Monday menu

5 intentions, from beginning to Bronte

Welcome to this week’s 5-piece selection of intentions and directions for the week ahead, based on my personal pillars and priorities such as career, creatvity, physical health, mental health, social circle, dining, reading, seeking, wearing… and so on. Why? Because spending some time thinking about what you want to achieve and how you want to feel by the end of the week is a really good way to begin it. Intentions don’t have to be serious and sterile, they are about creating, owning and living the life you want to lead. I hope you do something with intention this week, whatever form it takes.

One of my favourite shoots in the Vogue September issues. Tilda Swinton & Julianne Moore by Quentin De Briey for Vogue Espana, September 2024

1. Beginning: All hail the power of September. It feels like the right time of year to take stock of what has been, acknowledge where you are, think about where you want to be, and plan how you can attack (or survive) the final months of the year. It is part of our psyche to see September as the start of a new year, thanks to years of schooling and education, which, for many, becomes formal once again as you sign your children up for theirs, fashion month and new collections, a quick transition into the next season, a re-awakening after the slower months of Summer, a fount of new energy to fuel it.
   In Spring, a sense of renewal emerges from Nature and Earth, but in September, the sense of renewal arises from within us. It is awakened by a desire for movement, experience, an excitement to proceed. What do I want to achieve before the end of the year, what am I going to learn, how am I going to feel, what might I discover? The world is your oyster.
   It feels somewhat natural to use this month as a springboard: jumping into a new phase, trying out a new regime or schedule, maybe following a path you might not have done so before.
   But renewal, regeneration, rebirth or transformation doesn’t need a new year— be it January or September— nor does it need a particular month, or day, or moment.
   You can begin again whenever you want to.
   Sometimes, something happens in life that forces you to begin again, but most of the time, it is a conscious decision, a recognition that something isn’t serving you the way it should— perhaps a recognition that you are not serving yourself the way you should. Beginning again doesn’t mean cutting everything that has come before, it just means finding that spur of courage and hope and desire to do something differently than you have done previously. The ability to begin again is a luxury, and one we all possess. Seize the chances, create the waves on which you want to ride, and see Septembers, Octobers, Mondays and tomorrows as a day that you can start again.
   

2. Quoting: A friend of mine revealed that she had been struggling with ‘some stuff’ recently, but, being a private person (hence why I had no idea), had been ‘burying her head in the sand’, and didn’t go into any more details. Sometimes it can be hard to offer someone comfort when you don’t know why they need it, but then, there is little easier than simply saying ‘I am here for you’, which they can take from what they want. Before closing our conversation, I had to send a quote I love from Charlotte Bronte, and it’s one I am taking with me this week: ‘a depressing and difficult passage has prefaced every page I have turned in life’
   Sometimes the world sends us a few rubbish chapters, but the page will turn again.
   

3. Working: Head down, fingers on the keyboards. This week, I am glad to report, will be incredibly busy with work. It’s necessary to use a plural here (-boards), as I will be glued to my Country Life laptop by day and switching over to my freelance/personal laptop for some additional work that has come my way, as soon as the darker hours come. I will be penning and plotting, pitching and blotting (not every idea is a good idea, but it is always good to have them), and will be sipping on absinthe cocktails while testing various renditions of mince pies, all in the name of research. They aren’t for the same piece, though perhaps pairing absinthe and mince pies is the next big thing…

   

   Young Girl Reading, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1770

4. Reading: I’ve finally got my hands on Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey and I am incredibly excited about it. I know the name, the myths and the legends, but her story is ambiguous, and the art must be explored. She navigates a traumatic life, an aggravated world, an impossible-to-imagine lifestyle and plenty of uncertainty, but stayed true to her heart— and ambitions— despite it all. I think this novel will resonate with me in more ways than one, and if not, I am assured it will be a brilliant read regardless. One of my favourite pre-existing anecdotes is that in about 1940, she moved to Paris and sought to extend her artistic collection by buying ‘a picture a day’— "People even brought me paintings in the morning to bed," Guggenheim reported, "before I rose."
   What a wonderful way to start the day.
   I’ve also managed to get Unruly by David Mitchell: ‘A funny book about a serious subject, for anyone who has ever wondered how we got here, and who is to blame.’
   

5. Eating: Apart from the mince pies, I have some very splendid Highland Game Cumberland venison sausages to get through after my rendezvous at the British Quality Wild Vension discussion last week. I’ve got some dried barberries lingering among my herbs and spices, so will give them a soak and cook with red cabbage, some red onion, thyme and garlic, before mixing with spelt pasta and diced sausages, plus a little salad to serve.