Week 37: forgiveness and new energy

Forgive me father, it’s been 258 days since my last weeknote. It’s bad, very bad. There’s something about the name weeknotes isn’t there, when you stop writing it’s maybe even worse? Hey ho. My last weeknote was in fact at the end of 2024. I outlined my 2025 plans as:

I was lucky enough to go on a 3 month sabbatical with my partner in February, March and April. It’s hard to summarise and already feels like an age ago. The bulk of the trip was in Japan, which I find a fascinating and bonkers country. I’m slightly obsessed and for anyone who is keen to go, just do it - it will not disappoint. It was my second time - and I think I can say it’s a country of real depth. We spent two months there and still barely scratched the surface. There are many, many things to do - of all descriptions.

Snowshoeing in Sapporo, JapanSnowshoeing in Sapporo, Japan

We also spent some time in New Zealand (also a second visit) but interestingly this didn’t feel as exciting as the first time. I did manage to see some family in Auckland though which was lovely. A little stint in South Korea too - of which we weren’t big fans (hard not to compare to Japan) and also a week in Bangkok, a place I love.

Some new energy at work

I returned to work and found some new energy - I think helped mostly by two new nurses who’d joined whilst I’d been away. Also - and I think this is probably one of the best arguments for a sabbatical - some distance and time away gave some real time to think and just appreciate the role of work in my life.

I think there is something nice when new staff join. You see your organisation, your mission and your role through fresh eyes. A less cynical, jaded perspective which is sometimes hard to get back to when you’ve been somewhere for a long time. It helps when the new people are great. Which they both are.

There is also a bit of an appetite to write which is nice. I also got quite motivated re-reading my very first weeknote. It’s quite meta reading that because it’s very existence is the reason to keep doing it. It is the perfect example of Giles’ definition of a blog…

A blog is your brain, over time… on the internet

It’s been a while since we were writing and thinking out loud as an organisation. We tried, but I think just ran into too many roadblocks. But new blood calls for a new attempt and I’m hoping we can think of some new ways to do proper open working. I really believe in it’s value, and I’m hoping Giles can help us!

So, here’s to new energy and some more weeknotes (and maybe teamnotes) to come!