These days, with children grown up and moved out, the alarm doesn’t go off quite so early but I still like to get up in time to make breakfast in bed. It started a few years ago when my partner and I began exploring ways to create a better work/life balance. We looked at our work roles, hours, commutes and made some changes. Our income levels went down but our happiness went up and that’s a compromise I’m so glad we made.
This morning I’m working from home for Involve North East, accompanied by my little, fluffy dog, Teddy. He’s so happy to have me here he gets up on the sofa to tell me so with lots of kisses. Not ideal when you’re in a Teams call with colleagues but what can you do?
Mornings are my best time to get admin done, my brain works better before lunch but even with that advantage the clock is ticking down and I need to be out of here by noon. That limits my lunch options to cheese on toast but Teddy doesn’t mind, he gets a little bit of cheese too.
My partner will be back home late lunchtime but today we won’t see each other, I need to be out of here. Grabbing my bag, I switch roles and now I’m not a charity CEO for INE, I’m a Buddhist Chaplain to His Majesty’s Prison Service. Arriving on site at one of our local jails I do the customary checks to make sure my mobile phone isn’t in my pocket before heading through the gate.
The group of guys who turn up for Buddhist worship are in high spirits today but I know them well enough to see there are emotions running hot under the surface. Then someone opens up and we all listen while they get it off their chest. One of the kindest gifts we can give others is the time to listen while they share their troubles. Despite what you may have heard, prisons are not pleasant places, they are challenging environments even at the best of times.
When we’ve had our discussion and the conversation settles down we do some chanting and then it’s time to meditate. Prisons are like hospitals, they’re rarely quiet but today there are pleasantly few noisy interruptions to deal with. By the time we’ve finished, prisoner movement has started and then they’re gone, back to their wings for another week.
I’m lucky with my journey home, the roads I travel are rarely clogged with traffic and soon, I’m back at my desk, checking emails and seeing which need a reply and which can wait. A few quick responses get drafted and sent then I close my work email account and open my Amazon Author account. With this summer’s publication of The Rod of Xerus, I have two books in print and another on the way. Strange to think that to some people I’m AJ White, children’s fantasy author. Nothing to get big headed about, my book sales aren’t going to trouble the bestseller list any time soon but I do enjoy it. I guess we all need a creative outlet and writing is mine.
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Teddy staring at me with a look of: is it teatime yet? No, small dog, not for another hour, just relax. But he’s a terrier, it’s not in his makeup to be patient. Now if only we could teach dogs to meditate.
