Looking back over 2023
2023 has had its ups and downs. That's been reflected in what I've written about this year.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed writing. I like telling stories, bringing together a few different ideas and weaving them into something that sometimes helps me, and hopefully others, understand or appreciate things a bit better than we did before.
Writing here has felt more important than ever during 2023, as personally it’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy year. It’s well-recognised that writing stuff down can be a real help when there are things you need to process, or changes in direction that need a good bit of navigation.
Writing certainly works for me, and I hope some of what I write resonates with you too.
A few key themes during 2023
Looking back at my posts this year, there are some topics I keep coming back to.
In the summer I left the social enterprise I’d co-founded 12 years ago. When you put your heart and soul into your work, moving on can be tough, even if you know that for all sorts of reasons it’s the right thing to do. Writing about it certainly helped.
How we talk with eachother about the climate crisis
This is something I think about a lot, and that’s reflected in what I’ve written about here.
It’s a topic that first came to mind during a January pilates class.
And it’s a theme I kept coming back to, including in a post where I suggested we need to start conversations by exploring with people what it is that they love.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Climate Change
And as I mentioned right at the top, this is where my lifelong interest in storytelling comes in. The more I reflect on the climate crisis, the more I’m convinced that we need better ways to engage people, so together we can explore what we can do.
Sharing stories can be one good place to start.
Positive stories of people taking action
This is another theme I’ve kept returning to. In this post from July, I explored the theme of people power - both in relation to community energy, and the community-led housing work that I’ve been part of.
And I explored similar themes here, reflecting on the power of collective community action.
Seeking out inspiration
As I outlined above, it’s been a challenging year work-wise. I left an organisation I’d set up, and I then took some time over the summer to reflect on what to do next.
What happens now
As I mentioned in a post in November, I recently started a part-time role as a business coach, supporting social entrepreneurs across West Yorkshire.
It’s good to be back helping people to do good stuff. And with the rest of my time, I want to continue to explore how best to use my skills in ways that are helpful to people.
And, having read Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman over the Christmas holidays, I’ve decided to worry a bit less about what happens next, and focus a bit more on what happens now. Doing what I can where I am, and seeing where that takes me. But that’s something to talk about more in a future post….