a chest of drawers. I honestly remember the day my bookshelves were fixed to the walls and the joy I felt in filling them with books and organising them by size and colour.

I adored a box set and anything that involved adventure or tales of boarding schools, like the Malory Towers series and St Clare's.

When I was meant to be asleep, I would climb onto my window ledge, shut the curtains and read by the light of the street lamp outside my bedroom window. If I was caught by my parents, I would resort to a small torch hidden beneath the bed covers. Anything to keep reading.

In my teenage years, if I picked up a book, I would become completely immersed, barely putting it down to eat or do anything else until it was finished.

One trait I have always had is to read the first chapter and then the final few pages. I like to get to know the characters initially, but then I have this overwhelming desire to know how the story will end.

When I married and had my children, reading became something we did together. There would always be a bedtime story and they have inherited both mine and my husband’s love of books.

However, I no longer read in the same way that I had when I was younger.

I would take a book on holiday and slip back into my old habit of immersing myself in the story, not wanting to put it down, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that reading became part of my life again.

When I was looking for ways to connect with others and try new experiences, it was book talks held at Thyme in the Cotswolds that first caught my attention.

After getting over the initial fear of going alone and not knowing anyone in the audience, I became fascinated by the variety of guests: interior designers, architects, artists, cookery writers, gardeners and landscapers.

I soon found comfort in being in a familiar environment, which gave me a sense of safety and quietly boosted my confidence. I was invited to join groups of ladies for lunch and it was lovely to chat with many of the authors in such a relaxed setting, always taking a signed copy of their book home with me.

I then ventured to a local book club at Daylesford Organic, where I thoroughly enjoyed being given a book or genre that I would not normally read and being challenged to finish it within the month.

Some I struggled with, but others I loved and would never have discovered had I not joined the group.

Gradually, I started venturing further afield, visiting places loosely linked to books, whether somewhere I had read about, or where an author I admired would be sharing their story.

As I started to travel more, books became my travel companions, alongside my journal where I would write about my travels and thoughts.

When I visited cookery schools, often the cookery book sat at the heart of the experience. I was once so excited to buy the books that I completely forgot they would exceed my baggage allowance and ended up having to ship them home.

After many experiences, I realised I would almost always return with a book. Whenever I visited somewhere new, I found myself drawn towards the vintage bookstore or café lined with bookshelves.

This rediscovery evolved so quietly that I was barely aware of it happening until I looked at the growing pile of books in my home and realised that many of the experiences I had loved over the past few years had, in fact, given me purpose, direction and connection.

Unbeknown to me, they had also reconnected me with that little girl sitting behind her bedroom curtains reading stories by streetlight.

If you are navigating a period of change and embarking on your own path of rediscovery, you too may be surprised by where it leads you.

Whether that is a rekindled love of art, cookery, flowers and gardening, sport, wellness, bread making, history, textiles, or, just like me, books.

For me, it has opened up a world of learning. I continue to meet incredible people, visit beautiful places and remain curious and interested in life.

Interestingly, one of the key takeaways from Prue Leith was her desire to always remain curious and interested too.

I return to Thyme on 29 May for another book talk. I first heard Liz Earle speak about her book A Better Second Half at Calcot & Spa.

Her new book, How to Age Well, also focuses on ageing. The talk is followed by a two-course lunch and, of course, you take home a copy of the book too.

I just need to find more space on my bookshelves.

If there is one thing I have learnt through this unexpected chapter of rediscovery, it is that healing and growth do not always arrive with a grand plan. Sometimes they begin quietly, with curiosity, with conversation, with a book, with saying yes to an experience you almost talked yourself out of.

And often, the smallest step into something new becomes the very thing that leads you back to yourself.

I would love to know where your own journey of rediscovery is taking you, and perhaps, along the way, you might find yourself inspired to come with me too.

Just drop me an email or direct message me on instagram, I would really love to hear from you.

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