Driving the 20-30 minutes home from my parents’ house tonight (which is always lovely, in the dark – very contemplative), I stumbled upon an interview with Jay Z from when he was in the Live Lounge on Radio 1. I must admit I wasn’t sure who it was at first, but he said some things that really resonated with me so I thought I’d hammer out a quick blog post about it before going to do a bit of my jigsaw puzzle (also quite relaxing and contemplative). I haven’t listened to much Jay Z in the past but halfway through the interview they played one of his songs with Linkin Park – Numb/Encore and I did have a bit of a sniffle at that because he dedicated it to Chester, it being the first time Jay Z performed it since Chester died. And having Linkin Park play unexpectedly does seem to have that effect on me since his passing. That, and I don’t think I have let out some of the things that have been happening family-wise lately, so it was good to get a bit of it out.

But anyway, Jay Z said something (helpfully, I can’t remember his exact words) about editing your life. He was talking about how you shouldn’t do things for no reason, just for the sake of it, and if you’re not doing something for a reason you should edit it out. It got me wondering if there is anything I have in my life that isn’t helpful or fulfilling that I should be getting rid of. It’s something I’ll have to consider, but it’s very intriguing. Tightening up your life the way you’d tighten up a manuscript, kill the filler, delete the bits that don’t make a relevant or positive contribution. Maybe people, maybe activities, maybe habits. I don’t know. My circle is pretty tight as it is, for the most part. Though it has got me thinking about how I don’t seem to have stopped for a while. I work full time, I’ve just finished my MA. Today is Saturday and I put in a 9am – 3pm day with Peeking Cat, which I love, and is super fulfilling. I need to set some time aside to work on my novel. I feel rather short on time, and even this blog post is written in a bit of a rush just so that I can go listen to Linkin Park and play with my jigsaw puzzle for a bit of downtime. I mean, I haven’t done any work tonight – I spent the evening at my parents’ house. And there are other evenings when I don’t work on my lit mags or my writing, and maybe I socialise instead or just chill out with my boyfriend. But what I mean is I never stop, just sit and think, just evaluate my life and what’s happening and what I want. Most of my peace time happens in my car, but obviously then I still need to be switched on and concentrating. I’m glad I got a little of that time today, with Jay Z, who I should perhaps start paying a little more attention to.