The Future {Writing Tuesdays}

One hundred years ago, authors and other storytellers thought we'd have flying cars and apartments on Mars by now. How do you think the world will look 100 years from now? How long might it take for the future to really look like "the future" and why? 

I remember reading a ‘horrible histories’ book as a child all about the twentieth century. It went through the decades, summarising what had happened in each one. When it reached the millennium, it had some great illustrations of us all walking around in fridge suits because it was so warm, and being transported by jet packs and driverless cars. The Millenium was a BIG THING and we looked forward to it with excitement. Weird to think that now I work with young people who think I’m ‘well old!’ because my date of birth has a 19 in it!

The thing about the present is that it’s always just that: the present. I think our lives are more futuristic than we realise. In work we’ve made the move to “agile working,” a phrase that strikes dismay in the heart of anyone familiar with the practice of it. But in spite of all the glitches and my heavy laptop bag, the truth is that I can access a massive, highly secure system from pretty much anywhere I like. We don’t quite have iris recognition but we have clever card readers and ever-changing codes and snazzy little ultra-books.

It was a massive novelty when I sat my driving theory test 12 years ago and it was carried out using touch-screen computers. Like, genuinely exciting. Now almost everybody has a tiny touchscreen computer that is diminutively known as a ‘phone’, and certainly I’d bet that every child in this country has used one by the time they are 10 if not long before.

At work I use computers that can be operated entirely by a user’s eyes. These can be programmed to operate a whole host of other assistive technologies to open doors and curtains, to turn on lights and change the channel on TV. All by using your eyes.

Admittedly, the year of the hoverboard hasn’t quite materialised as Back to the Future promised, and we haven’t worked out how to make sure driverless cars are safe yet. But if you ask me, we are already living in pretty futuristic times!

What do you think? Are you disappointed with what the decades have brought or do you think we are already ‘futuristic’? What do you think will be the next big invention to change the way we live our lives?

“Writing Tuesdays” is the somewhat non-poetic name for a challenge I’ve set myself (and you, if you will join me) to try and write more creatively, on a wider range of topics than the ones I would usually choose. The prompts are taken from “1000 creative writing prompts” by Bryan Cohen. I write every Tuesday (next time is 31st March) and would love you to join me! The themes are moving on to times of the day, so this prompt is about the morning:

When you have a free morning, how do you take advantage of this time? How does this kind of morning differ from a morning filled with important things to do and why?

I look forward to reading your thoughts!

New in February {One Word 2015}

Another month is coming to an end already! February is the shortest but it has still whizzed past. Time to check-in and see how I'm coping with all the new-ness in my life. Here goes...

I'm still the 'new girl' at work. This is fine, but I've had to consciously make sure I still allow myself some leeway! After a couple of weeks I lost patience with myself, feeling like I should have it all sorted out by now. Half term was great on that front: time to stop and catch up with myself, reconnect with members of the team who are based all over the place, and approach the next half term with my head screwed on. I'm sure I'll still feel new next month but I'm getting there... slowly.

Pete has become the 'new boy' too- he started his new job 2 weeks ago and seems to be loving it, but it's a very sleepy household on an evening! His journey time has proved to not really be manageable in the long term which leads me onto our next new:

We are going to view a house this week, and may have a new neighbourhood to add to the list next month! The house we're looking at is not very close to where I'm working but should be doable. It is however in the middle of where I spend a lot of my time out of work, where we have quite a few friends and where our church group is moving to later in the year so I'm happy about it.

Everything is still very much in flux around these parts, and to add to that there are a few exciting crafting things coming up: tomorrow I am going to a meet-up of some crafty ladies I met in Leeds before Christmas, this time in York; and next week I'm hosting a 'crafternoon' to raise money for comic relief! I've been trying out a couple of new crafts in advance of that so will be able to share some photos soon.

How about you: What's new?

On being scared of what you know

Well, hasn’t it been a busy couple of weeks?! The Christmas rush has started early it seems and it’s a long time since my last evening in. I have a TUSAL to catch up with and feedback from the &Stitches competition, but I’ve been itching to get this post out all week so I better do some reflective writing while I feel inspired. Hopefully will get another chance this weekend!

I am an optimist. I love that old non-statistic: “most people spend most of their time worrying about things that will never happen.” I’m also guilty of falling into the ‘most people’ category occasionally.

Sometimes though, I worry about things that I’m certain are just about to happen. What if you know the situation is about to turn bad? What if you’ve been there before? At church this Sunday we were looking at the story where Jesus walks on the water. He’d sent his followers across a lake and said he’d meet them on the other side. His followers were fishermen and knew that lake like the back of their hand. They were used to sailing in the dark. So you better be sure that when they were scared, it wasn’t without good reason!

As I prepare to leave a job I love for another I can only hope to be such a blessing; as I look to the first Christmas I will ever spend away from my parents’ home; I feel like I’m sliding down an old precipice to a dark valley path. It's a path I've walked many times before. My capacity shrinks to that of a tiny Lego man, and the smallest task becomes a mountain. Sometimes it turns to a stream under the volume of tears. 

This week I’ve been following along with the SheReadsTruth ladies as they look at Thankfulness in the Bible (happy Thanksgiving for yesterday!) On Monday we looked at “giving thanks in sorrow”. I can only advise you to read it whether you have a faith or not; the whole thing is so beautiful no snippet can do it justice. This stopped me in my tracks:

You’ve sized up your grief of what was lost, what should be, or what will never be, and felt the sharp pangs of this fallen world. You’ve avoided playing a thanksgiving song because it won’t sound the same as before. But by doing so, you’re withholding one of the most precious tunes the world has ever heard—the tune of Glory.

The first time I walked that path I thought my world would end. Now I sit it out, knowing that eventually it will pass. The fight is shorter, the nights just as long and the morning a welcome relief when it finally comes.

 My challenge is to keep on identifying those amazing things I have to be thankful for. It is to acknowledge the battles I've been through and sing because of it (not in spite of it). My challenge is to step out of the safety of everything I’ve tried before (that failed) onto the choppy seas of fear, keeping my eyes on Jesus and trusting that he has power to calm the storms.

What do you do when the walls fall in?

I've always been a late starter...

I wrote this on my way to Sheffield to bring in the new year with some very good friends of mine. At the time I didn't think it warranted posting but as we begin the second month of this year already, maybe it's worth acknowledging that the old one has passed. Here goes...

So, it's the end of 2010.
I'm not really ready for this year to end I don't think, but it's ending so I guess I better get on with it. I kind of hoped I'd be ready for life by the time 2011 rolled around, but here I am still floating. So what has 2010 held for me?

January: I returned to Leeds to work on the bank, apply for jobs and live in Eden. And that's just what I did- worked lots, lived with Scot and Andy, and tried to catch up with a world that had changed almost beyond recognition when I left it in aug 09.

February: Kidz klub came around. I met this crazy American girl who shared my name. Lots of girls group events where only 'older ones' came. The Eden era ended and I moved to Ben & Hannah's house.

March: How long will I be staying? I made half-hearted attempts to find somewhere to live, but not really. I visited Kidz klub and discovered that it really was as good in real life as it looked on the video. Applied immediately and had my first week on team on matt's 21st birthday. Went on a mission to buy American foods for the occasion.

April: Easter rolled round and still no house, still no job. Decided to stay put til July- the Jones's were wonderful and continued to put up with me. Other than that I don't really remember... maybe started bible studies with Becca K? She fast became a very special friend.

May: Still working, still at Kidz klub. A growing desire to live somewhere that I could continue Kidz klub work as I got to know and love the kids in the neighbourhood more and more. My birthday=anticlimax

June: Jess & Ben got married; that day the Harehills home plan was hatched. I got an email from Pete Larkum about this project called the Challenge in London- thought I may as well apply and got the job with a week or two notice! Maj & Seb got married and moved to London, but before that I stayed with Amy r and went to their party. Oh, also stayed with JC one time- random!

July: The Challenge! Four crazy weeks in London with inner-city gangsta teens learning enterprise skills that no-one wanted. Lots of fun but I never want to live in the capital long-term. Stayed with M&S to finish.

August: Catch up month. Leah got married; M:Powered happened and I spent awesome times with Rach Munn. Worked lots to make up for 5 weeks off. Lived in ore's flat and house-hunted like crazy. Moved to Harehills!

September: by far the most ridiculous month. New housemates, weekends in London (staying with Tim & Chloe, Maj & Seb), working, Kidz klub visits, students, german. Insane.

October: back to Saturday kk with no Becca- sad! But still hectic. I did PMVA training only to find Ruth B on the same 5-day course! Ben came to stay in half term for a birthday treat then I went home. Began to settle back into weekly church attendance after months of weekend youth work.

November: Bonfire night is my favourite of the year! We went to Roundhay then had a party at ours. Space started and I'm fairly sure I broke my toe. First night shift at Parkwood. Started doing SLT for Anne franklin. Started attending intensive interaction cafe. It snowed, lots.

December: More snow, more speech therapy, more work! We gave out hampers and Kidz klub wound up. I caught flu, then stayed at brian's house for a week, all throughout 2 weeks of solid work. Came home for Christmas, dad was ill, matt trapped in Kenosha, but all came good in the end. New year in Sheffield...


Wow, who knew all that could happen in just one year! There's lots more detail that has been left out. I guess maybe I am ready for the new year now. It's been a long one but I have come full circle and I'm back to the focused position I was last year, if a little tireder and hopefully more wise. What am I looking forward to this year?

• More speech therapy, in whatever guise it presents itself.
• Building some more long-term friendships with people outside of an organised setting. Building up a network that is relationship-based.
• Weddings! Lauren, Tilley, Andy, Mike & Amy. How many more?!
• Community.
• Calling home more. Calling people more. One month I'd like to run out of minutes, just because I'm talking to people lots.
• Making time to visit people and receive visitors. Practicing hospitality.
• Loving Jesus more than I think possible at the moment!!

To-Do Lists

I have so much to do I don't even know where to start, so I'm bypassing it all and writing a blog instead. This will be more of a diary post than an insight post but hey, that is where it all began.

I'm suddenly committed to loads of things. I'm enjoying it; it's fun; but I'm beginning to feel the responsibility that I don't want to let anyone down and I'm a little bit scared that I might.

Next Sunday (that's right, ten days away) I will be travelling down to London to work for an organisation called 'The Challenge'. They take 16-yr-olds who have just done their GCSEs and set them challenges they will achieve to teach them life skills, give them confidence in themselves and get them involved in their local communities. I'm going as a Residential Mentor. On week 2 of the 3-week program they stay in a halls of residence and do workshops each day (I've been assigned to enterprise!?!?!) so I will basically do that week with a group, then come back the next week and do it with another group, 4 times over. So basically by the end I'll be great at enterprise, shattered, and as one of my colleagues said, tough as nails. Maybe. This is a rubbish explanation but have a look at the website (above) for more flashy info. But that's okay. I've sent of all my child protection stuff so now all I really have to do is go down there and do what I'm told really.

In August is M:Powered. Despite the fact I will have just done something similar four times over, I'm really excited about it this year. I'm hopefully going to be leading a small group, I'm helping write some of the bible study notes and I really want to be able to sow into the delegates that are coming this summer. Gary and I are looking at journalling in preparation and this blog might be subject to some experimentation over the next month or so, but obviously a large amount of that time will be spent in London, and I don't want to lose momentum while I'm away. Who knows, maybe I'll gain some :)

Also, I'm the 'student worker' for City Church Leeds at the moment. Currently it's just a title as there aren't really any students with which to work but come September we need to really get the ball rolling. I spoke to a girl from Fusion today who was very encouraging, but lots needs thinking about and doing and setting in place before September, and I am going to be in London for all of July (and weekends in Sept, oops) and then at M-Powered for a week of August. So time is getting squeezed.

Also, I need to live. By live I mean earn enough money to eat, travel, put a roof over my head and fund some of the other crazy things I am involved in. I qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist almost a year ago now and I'm supposed to be starting a career sometime soon. I'd like to have a home where I could unpack and use my pressure cooker and hang up my calendar and have a craft box- that's been about a year too.

I think I need a PA. Someone whose mind works in straight lines and who can plan time and motivate me and stop me procrastinating. You will be paid in endless gratitude and perhaps some tasty treats of your preference. Any applicants?

Hope and a Future

At Christmas I started writing an awesome post about what I had learned from watching 'Horton Hears a Who' one night before going to bed. I never quite finished it and just went to post it now, only to find that I'd stopped just before I said what I'd actually learned. And now I can't remember. Typical.

So... updates. I'm living in Leeds, back in 'the Eden Project' for now, until 25th February when our contract, and this magnificent era, comes to an end. Where will I stay on 26th February? I have no idea. Like, none. I have a couple of offers in Leeds, and a dream that it might be Newcastle, but in fact I just don't know. It adds to the fun.

At the minute I'm working for NHS Leeds Foundation Trust, as an assistant in Specialised Supported Living houses for adults with learning disabilities. It's the same work that I've have for the past couple of years, only this time round I really love it. Sure it's hard, but it's rewarding and I love the tenants and the staff, I love being a part of their little world for a few hours at a time. I have a job interview on Thursday 11th for an SLT job working with learning disabilities and autism in Newcastle, but if I don't get that I'm not going to rush into getting a job in a field I'm not interested in just for the sake of it- I'll work and volunteer here until the one for me turns up. The more I think about it, the outcome of this interview is a win-win situation, and I'm happy that way :)

I'm slowly building back the life that I almost destroyed last year. I think it's fair to say I was pretty depressed, and let a lot of important friendships go to waste in my stress and despair. Now I'm trying to rebuild the bridges I may have burned, to create a new life for myself in Leeds if that is what is to happen, and to leave on positive terms if that is the way forward. It's interesting, but at last I feel hopeful of the future, whatever it will bring. The Eden era is coming to an end- couple number 2 will be married by the end of this year- but an ending is only the beginning of something new, and I can't wait to see what that will be.

"Team India" gets ready to face the Big Freeze 2010