Newsletter Eight - October 2018 to March 2019

Quality silence and time

"Quality of life" would be a fair shorthand for this six months.

We arrived in Portugal mid-November.

Life here feels great. We are keeping it simple: more time outside, more sunlight, frequent trips to the ocean.

Work has been in good chunks, and there has been quality time for other things too. Cycling, reading, cooking, appreciating, living...

Highlights

30 days of silence sounds daunting to most people. That is wise of them. In October, I accompanied three people through very diverse journeys; Beuno’s in all weathers, literal and metaphorical. 

Our team of four guides met every day throughout the retreat, to keep our focus and strengthen each other. This was precious and important.

I was back again in March for 12 days to work on the Spiritual Exercises in Stages- this makes it possible for people to do the Long Retreat in chunks, if they cannot commit 30 days at a stretch. For practical reasons, I’ll be doing these Stages retreats more than the ‘Full Whammy’ in future.

I ran two Listening workshops in January. We had snow on the Mersey for the ICE workshop, aptly!

The second Module of our Irish/ British/ Flemish Ignatian Leadership Programme took place in stunning Minsteracres, Co. Durham (photo above) in January.

Interpersonal leadership is a topic that revives tough first-hand experiences. We all gained a lot, mainly because everyone was so generous with their struggles as well as their good ideas. 

Milestones

  1. Writing  I’ve never written two commissioned articles in 6 months before. Writing doesn’t come easily, so it’s been bracing to push myself. 
  2. Proposals  And on the subject of writing- I’ve been approached to submit two proposals over the last month, for significant ongoing pieces of work. Until now, all my work generated spontaneously, so it’s been a good challenge, being asked to bid for work rather than being handed it on a plate. I bid for one and said no to the other (milestone 2b!). 
  3. Podcast Guest  The gym trainers I ran a workshop for back in 2016 invited me on to their nutrition podcast, to bring a coach’s perspective on why we struggle so much to stick with our good resolutions (about diet, or exercise, or life goals more generally). I thought I’d be nervous but actually found it huge fun.

What I'm learning

Switch off. I have been falling into habits of “not-quite-working”; rather like a doctoral student mid-thesis, whose work always hums along in the background. The radar never cleared. Portugal has changed this for me.

Switching off properly is definitely improving my quality of attention, both out of work and in it. I’m reading more around work too, and that’s been really nourishing.

Gratitude has heft. Writing an article on gratitude nudged me into keeping a Gratitude Journal. 

    This has been a bit of a revelation. It’s not at all fluffy or Pollyanna-ish. It’s illuminating and sometimes a shock. I’d highly recommend it.

    What's next?

    Module 3 of our leadership programme is running in the Basque country in July, exploring organisational leadership. Immediately after that it’s Year 1 of our new 3-year retreat guides’ training course in China. Interviews are happening this month in Beijing, where 30 participants will be selected. Then the huge task of materials design and translation begins… 

    I’ll be guiding on three silent retreats in the coming 6 months, one for a new client. And as always, coaching continues to be a core element. At the moment it’s all leadership coaching, but there are some different clients hovering too. 

    I’m in the middle of three big conversations about leadership- no concrete plans yet, but this does seem to be where my freelance career is tending. Our world is in dire need of increasingly skilful and emotionally intelligent leaders. It can be lonely, daunting and thankless. Resourcing and supporting heartfelt leaders is vital work.

    In mid-May, we move back to the UK from Portugal. With all that’s happening politically, I’m expecting a bit of reverse culture shock. Whatever transpires, I’m so grateful for my Irish passport!

    Thank you for reading!