When it comes to work direction, lightbulb moments of clarity can hit at the strangest times, but I never expected this…
I’ve been wrestling with uncertainty in the last few years, hunting for new direction, in work and in life. The end of my marriage, the end of Valuable Content, a new leadership role and then Covid. To say the least, there’s been a fair amount of change going on.
Mid lockdown, after just shy of a year as a senior manager in Nationwide Building Society’s experience design department, I re-entered the world of independent consulting. I’ve loved it, and have been lucky to find work with a range of great clients — a research charity, a membership organisation, a small digital agency kicking it up a storm, and some brilliant solo experts doing their bit to make a living their way — fantastic people, all striving to make the world a better place. The work has been enjoyable and varied, a mix of coaching on content and marketing issues, help with purpose and positioning, website project management, comms strategy and leadership. …
It all started a couple of weeks back.
I was overtired, stressed, and totally Zoomed out so I made a snap decision to take a week’s break. I usually pack every minute of holiday time with manic activity — swimming, running, traveling to see friends, going out — but that’s not possible in these restricted times, so for once I actually had to stop.
The weather was then as it is today here in Bristol— overarching blue sky and glorious Spring sunshine. …
This feels confessional. After 20 years of writing most weeks, it’s been nearly a year since I published anything at all. I’ve picked up a pen, started, stopped, and restarted many times. I have a notebook full of scrawled, half-finished ideas. There’s been so much to reflect on, but in the last 9 months I’ve made little progress — until now.
It does feel like an odd time to get writing again, in the midst of these strange, unsettling times.
Do I have anything helpful to add? Will anyone care about anything other than anything virus related? …
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