Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from September, 2013

So... Who do you want me to be today? Dissecting intersectionality.

Intersectionality fascinates me. It's challenging and it's frustrating. But also inspiring. After all, it is our personal intersections that distinguish 'me' from 'you'. I must confess, it doesn't take much for me to get quite lost when it comes to thinking about identity and the many facets that we are made up of.  Where do you position yourself? Is that how you want to be seen by others? By whom do you want to be seen in that way? Is this how you are seen? Might that change? At what times, and under what circumstances? Introducing... 'the self'. (Controversial, I know). I am interested in how comfortably the different parts of our selves fit together. Maybe the traditional metaphor of the onion, whilst familiar, doesn't feel to be the best fit to our experience. How well do your different layers feel to sit alongside one another? Which layers are on the outside, and most visible? What is deeper within, and hidden? Are you more of...

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning (Roberta Flack)

So what does 'coming to terms' actually mean?  It translates to mean different things for different people.  Inevitably.  We are so very different.  We have different ways of coping with what life has a nasty knack of throwing up in our paths.  What we seem to share is incredible, and often unimaginable resilience.  I am reminded of this every week.   We do not choose to be born into this world, and we are destined to die alone.  My line of work is concerned, at the most basic level, with these two facts, and the infinite possibility that lies in between.  What will you do, with this one oh-so-precious life? Loss is inevitable.  We take anything for granted at our peril.  Tomorrow may never come.  How sad that we are apt to value only that which we stand to lose, or which has already slipped through our fingers and gone.  One day at a time is, as most of my clients know, something of a mantra for me.  It...

When life happens...

Whilst I don't claim to be a writer, I believe I have developed an understanding of writer's block.  Life has thrown me a few curve-balls of late, and though I'd dodged some and bounced with others, the combination in swift succession has, I confess, slightly knocked me off course.   I know, at some point, I shall likely become philosophical about some of the less enjoyable moments.  For now it is perhaps enough to say that I'm glad they've passed.  And pass these things do. My closest friends are, they know very well, my family of choice.  Handpicked and, I think, very well chosen, they have once again proved their worth (often very quietly) and reminded me of their indefinable value.  Friendships that endure, whatever the weather (including seemingly inescapable winds and torrential rain) are not only what matters most to me, they are what enable me to be me.   So, here's a heartfelt thank you to those precious individuals I feel privile...

Overreacting

Predictive text is indeed a marvellous development. It has changed many lives, including my own.  Mostly for the better.  But not always. Like when hysteroscopy became hysterectomy.  And I became nearly hysterical...   I couldn't believe it.  Charlotte has just had the 'finishing touches' to conclude her massive surgical episode that began last summer.  The idea that she might be going back under the knife, was almost too much to bear. It hit me hard.  My best friend is still a cancer patient.  She has been through so much, but this particular region covers a vast territory.   Vast, and often frightening.  And that's just for me.  Sitting on the sidelines.  Watching.  Perhaps, there are times when it's harder being a spectator (I think the recently wed Scott Gardner would probably agree).    The hysteroscopy took place. And was unremarkable. Charlotte and I both cried with relief. The Tamox...

After the glory... comes the washing

A month ago I sat in a (rather marvellous) pop-up cafe on the Southbank demolishing baked goods surrounded by people I love having completed my first ever cyclosportive.  I was exuberant.  I had conquered Box and Leith Hills, and had raised a whole lot of cash in the process.   Having had my place confirmed in February, I had a decent lead time before the big day.  And what a big day it was.  A seriously early start and a nerve wracking journey to the start which seemed like the other side of the world, at Stratford.  Many, many hours later, I finally called it a day, having had to wait for the adrenaline load to leave my system. One month on, and I'm pretty much back into the usual swing of things.  Whilst my trusty singlespeed has got me from A to B several times a week, my roadbike has (I'm almost embarrassed to say) remained reasonably static, and remains adorned with my rider number from the big event. However, I'm keen to maintai...

The dubious pleasure

I am privileged to do the work I do.  I feel this at a cellular level most days that I work with clients.  I feel truly blessed to have found what feels to be my vocation.  I have been able to train to do work I love, and that I feel confident that I am reasonably good at.  In thinking about the relationship I have with my current career, I feel connected to my present purpose, and that feels tremendously important, providing me with both nourishment and reward.   But my work is not without its challenges.  It is a great privilege to feel in touch with my talents and purpose, but not always such a pleasure.  The stories I hear each and every week are often horrific.  I derive enjoyment from my work, not from the content but from the process.  I never cease to be amazed and delighted by the depths of human resilience and resource, as demonstrated to me by those who have survived, and continue to survive, their stories.  I work with h...