An extra day!? That's irregular...

Hello Irregular Friends

I could not resist sending you something extra on this irregular date… 29^th February, leap day. I’ve always enjoyed the oddness of the very idea of an extra day. Although it is predictable in its regular 4 year schedule, it feels extraordinary to me.

There are those who consider the date lucky, or unlucky, a day to celebrate, a day to avoid, auspicious or suspicious… 29^th February is traditionally a day for breaking with tradition.

In many European countries this took the form of role-reversal in marriage proposals – and any man who turned down a woman’s proposal was expected to compensate her financially or with a gift of 12 pairs of gloves. In Paris, a satirical newspaper is printed on this date only, and sells more copies than all the other French print newspapers put together. And in London, the Savoy has, for almost a century, served a special leap year cocktail.

February has been a very busy month, for me, particularly in the run up to last weekend’s performances at Right Queer Right Now. Here's what people had to say after the show:

“I found it very healing, emotionally connected. I felt queer joy and queer love watching the show. Lots of thoughts, laughter and emotional resonance.”

___________________________

“A fabulous show. I loved the mix of the serious message with humour…and a great performance”

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“Brilliant. It was so funny. Just what I needed. Thank you.”

So I really do feel glad of an extra day. I get a similar feeling from the clocks going back. Time is a precious resource, and whilst in the end it won’t give me any extra days in my lifetime, there is a real sense of a gift in this extra space on the calendar.

I haven’t made any plans for today. Intentionally. I’ve kept my diary unusually empty, so I can be spontaneous. Being irregular, spontaneous might mean I choose to do very little today. That’s not often an easy choice to make – there’s always so much to do and to get done, and so many expectations about making purposeful use of our time. Maybe we need time to muck about. Maybe we need time to get bored.

How will you use your extra day? Will it be extraordinary, or just a little bit of extra ordinary? Perhaps you’d like to turn a tradition on its head, or start a new one… and leap day is the extra push you need to be bold enough to go for it. It’s up to you to choose or refuse to mark this date. I’d love to hear from you if you do mark it in any way.

Talking of choosing and refusing, while I’m here… another special date is 8^th March – International Women’s Day, one day to stand up and say ‘no’ to patriarchy. This year I’m marking it with a free webinar on Thursday 7^th March at 6pm (UK): Choose to Refuse: unleashing the power of your “no”. It’s free/pay what you feel, so please sign up using this link, or tell a friend.

Thanks for your support.
With love,

Jenn

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