For the first time in quite a while, it feels like life is moving in the right direction again.
It hasn’t happened overnight and there wasn’t a single defining moment where everything suddenly clicked into place, but when I look back over the last few months I can genuinely say things are better than they were. I’m enjoying what I do again, I’m finding reasons to get out of the house, and perhaps most importantly, I’m starting to feel like I’m making a positive contribution to the community around me.
Overton Radio has become a huge part of that. What started as a small community project has grown into something I genuinely feel proud of, and I think my own work has improved enormously along the way. I’m more confident behind the microphone than I’ve ever been, I’m writing more news stories, producing more content, covering more local events and generally pushing myself to make the station the best it can possibly be. There’s something incredibly satisfying about turning up to a village event with a microphone, camera or laptop, speaking to people, promoting what they’re doing and helping to shine a spotlight on the incredible volunteers and organisations that make village life what it is. Every event seems to introduce me to someone new, and every conversation gives me another story to tell.
One of the biggest highlights of the year has to be hosting the Overton Music Festival. Standing in front of a crowd with a microphone in my hand wasn’t something that particularly worried me because presenting has become second nature now, but what happened next was something completely different. At some point during the event I ended up singing in public for the first time. Now, I’ve done karaoke before, usually hidden away in a pub where everyone is too busy having a laugh to care whether you’re hitting the right notes, but this wasn’t karaoke. This was a proper public performance in front of people who had actually come to enjoy live music. It was nerve-racking, exciting and completely outside my comfort zone.
The strange thing is that people seemed to genuinely enjoy it. I was expecting a polite round of applause and everyone to move swiftly on, but the reaction was far more positive than I ever imagined. In fact, it apparently went down so well that I’ve already been asked if I’d sing again at the Overton Scarecrow Festival. If someone had told me even a year ago that I’d be agreeing to sing at community events, I’d probably have laughed at them. Now I’m actually looking forward to it. I still wouldn’t describe myself as a singer, but sometimes it’s worth saying yes to things that scare you a little. You never really know what you’re capable of until you give it a go.
Outside of radio and community events, life is perhaps a little less eventful. My love life is, for all intents and purposes, virtually non-existent, and surprisingly, I’m perfectly OK with that. There was a time when I probably would have seen being single as something that needed fixing, but these days I don’t feel that pressure. I’m busy doing things I genuinely enjoy, meeting interesting people through the radio station, and spending time building something that matters to me. If someone comes along in the future then great, but I’m no longer measuring my happiness by whether I’m in a relationship or not. There’s a certain freedom in accepting where you are rather than constantly worrying about where you think you should be.
That doesn’t mean everything is perfect, because it definitely isn’t. My sleeping pattern remains an absolute disaster. It’s probably the one part of my life that I still can’t seem to get under control. Some nights I struggle to switch my brain off, other nights I fall asleep far too late, and mornings can still be a real battle. It’s frustrating because I know how much better I function after a decent night’s sleep, yet somehow I always seem to end up back in the same cycle. It’s something I need to work on because everything else benefits when I’m properly rested, and at the moment it’s the biggest obstacle standing between where I am and where I’d like to be.
Even with that ongoing battle, I can’t ignore the bigger picture. Things really are starting to turn around. I’m doing work that I love, I’m becoming more involved in the community, I’m saying yes to opportunities that I never would have considered before, and I’m slowly becoming more confident in myself. Life still has its challenges and I’m sure there will be difficult days ahead, but for the first time in a long while it feels like the good days are beginning to outnumber the bad ones. That’s a nice feeling to have, and one that I don’t intend to take for granted.