Trailblazing: What I Did Years Ago That’s Become Mainstream

Here’s a picture of a sign on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. As someone who’s walked over six hundred miles of the Appalachian Trail I was very excited to discover it. Up until the time that I saw this I didn’t realise that there was an International Appalachian Trail, a series of legs in North America, Europe and Africa. What’s more one bit runs round the coastline just a stone’s throw from my front door.

Anyway I digress. For today’s post is about trailblazing rather than hiking. I’ve noticed that there are quite a few things that I’ve been doing for a long time that became very popular all of a sudden. Here are a few of them

Grey Hair

Back in the day, 2010 to be precise, I started the first version of this blog. going naturel as regards to hair colour was seen as an immense faux pas. Now I meet many more people who don’t dye their hair and also some younger ones who dye their hair grey. It’s not seen as a negative anymore.

Does that make me an influencer? Well perhaps not. No-one’s asking me to appear on their podcast or offer me freebies yet. I’m also wondering what I do at the current time that may become immensely popular in the future.

Buying Secondhand

Now this is a thing that is ever so trendy at the moment. The youngsters think that they’ve caught onto something new. But I’ve been buying secondhand since early adulthood. That’s over forty years now.

At first charity shops were often pretty grim places that smelt of wee. There was still a bargain to be had but you used to have to put a peg on your nose. Then back in the late eighties and early nineties they started to tidy up their act and secondhand shopping became an altogether more satisfying experience.

And nowadays I don’t even have to leave my house to get a secondhand bargain. It’s not just clothes either. I’ve picked up beautiful furniture and other bits and pieces from my house, mostly from eBay and Facebook Marketplace. As I look around the room I’m writing in I spot a piece of utility furniture made just after the war. It used to be as cheap as chips but it’s coming up in price now. Then there’s my rush seated church seat and my wicker woven chair, both gifted, pottery finds and books. There’s barely a thing that I can see that was bought new.

Mindfulness

I’ve been practising mindfulness for twenty years, way before the term came into common parlance. I started with an eight week course based on a programme devised by Jon Kabat-Zinn that was successful in helping thousands of chronically ill people in the US. After doing the course I knew that mindfulness would catch on more widely. It changed my life almost immediately and continues to be of massive benefit to my mental and emotional landscape to this day.

Sea and River Swimming

Now here’s something that I’ve been doing way before it got trendy. For many years though my forays into wild water were restricted to the warmer months. Again, over two decades ago I got more and more into swimming outside because I found the environment on man-made swimming pools a bit sterile and boring. So I stepped up my swimming and started to explore the watering holes on Dartmoor near where I lived as well as going in the sea whenever I could.

Until a few years ago I didn’t even have any fancy kit, just a costume and a bath towel that I snatched from the bathroom on the way out. Then when I met my partner Paul, he bought me a wetsuit. It was a game changer and I started to have dips in the sea year round. No, I’m not one of these cold water swimmers who wear their cozzie all year long. The initial shock is a bit too much for me. Plus there’s rather a lot of bare skin on show for the local seals to nibble. Really!

Tesla Shares

Years ago now, I can’t recall quite when, I did a little entrepreneurship course online. It mentioned a little known guy called Elon Musk and his company Tesla. I took a punt and bought some shares. After all electric cars seem to fit my green ethos at the time. The growth on my little investment tided me over for many a year. In fact it must be some time ago for I seem to recall that my profits helped me pay off my student loan.

I haven’t owned Tesla shares for a long time. Mr Musk became more prominent in the public eye and started to do weird stuff. I became uncomfortable. Even though the shares have grown significantly ever since I’m happy with my decision to bale.

Crafting

Let’s end on a more cosy note. I’ve been crafting since I was a wee one. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever stopped. My serious dalliances have included patchwork, pottery, needlepoint, silver jewellery making, dressmaking, lino printing and of course mosaic. I still pursue some of these to this day. Others are on the back burner. They will be resumed when I have the time.

Some other crafts I’ve tried, knitting and feltmaking, just haven’t been my bag. And then there are those that I’d like to try. Collage stands out in that category at the current time. I’m very surprised that there is a crave for crafting. I never even knew that it had gone away!

Disclaimer

This post contains links to companies and organisations just because I’m happy with the products or services that they supply or I’m spreading the word about what they do. There may also be affiliate links to Amazon for books and other items that I am personally recommending. If you decide to make a purchase from them, I might get a little bit of commission at no cost to you.