Happy New Carousel
And how the hell we are supposed to talk about 'what we do' when we contain multitudes...
A new year, a new look for our lovely Carousel.
Migrating Carousel to Substack has been on my Carousel for a while, but I’ve finally bitten the bullet thanks to a friend’s encouragement and a bit of time where I should have been doing some important admin…
If you’ve just joined - welcome, welcome.
And if you’re a long time Carouseller, thank you for still being here.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who took the time over Christmas/NY to share what Carousel means to them. I’m still getting back to everyone but I was touched to read your replies and grateful you took the time to share.
So… sleepy January brains. What is Carousel, again?
Carousel is a philosophy of life that helps multi-passionates honour the many facets of their personality and interests that they embody.
It’s a way of thinking about work in cycles and rotation, knowing we are every-changing and our whims come and go…
We’re not always going to have the same interests or priorities, but it doesn’t mean we’ve completely discarded them. Sometimes we need a break from them to help them breathe.
It’s about really noticing what is alive and going with that. Staying present to what is needed in this moment and allowing ourselves to go with that flow…
Yesterday, I was interviewed for a podcast and was able to use the Carousel analogy to answer one of my most feared questions:
‘What do you do, Sarah?’
I find this question challenging for a number of reasons but two main ones:
What is the question behind this question? What is actually being asked? How I spend my time? How I earn money? The professional qualification that I hold? What I enjoy doing? What is it you want to know?!
I know that in my answer I have a choice to make about how I present myself. I have so many different things on my Carousel and each one of them would give you a different flavour of me. Who do I want to be today? Am I the coach who works with teachers (purpose-led/public sector vibes)? Am I a musician (creative/cue:oh cool are you in a band/where do you play?) Am I the business owner? The community-creator? It can feel overwhelming to know where to start, and whatever I say, I worry that I miss out a big important part. It’s like asking to name all your friends and worrying you’ve missed someone off the list.
Recently, I’ve begun answering with…
‘‘Well, I like to think of my life like a Carousel, like a conveyer belt at the airport. Projects and interests come in and out of focus at different times. Currently at the front of my Carousel I have…’’
I find this soooo freeing. It allows me to talk about what feels most alive, which energises me and the conversation. It also acknowledges that there may be other stuff about me too, but I don’t need to rush to tell that person all in one go.
You may be reading this thinking, ‘does it really matter what we say we do?’ But to me it does. What I share about myself does keep reinforcing my identity, so I want to be careful about the image I create, not just for others, but for myself too.
So, if you feel overwhelmed with how to talk about your multi-passionate, multi-interest life, try sharing one or two things that feel alive for you AT THE MOMENT.
Unless you’re in a job interview, the point of people asking is usually to have a connecting conversation rather than to check your credentials. I used to think I had to reel off my CV: ‘‘here are the 300 projects I’ve done in the last 5 years’’ and I’d watch their eyes glaze over. No-one actually need to know this. But if we can focus on alive-ness then we can have a really beautiful conversation:
‘What do you do?’
‘Well, do you know what, recently I’ve got into cold water swimming.’
or
‘I’ve just moved house, so that’s been a big exciting project!’
or ‘I’m in a period of transition and I’m not sure what I ‘do’ at the moment. But trying to work that out is the question I’m currently holding.’
How freeing to focus on the aliveness. The truth of this moment.
That is what builds connection.
That is all for today:) A little reminder of what this is and a welcome to the new platform.
Thank you for being here, you legends.
Sarah
ps. at the front of my Carousel right now I have:
Going on holiday to Croatia to visit an old friend and go skiing for the first time since 2009. Wish me luck as last time I had to be picked up by a snow plough #growthmindset
I’ve also started a Breakfast Radio show with a friend. You can listen to yesterday’s show here. It’s a mixture of great music, funny conversations about life and a resident astrologer ‘Sarah Moany’ (spoiler alert, it me). This is also such a great example of combining Carousel interests in one go.
I’ve started a new job working 1:1 with teachers in schools as a coach. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. As an ex-teacher myself it is incredibly fulfilling and healing work. If you work in a school and know any teachers who need well-being coaching and support with overwhelm, work/life balance, general return to themselves in a very hardcore system, please get in touch at sarahweilercoaching@gmail.com
Happy New Carousel
So pleased to hear about the new role coaching teachers. I am sure they must be feeling overwhelmed with all the extra ‘social problem holding and supporting’ they have to do post pandemic. And negotiating young people coming out the other side worrying about exams and missed work must be a pressure on top of teaching the current lessons.
You will be an amazing support and guide through it with your background. Well done for landing that one! You are awesome in your collective skills!