Creative Creatures

What defines you?
Who you are. Or what you do...

Being defined by what you do might be a helpful shorthand, but it's limiting.

Each of us has SO much more to bring to the team table than our functional skills.

I know finance people who are great at selling a vision by telling compelling stories.

And often executive assistants bring the brightest ideas to brainstorming sessions.

Imagine if they'd remained tied to the remit of their roles?

The teams we work with (and the tasks we work on) deserve to benefit from every ounce of magic we are able to bring!

Sometimes the irony of a situation hits you right in the face!
This was one of those moments...

My daughter is ill. Today is her third day at home.

Fortunately she is very rarely ill.

And fortunately I run my own business. So unless I'm faced with a pressing client-led deadline, I can decide how to spend my time (which this week is with her...)

Being ill can feel exciting. At least at first. You get to stay at home, in your pyjamas, snuggling under the duvet (my daughter and I both!)

The usual norms fall by the wayside.
Chocolate for breakfast? Yes! It's good for the throat.
iPad before noon? Of course! Why not?!

But it very quickly becomes boring and you have to think of things to do. And when you're ill, the scope is pretty limited. So you need to be creative.

My daughter loves it when I tell her stories from when she was a baby.
And because she is born in the digital age, many of these stories are captured visually, and not just in my mind.

Flicking through my phone looking at photos from her first year of life, we found this one.

Sunna is learning to read, so she asked: "What does PRIORITY mean?"

How ironic!

I couldn't help laughing, but then said: "Priority is what we're doing right now... sitting here focusing on getting better."

I've always found prioritising difficult. I want to do it all!
But when you don't have a choice, it suddenly becomes easy.

Ironically, being stuck at home with a sick child also creates a strange sense of freedom...

Freedom to focus on what's important.
Freedom to block everything else out and be fully present in the moment.
Freedom to let first things come first.

Work wise, this week will be a wipe out. The priorities on the To Do list have all been relegated... ready for a roll-over across to next week.

And right now?

I'm prioritising writing this whilst Sunna is sleeping soundly next to me :-)

Do you know what the sunset tastes like?

Neither did I…Until the other day after dinner when my daughter said: “Let’s eat the sunset!

Eating the sunset feels as magical as it sounds
As magical as the life-loving mind of my 7-year-old.

I love her spontaneous spur-of-the-moment ideas.
And I do my best to create space to help make them happen.

Whenever creativity knocks at your door, don’t knock it down.
Instead invite it in and let the magic happen!
(even if it pops up at the ‘wrong’ moments, like bedtime!).

I am FREE!! Do you want to marry me?!?

Today I celebrate my 1st anniversary of freedom...

On June 8th 2020, I finally closed the deal to buy out my business partner. More than 10 years of collaboration had sadly ended in a dispute we couldn't seem to resolve.

After 18 months of lawyer-led negotiations, each signature I wrote on the pages of the settlement agreement felt like a huge sigh of relief.

Plenty of corks popped that day!
And the joys of my newfound singledom lasted well into the summer.

But then the questions started to arise...
• What now? What next?
• Can I build this business by myself? And do I want to?
• Will I ever find another partner?
• And if I do, how can I trust my choice this time round?
• Will I trust them? Or will the ghosts of the past always linger?

Questions, questions, questions... all spinning around in my head. With no clear-cut answers.

Fortunately, the forced introspection of the Covid-months felt like a good time to mull things over. Let the thoughts marinate.

Today, a year on, I still don't have the answers...
The ONLY thing I know is that even when I feel alone, I'm not alone!

Thank you Mauro, Jacob, Lee, Gaal, Richard, Pani, Jindy, Nanna, Laura, Helen, Anita, Kamal, Jos, Nick, Sarah, Fabiana, Mariana, Ale and Rich - you are the real stars in this collaborative constellation that helps my business shine brightly!

PS: Could you be my new business partner? Or might you know any suitable suitors? Then send me a message or send them my way!

Do you believe this statement is true? Why? Why not?