Carousel is ONE: on surrendering to rest, solidarity in sharing and I'm on John Williams' podcast!
Hello Carousellers,
Welcome back after a looooong summer break and hello to all the new subscribers, some of who came to the first LIVE Carousel Workshops in the Spring.
Carousel is now 1 year old!
For those of you who don't quite know how you found yourselves here, Carousel is about honouring our ever-changing needs and motivations, being honest about what is lighting you up RIGHT NOW, and then trusting the other stuff will come around again.
It's about being in flow with your projects, knowing when to let go, and being comfortable with putting things on hold (like I did with this newsletter for a few months).
What now?
In some ways it's never felt more important to be asking what truly lights us up. As we all re-emerge to 'normality', and with every experience that we do again for the first time, we’re getting to look at it with fresh eyes. Is this still what I want in my life? Does this still make sense for me?
I went to Shoreditch last week to a co-working space and felt like I was a tourist in my old life. I couldn’t compute how I had existed in this world of hustling start-ups, fast-paced work, back-to-back coffees, and churning out emails bam bam bam. I walked through the streets and felt totally disconnected. I have changed. The world has changed.
I find myself asking a lot of questions at the moment. What is this all for? What am I contributing? Where should I live? Should I still be running an in-person ukulele business? If so how do we make it Covid safe? Should I move to Spain? What if I get locked down there? All of these questions have been really frazzling my brain.
And then last week I just had to stop.
For those of you who know my Quitting Quadrant model, when we’re in BURNOUT we can either choose RESTORE, or it chooses us. I experienced the latter. On Wednesday afternoon I got into bed and didn’t get out until Sunday morning. I had to cancel everything: meetings, a weekend walking in Dorset, my first live performance since the pandemic. All of it. Adiós. Despite initially fighting it, there is such a sweet sense of peace that emerges when you fully give in to needing to rest. I turned off my phone and spent the whole of Sunday sitting in the garden, reading a book for the first time in months.
I finally read Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert, which felt timely as it’s written in the year she turns 35, which I also turned last month. I couldn’t help thinking though that while she spent her Autumn in Italy, her Spring in India and Summer in Bali, that I have spent most of my last year in South London. What would my version of then book be called? Work, Zoom, Anxiety? Maybe not such the best-seller. I mentioned to a friend how different my 34th year had been from Liz’s and she said, you’ve been on an inner journey, my dear. Well yes, in the bloody house, mate.
I have woken up on this Monday morning feeling so much brighter for having had enough sleep. I still don't know what I'm doing long term, but feeling more able to take it a day at a time. It's funny - nothing has changed, I still have uncertainty over work, projects, income, where I'm living. But I know I don't need to decide them today.
Weathering the storm in Cornwall last month... and my current mental state
My Blog: Solidarity in Sadness
How honest are you with trusted friends about what you're experiencing right now? This is my 2 minute blog post about the huge relief in being able to share the lows with trusted people.
THINGS TO LISTEN, READ and PONDER...
1. Ideas Lab with John Williams and... me!
This first podcast is quite exciting. Back in 2012 I wasn't long out of full time teaching and was on The Big Search for what I wanted to do with my life. John Williams introduced me to the idea that I could earn money from projects I loved. At the time I was working full time but I drew a sketch of how my ideal day would look like and the kind of projects I could be doing. And now, 8 years later I am a guest on his podcast and I'm featured in his 10 year anniversary of the book. It felt like such an important moment to pause and celebrate how much has changed. Thank you, John!
2. How to Fail with Elizabeth Day with Glennon Doyle
You know I bloody love this podcast and Glennon Doyle (bestselling author of Untamed) is such a dream. I love how she reminds us that if you're sensitive enough to be able to create, then you can't suddenly expect yourself to be insensitive to feedback.
3. Nisha Moodley - Allowing for the Creativity Gap
This podcast was amazing. When we have a creative idea, we are always going to be able to visualise it at its best. But at the start it won't look/sound/feel like that at all. This makes it very vulnerable to start, knowing how good it could be: This is the Creativity Gap.
4. Power Couple Podcast - On Boundaries
I've recommended this podcast episode to so many people! An amazing talk through how to have good boundaries with yourself and others. It's specifically talking about the dating process, but I would say have a listen whatever your relationship status. Mind-blowing and instant shifts! Make a cup of tea and grab a notebook - you're going to want to note this stuff down!
5. Oliver Burkeman: the eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life
This has done the rounds a bit now, but well worth a read. Very grounding.
6. Playlist joy
'Can you put together a playlist of that lovely music, but where I won't get distracted by the words?' SURE.
What's on my Carousel?
Appropriately falling in and out of commitment with my Quitting book (a chapter in itself), designing workshops for Tiney, putting Power of Uke online for Google (with cool activities like 'What are your Chord Values?' yep, I hate me too) and some lovely new coaching clients.
If you'd like to work through your own Carousel you can watch a video here.
If you'd like a complimentary 1:1 coaching session you can book yourself in here.
I'd love to hear what is on your Carousel at the moment and what resonated from this newsletter.
Until next time,
Sarah x