Its strange to think that exactly a year ago I was in London, having an appraisal for my then job and although I knew I was leaving it was a couple of months away. Little did I know that this would be my last day in the office and the last time I would see my former colleagues, as was to become the norm for many over the past year my leaving was marked by a Zoom event. While there is absolutely no getting away from the devastation the pandemic has and continues to cause, this last year has also allowed many of us the time to see things differently and to step back and reassess. So for me this is what the last year has taught me.
- Although stepping away from a regular job with a regular income to setting up my own business was scary and became even more so when I realised I would be doing this during a pandemic; it has been absolutely the best thing I could have done. The joy of running a business on my terms, in the way I want to run business and the positive feedback I have had from clients has been amazing. Clearly things have been different but what has been especially great has been the amazing network of women who have put me forward as an option to their clients and who have without doubt helped me grow my business. This women-wide-web is fantastic.
- The time to just be, with no pressure to do anything else because frankly I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere, has been something I have been very fortunate to enjoy. That’s not to say I don’t like company because I do (although I am quite picky), but my hobbies of reading, gardening, walking, bird watching, photography and craft all absorb me. Its made me realise how important this is because at any stage of life we may encounter solitude or enforced restrictions, planned or unplanned and having a range of things that make you happy are key. This year has reminded me how important it is to know what, other than work, makes you tick.
- Life can throw a sucker punch. The loss of a close family member too young and too early has reminded me that we never know what is around the corner and we really must live to the full. Because for those left behind the memories that have been made are precious mementos, that support them through the challenging times ahead. I am in awe of the bravery and resilience of my sister-in-law and my nephew and nieces who have learnt the hardest lesson of life, to loose the one you love so much.
- It is worth spending a little time with Apps like Ziffit. I have read a lot of books over the last year, some I will read many times over but others I have enjoyed but they won’t end up on my shelf. Normally these would pass to charity shops but not an option currently. That’s when I discovered the donate option on Ziffit (and I sure many of the other similar apps). I scan the books, the pennies add up. I deposit the boxed books at the collection point and the donation goes to a local charity. Now most of the books get very little but this is a modern way to look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves and even small donations can and are a lifeline to charities. So for very little effort my books get a new home and the local animal charity can buy a bit more food, win, win.
- Community matters; but lets be honest how many of us took much of what was happening locally for granted. Indeed many of us may have even ignored local small shops etc as we rushed through life. But lets be honest where, when we have been allowed, over the last year has been our first port of call. Which shops did we become dependent on for food or small treats. Having been literally local for the last year I have really got to know the local businesses. The pub that has brought us a weekly meal, the bookshop that has delivered on their bike, the food shops which have provided small treats when nothing else was open, the garden nurseries which become like a virtual sweetshop of gaudy loveliness, the garden which opened for mothering Sunday (just a chance to go somewhere safely); these people make where I live special and least we forget when everything starts to reopen, they were there for us and we need to be there to help them recover.
- I genuinely hope flexible working is here to stay. The big disadvantage of more normal life returning will be some need to travel for work but equally an acknowledgement from business that not everything needs to be done in the office. It will be different for different people but no longer can business use the excuse that these office based jobs can’t really be done from home; they clearly can.
- Access to green space is vital, too much housing particularly in cities is built with little or no access to an outside space. This needs to change and open space needs to become a requirement for building permission. As cities and towns adjust to their next phases it would be great if more could consider converting disused shopping areas into a mixture of living and working, as well as green space as is being considered for Broadmarsh in Nottingham.
- Constant negativity is energy sapping. In this technological age it is very easy to communicate. Sadly human nature seems to be geared to finding the worst in everything (the glass being very much half empty). Every headline is dramatic. Every comment is pithy. I have stepped back, actively not looking at media and social media and I find myself much happier.
- I am lucky to have someone very special in my life and despite being in the same space 24/7 for a year we haven’t killed each other; that is definitely a result.
Looking onto the Marshes 