February 2024 – Update
After celebrating my sixtieth birthday this month – things took a turn after a family member was taken ill, and it seems likely that this situation will be ongoing for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, here is my round-up for February as a coach, writer, and human being.
My second Trello board – Plan your career change.
How to get ahead in a career you love, by Stephanie Rix and James Reed, popped up in my timeline earlier in the week. Those who know me will already know I am all for accessible materials and programmes that support people in making career decisions. This online course looks to be precisely that.
So, I have added it to my Trello board – Plan your career change in the online resources tab, under exploring your options. There are other articles on there, too, such as Five Barriers to Career Change and How to Overcome Them and How to Leave Your Comfort Zone and Enter Your Growth Zone, to name a few.
When I can, I like to check that the links I am sharing are still working, but if I have missed any, please let me know. Access the link here.
And if you are wondering why I do this, there are two reasons: my background in open learning and my values around freedom and choice.
How I met your dad
I’m always intrigued about how people meet their partners, especially in the age of social media. It might be just me, but I wonder if it is more difficult for people to make those connections.
Because it is Valentine’s Day, I am sharing my story, originally written in 2019 as a letter to our daughter. Here is how it starts.
Dear
I would love to say he wafted down into my arms on a gentle cloud, that our eyes locked over a crowded dance floor, or indeed, he came charging up on his handy steed and swept me off my feet.
But all that, of course, would be complete nonsense.
Nonsense is not quite the word I use in my post, but you get my point.
My husband and I have now been together for nearly thirty years. We met on his birthday, and he will still argue with me about how I chose to describe myself all those years ago.
So, if you have time, have a read, and whatever your situation is, I wish you a happy Valentine.
Unapologetically Sixty
Once I assemble this pile of bricks, I will be forever immortalised in Lego; it seems a fitting way to celebrate my sixtieth 😂.
However, this weekend, I also attended my first Happenista Retreat with @JennyGarett – How to be the author of your own story. It was an incredible two days with some fantastic women. I cannot wait to see how much more they achieve moving forward.
I certainly feel things have shifted in ways I can’t quite see yet, and I’m excited to see what the next few years will bring.
In the meantime, I have Lego to be getting on with.
And before I forget, I want to thank Morrisons in Strood, who looked after a family member when they collapsed while shopping. The staff were utterly brilliant and made a difficult situation just that little bit easier.
Thank you.
Not just any old bundle of papers
Last year, I promised myself I would complete the first draft of my collection of stories in time for my sixtieth birthday – and this time last week, I managed it.
Maybe I should put a ribbon around it – but this bundle of papers represents five years of writing. The first draft of my collection of stories is 250 pages, 11,700 lines and 91,500 words long.
There is still a vast amount to do, but on the advice of other writers, I will allow myself some breathing space before jumping back in to edit. But I am proud to have reached this far and excited to see what I can do with it; there are options out there that I will explore. In many ways, the work starts now.
So, what promises are you going to make to yourself this year?
Until next month
