It's the night before the big adventure day, the big present day. The night before my life changes. Again.
Tomorrow I'm picking up my campervan. I'm smiling while typing. I'm listening to Bump of Chicken. If you've never heard them, they really nail hopeful, tender, anthemic and fun, which is probably why they provide opening and closing tracks for so many anime shows. Anime is a recent excitement... the pacing, the nature, the sweet themes, the adult themes, it's what I've been missing in so much Western entertainment (more on that again, very likely).
I digress. It's van time. It's the evening before van time specifically and I've just woken up from an unexpected nap following a deep relaxation meditation. It's the Peggy Huddleston one for preparing for a surgery, but I'm using it to visualise something slightly different (more on that again, probably).
I’d just had a shower, it was pouring rain outside after days of heat, and the new summer duvet I got with 'ice cooling technology' (sure Temu) actually felt silky and cool against my legs, that tingly sensory input I quite enjoy when I'm relaxed enough to just be present to it. My body was doing the pleasingly regulating and comforting little hip rotations it has relearned in the past year. So I drifted off for about an hour. Slightly worrying given I have a 5am start and I struggle to drop off most nights... but whatever happens can't dent my happiness because tomorrow will be A Day.
First will be Teddy Play, in a special school in Clontarf. I'm catching a train to meet my producer along the way to get a lift down. Then I will go to my friend's house for a nap, otherwise I may not survive the day (more on the reasons for that again, extremely likely). Then I'm off to south Dublin to get the keys for my exoskeleton, my snail shell, my sensory soothing station on wheels, the thing which will help me do the things that have become difficult in the past few years.
A van for naps, a van for art, a van for visiting friends and having a nap or a sleepover because I don't have energy to also drive home. A van to adventure, to wake up in a forest or a beach and write, to bring my dog Kru everywhere with me. A van to feel, on a full-body level, the freedom to roam. Even just knowing, my home is with me, my weighted blanket, my chicory coffee, my bed set up for my body just how I need it... the myriad of supports, small and large, that help me thrive, can go with me. After a life of feeling like I had to ignore my 'fussiness', my legitimate needs, now I have the Mary Poppins bag, Jamie's Magic Torch, Mr Benn's magic changing room, a portable portal to rest, to soothing, to adventure and to friendship.
So yes, my life will change tomorrow. Would you like to come on this adventure with me?
