A Place to Begin Again
Life does not always change in ways we expect or choose. Sometimes it is loss. Sometimes it is a change in work, relationships, identity, or direction. And sometimes nothing dramatic has happened at all; we simply begin to sense that something in our life deserves another look.
page 1 grew from my own experience of navigating change and asking questions I did not immediately know how to answer. What began as private reflection gradually became a collection of observations, practices, and questions that helped me understand where I was, what mattered, and how I might begin moving forward.
This is not a book that tells you what your next chapter should look like. It is a companion for slowing down, becoming curious about your own experience, and listening more closely to yourself. Through honest reflection and simple practices, page 1 invites you to consider what you may want to carry forward, what you may be ready to understand differently, and what beginning again might mean for you.
Who Might Find Something Here?
You do not need to have experienced the same kind of loss or change that began my own journey to find something within page 1.
You may be adjusting to a life that looks different from the one you expected. You may be questioning your work, a relationship, your sense of direction or simply the way you have been spending your time and energy. You may have reached a point where something that once fitted comfortably no longer feels quite right.
Or perhaps nothing is particularly wrong.
You may simply have become curious about where you are, what still matters to you and whether there are parts of your life you would like to understand a little differently.
page 1 was written for those moments.
You do not need to arrive with an answer, a plan or even a clear understanding of what brought you here. Sometimes recognising that we would like to look a little more closely is enough of a place to begin.
The Story Behind page 1
page 1 did not begin as a book.
It began with a lavender journal, a mechanical pencil and a need to put somewhere what I was feeling and thinking at a time when much of my life had changed.
On Saturday, 18th February 2023, I opened that journal and wrote DAY ONE.
I did not know where those pages would take me. Some held questions. Some carried difficult emotions. Others captured small observations, thoughts from a walk, something I had read, or a sentence that helped me look at myself a little differently.
For ninety days, I wrote one page each day.
Gradually, the journal became less about trying to solve everything and more about noticing, understanding and becoming curious about what might still be possible.
Years later, those pages became the starting point for page 1.
What will I actually find inside the book?
page 1 moves through three connected parts of life: the relationship we have with ourselves, the relationship we have with our work, and the way those two come together in the life we are trying to build.
Along the way, the book explores recognition, surrender, stress, curiosity, work, confidence, relationships, money, purpose and the questions that can help us understand what deserves more of our attention.
Some pages invite reflection. Others offer practical ideas. Many simply ask you to pause long enough to notice something you may have been moving past too quickly.
You do not need to read it with a pen in your hand, but I hope you eventually do.
Circle something. Underline something. Fold a corner. Add a tab. Write in the margin.
Let the book become less of something you have read and more of something you can return to.
Sometimes something we read makes us think of someone else. A friend. family member or a colleague. Someone going through a change, carrying something quietly, considering a new direction or simply trying to find their footing.
We may not always know what to say, and perhaps we do not need to. Sometimes reaching out is less about offering advice and more about letting someone know they came to mind.
That is why page 1 includes three separate pages designed to be removed, written on and passed along.
If something in the book reminds you of someone, you can add a few words of your own and give them the page. It is not about telling them what they should do next. It is simply a way of saying:
I thought of you.
Perhaps that small gesture will arrive at exactly the right time.
A Page to Pass On
Each page includes a QR code leading back to page 1, should the person receiving it wish to discover more.
Choose Your Copy
Paperback on Amazon — $22.99
For readers who prefer the convenience of Amazon.
Kindle eBook — $4.99
For readers who prefer a digital copy.
Personally Signed Copy — $22.99
Signed by Ross and sent directly from Songbird Cottage Press.
Shipping & Packing — $5.00
Each signed copy is prepared and signed by me before it leaves Songbird Cottage Press.
My hope is that it feels less like simply receiving a book and more like opening something that was sent with you in mind.