What was on your Carousel in 2022? Some of end of year prompts and learnings...
Evening Carouseller,
So we come to the end of the year...
I had a week of festive outings planned in London, but last night my entire body went 'it's time to go back to Devon! Now!' So I'm on a delayed Great Western back to Exeter to hunker down until 2023. I can't wait.
This train-written (hopefully not train-wreck) of a newsletter is a chance to reflect on a year of Carousel living: what's been alive on my Carousel, what I've let go of, and what Carousel-shaped learnings have come out of it.
Perhaps you'd like to grab a cuppa and think about your year too.
Perhaps you are REFLECTED OUT.
Either way, here goes...
What was on your Carousel this year? (Write down anything that felt alive, that took energy, time, headspace, inspiration)
Running the Sunday Assembly choir and playing in the band (including at Wilderness)
Getting into cold water swimming
Launching my Knowing When to Quit podcast
Moving into my own flat
Playing the piano for musical improv groups
Exploring getting a full time job and going through to interview stage at a big firm
Power of Uke workshops for Google sprints and PwC leadership retreats
Doing my coaching certification with Co-Active Training Institute
Facilitating on the Circl Leader as Coach programme
Running Big Bloom Hackathons for Good
Running a singing retreat in Devon with Jenna
DJing at festivals, weddings and birthday parties
Starting a Breakfast Radio Show
Doing 1:1 coaching with teachers
Flamenco classes
Day of Musical Joy
What did you quit, let go of or say goodbye to this year?Running workshops alone - I nearly quit Power of Uke completely, but instead decided I just needed to change the way I was doing it
Living with housemates
Both my Grandmothers
Feeling that I’m not a real person unless I work in a corporate firm (!!!)
Relationships that did not feel right
Being a classroom teacher. NO THANK YOU. Line drawn.
Holding back from speaking up when things don't feel right.
The online moon ceremonies (with a beautiful ending to mark this).
What are 3 things that have made a difference to enjoying your Carousel life this year?
Living walking distance from open water swimming / looking at water / panoramic views of London
Buying a bigger bag (sounds silly, but I feel so much more relaxed now I have room for all my belongings as I go between different events on my Carousel!).
Doing work that feels purposeful - getting back into the Education Sector, which was my one true love back in 2008-13
What has this year taught me about Carousel life?
Carousel life is never a boring path, but don’t expect it to be free of hardship. There is no perfect formula, because we are ever changing beings. There will be times when the variety feels dreamy and flowy and times when it’s simply overwhelming. There will be times when you need to scatter your interest seeds across a metaphorical field of fertile land, wondering which ones will grow. There will be times when you just want to pull the plug on them all and hunker down for some simplicity on one solo thing. Remember that Carousel life doesn’t mean that you’re always working on many projects at once - it just means that we honour what feels alive (and that, often, that changes regularly). But if one thing feels very alive for a long time, follow that unapologetically! No rules. You decide. Follow the joy crumbs.
As you search for the perfect level of busyness, remember that is also an every-changing beast. There will be times when work is thinner and when it’s more vibrant, and that may not always match up perfectly with exactly what you need. You’ll find yourself with weeks of empty diary pages at at time when you’re raring to go, and then suddenly the commitments will pile up when you’re ready for a holiday. Embrace the need for flexibility and know there is no perfect set-up because you are going to need different things in different weeks. And the fact that you work intuitively with your energy levels and cycles is a huge gift to you and the people you interact with (I'm saying this to myself, and all of you who carousel - yes, it's a verb.)
With that in mind, one of the big re-learnings for me this year (because it is an annual reoffender) is to leave s p a c e. Leave space for flexibility. Leave space for being ill. Leave space for serendipity. Leave space so you don’t have to rush your dinner. Leave space for unexpected requests that are a FULL BODY YES. Leave space for quality. Leave space for going to visit new kittens. Leave space for catching up on sleep. Leave space to learn how to play Let it Go on the piano (you’ll need more space than you think because it's in a horrible key). Leave space for the week after Glastonbury. Leave space for the week after. the week after. Leave space to binge the Traitors. Leave space for romance. Leave space for breakups. Leave space to watch the sunset. Leave space to decide whether you want to say yes. Leave space and don't fill it. Leave it!! I find leaving space so hard - both because I see the space as threatening (and don’t trust that I will continue to create from it) and also because I totally underestimate just how much I need, or indeed will want. So here it is, once more with feeling, LEAVE SPACE.
Thank you so much for being on this newsletter this year. It’s gone from being every few months to weekly. I’ve put the Carousel to the front of the Carousel.
I was talking to my coach today about this newsletter, changing the word ‘small’ to ‘intimate’. There are 219 people on this list (possibly has gone down this year). If I had 20,000 it may feel more ‘successful’ but would it feel as satisfying? With Carousel this small I can actually reply to the people who write to me, and can keep honouring my values of connection and community. I know my good friend Kim Willis has been sharing about the power of small in her new newsletter community (Where We Grow).
My ask to you, lovely reader, is to reply now and tell me, what do you get out of reading Carousel? What has resonated this year? What would you like to share about your Carousel life? I would love to know and hear the voices of the people who read this.
And if you have any requests for the new year of things you’d like to hear more/less about, I’d love to know that too.
Big hugs and warm winteryness to you,
Sarah x