A Year in Review - in between and around the edges

I recently wrote blogposts celebrating both my jobs (at Stories and at Birch) by sharing their respective annual reports. To say 'both my jobs' is of course a bit of an oversimplification. It would be fair to say that my work is so much more than a job: it is a vocation, and a way of life. It fills a large proportion of both my time and my headspace. It is where I expend much of my energy and is the source of much of my joy. It gives me much of my sense of community and belonging, and is the source of many of my most precious friendships. There are significant blurred boundaries between what might be called work and what might not. Despite the challenges that presents, I would not want it any other way.

But for all that, it is still not all of what I do and who I am. This year I have made a concerted effort to restore a bit of balance. There is obviously no annual report to reflect 'all the other stuff', but I figured there could still be a blogpost on the subject, and while early November isn't, perhaps, the most standard 'year end' at which to look back, it'll do.

It is no secret that, for all its flaws and failings, I love Birmingham, the place I call home. I love its rich diversity and constant busy-ness. That doesn't change the fact that I have also learned to value opportunities to get away: even for a few hours, but ideally for a few days. This year's trips have taken me to opposite ends of the country with a trip to Dorchester and Weymouth in March with my mum, and then to Staithes, North Yorkshire in September with my mum and sister. Between the two, I had a week on the North Coast of Wales in June with some of my closest friends including three high-energy children, and a few somewhat more sedate days with my aunt and uncle in York in August. Greenbelt has already had it's own separate post, and Pilgrim Cross, which I walked again in Holy Week, probably should have done too. There have been weekend breaks and days out in the mix too. Each of these trips has been different, each in their own way has provided space to step away from my everyday, and each has had great value. And at the end of them I have come back: to a house and a city that feels like a home, a privilege I also know not to take for granted.

I have done plenty of walking, and while the purpose is often, but not always, to get from A to B, it is also something I consciously enjoy. I have walked on city streets and in hidden corners of beauty, as well as out in the countryside; I have walked beneath bright sunshine, pouring rain, and dark night skies; I have walked both with others and alone. Having walking as one of my main modes of transport remains an important safety valve in not overfilling my days and regularly getting both some fresh air and some exercise. I have been out on my bike, at least a few times, though not perhaps as often as I should. I even went running, just the once, taking part in the Birmingham Unity 5k, which I enjoyed more than I had perhaps anticipated. I think its unlikely I'll take it up regularly, but you never know!

Friends and family continue to play a hugely significant role in bringing me joy and keeping me sane. More than any other area of life, this is the point of overlap between "work" and "other" as so many of those who make up my communities, friendships and chosen family overlap with those I support through my work. I wrote a post earlier in the year about the balancing act of maintaining the many relationships that really matter to me and while I will never, probably, always get it right, I am incredibly grateful to the very many different people who in all sorts of ways immeasurably enrich my life. I am grateful for the fact that I get to be part of genuinely multi-cultural and multi-generational communities: that I share life with people of all ages, from all over the world. I am grateful for those I see frequently and those I don't get the chance to catch up with often; those I have known almost for ever and those who have walked into my life more recently; those I have eaten delicious food with, had good conversations with, shared adventures with, drunk cups of tea with, sat around in my pyjamas with; those who have shared my highs and lows, who I know I can cry and can laugh with, those I know will be there with and for me.

My pottery journey has been well documented on my blog over the past year, and while it probably therefore doesn't need more words here, it has certainly been a really positive addition to my quest for self-care. There have been other bits of arts and crafts too, though not perhaps as much as I sometimes wish. I have already, two months out from the end of the year, written more blog posts than in 2025, and there have been a few other bits and pieces of writing as well. I know that I value creativity as a way to process, reflect and relax and I am continuing to work on ways of building it into my life, with varying degrees of success.

I am continuing to wrestle with the place of church and prayer and faith in my life, and am not satisfied I have currently got it quite right. I would describe my church attendance as sporadic at best: and while I am glad to have made a loose connection with my local church, I am unconvinced that increasing its regularity would give me what I am looking for. For many years, at Carrs Lane and before, I was committed to a routine of daily prayer, and while I have made sporadic attempts since moving on, I don't feel I have really found a sustainable way to put it back into the rhythm of my days. Our regular zoom bible study which I had participated in weekly (and towards the end monthly) for several years has now come to an end and while it felt right to draw that chapter to a close, I haven't found anything to replace it. It is many years since I have experienced 'retreat' in quite the way trips to Taize used to offer it in earlier times. There are, certainly, plenty of snippets of reflection in my life, but I am conscious of an ongoing search too.

Something I have learned about building in balance is that while it is sometimes about the big decisions, it is more often about the tiny things. My doodle a day and haiku a day challenges earlier in the year recognised that and were part of trying to build positive creative habits. With that in mind, I recently put together a list of "everyday tasks": things I would aspire to do each day; things I know, ideally, I want as part of my routine. 

• Connect with a friend (or family)
• Eat something healthy
• Go outside, even when it rains
• Do something creative, however small
• Complete one task, and tick it off a list
• Tidy or clean one thing, even when it feels like a drop in the ocean
• Have (intentional) time away from screens

There's a copy of the list in the front of my notebook, and another on the wall by my desk. I haven't done them all every day; but it was never intended to be about adding more pressure or feeling guilty for the days I don't: and it has acted as a helpful prompt to do many of them, most days. 

There is probably plenty more to say, but this post is also probably plenty long enough already, so that'll do.