Weeknote: Week 30 2024
22-26 July 2024
Welcome to my first weeknote. I’m trying out weeknotes as another experiment supporting my desire to write more and ‘learn in public’, for similar reasons as to why I started a digital garden, to:
“help me write more and overcome my perfectionism and the pressure to share only perfect, polished, complete articles
help me reflect on my thinking, turn the kaleidoscope and spot patterns in and across the threads I am inquiring into
create a space where I can learn in public, inviting conversation with you about my curiosities!”
I’m planning not to limit myself to a strict structure, but to focus mostly on my work, with some outside-of-work activities and curiosities peppered in. I want to understand, nurture and share a more kaleidoscopic offering of who I am, honouring my multiplicity and the various threads I have been weaving together in recent years.
What happened this week
I had a 3-day working week this week as I took some time off to visit my good friend Tóra in the Faroe Islands. It was lovely getting outside into nature, balancing piles of pebbles on the beach and feeling awe-struck at the sight of puffins playing and putting on a show for us.
At my main work, the School of System Change, I had my mid-year review line management meeting on Monday - which was a nice way to start the week. My line manager and I discussed the progress I have made on my 2024 goals so far; what I’m most proud of; any blockers or challenges I experienced in reaching my goals; and my personal development & learning plan and progress. My goals for this year include co-developing and implement the 2024 School comms plan; developing a comms handbook; developing digital marketing analytics skills; and delivering course production responsibilities, which I started almost a year ago in August 2023.
I also facilitated our weekly team meeting, welcoming people in gently with The Blue Ghost / Shedding Qliphoth by maudlin of the Well. We checked in by answering, ‘How are you arriving? What is something you have touched or felt recently that made you feel a certain way?’ Mine was wool.
This week was my seventh week working with a new freelance client, providing communications support during a merger process between two charities. Today I focused on writing and editing newsletter content, ensuring consistency across the different stories of language and tone of voice. As well as doing some research into platforms that could help the team with agile workflow planning (one of my recent nerdy interests).
Finally, this week I completed a brilliant 8-week course, Queer Regenerative Design, hosted by the amazing Toad and Guy from PermaQueer. I’m still processing all the learnings and content and hope to share my reflections and insights soon.
What’s been sparking my curiosity and/or joy
Personal Canon by Celine Nguyen. This is “a newsletter about trying to live a meaningful, intellectually engaged, self-actualized life.” For people that “have an urgent, unstoppable desire to keep on learning, making, and growing.” In particular, I have enjoyed research as leisure activity (see my comment about ‘kaleidoscoping’) and how to change your life, part 1: l.a. paul's transformative experience due to the essay’s focus on queerness.
Kaleidoscopes - my new obsession. I like the metaphor of a kaleidscope as seeing and understanding the world, or perhaps as systems change as a mindset and lens. Thoughts still evolving on this one.
Writing. How I can cultivate a writing practice that works for me?
Communications and systems change. How can I bring a more systemic approach to my communications work? What are others thinking about in this space? Where are they? What is the role of communications in systems change?
This Algorhythm remix of Hella Good by No Doubt. I can’t decide if I love or hate it.
Knitting. Another hobby I’d like to start but will likely give up within a month.
Thanks for reading! If you have any feedback or comments, I’d love to hear from you.
Please accept this gift of Hope Tala’s heavenly music to help you transition into a joyful, restful weekend.
Mairi