I just closed a browser tab containing a Radio 3 interview with composer Janet Beat.
I’d been at concert that involved some of her work on the weekend and thought “I’d like to learn more about her, how interesting!”
But today, when opening my laptop to do a bit of writing, I callously swiped it away as if dramatically clearing a table of clutter to make sweet lurve on it, sending cutlery clattering to the tiles and apples bouncing away down the lane.
“It is Wednesday,” I thought, “the weekend was ages ago. Snap out of it, buster.”
This is something I’ve noticed about getting a little bit older. Impatience. I’ve found myself thinking “come on, come on, come on” while waiting for train doors to open.
Closing that tab today was an act of slightly manic prioritising. Prioritising used to be about doing my best now and later. Now, it comes from a sense of low-level background terror that maybe there really isn’t enough time left to do everything.
Christ, I’m only 39!