Here’s how things currently stand:

• There’s a growing mountain of ironing in the spare/junk room which hasn’t been touched in weeks
• There’s clutter bursting from every drawer/cupboard/container we own (so much for my good intentions with the KonMari project)
• The garden is an overgrown mess and paint is peeling off the house.

I’m living in the ‘before’ photo.

When you’re living in the ‘before’ photo the vision of the ‘after’ can either inspire or frustrate you.

Usually I’m motivated and inspired by the ‘after’ vision and my small steady steps towards it, but today the distance between before and after is getting me down. I’ve learnt that when this happens it’s time to step away. No – not even step away – run away as fast as I can. These days, I’m hardly ever bothered by the before/after discrepancy, but when I am I don’t underestimate the corrosive power of this kind of thinking. It’s time to blow this joint.

I’m going into town with my lovely nine year old. We’ll get a coffee and talk about Minecraft and wander around the library. I’ll get some mooching time in and come back refreshed and happy to be back in the always imperfect, slightly askew, before photo which is my life at home.