2024 – How is it going so far….?

So I actually managed to switch off for a couple of weeks at the end of the year. Caught up with friends and family, took instruction on how to update website and post blogs read books and to re-stock for the coming year.. Naievely I had hoped that we might collectively rediscover kindness and whilst accepting it’s still early days the escalating crisis in the middle east, ongoing war in Ukraine and the unending political uncertainty in UK doesn’t fill me confidence. We were visited by our former guest from Ukraine who lived with us during 2022/3 and subsequently re-located to Warsaw. An inspiring woman who has seen and lived through far too much trauma for someone of their age

Anyway here are some things that have interested me most so far:

Music – my turntable has continued to largely dominated by Adrianne Lenker & seperately Big Thief. Intoxicating stuff that gets better the more I play them. Also looking forward to new albums by Jane Weaver and Nadine Shah.

TV – obviously Mr Bates versus the Post Office brought to life a scandal that’s 25 years old and was first broken by Computer Weekly. Another example of how the ‘state’ can be dismissive of the lives of ‘ordinary people’ until they’re backed into a corner by weight of public opinion and a looming election. Optimistically let’s hope that the speed with which resolution is now promised can be applied to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Books – Read ‘Killing Thatcher’ which went into forensic detail about the planning behind the 1984 bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton which was shortly before I moved there. I have just read (belatedly I’m sure) Nova Reid’s book ‘The Good Ally’. Would recommend to anyone working in an organisation thinking about it’s role in anti-racism. It’s an uncomfortable and challenging read – as it’s meant to be. But I am struck with the approach of ‘calling you in’ to be part of the change rather than ‘calling you out’ for your words, behaviours and beliefs.

The approach of ‘calling in’ is one I am going to try and remember – especially in the toxic world of social media and performative politics.

Work – have had the opportunity to take some time to think quite deeply about a couple of engagements that I am due to complete in the coming weeks. Always a funny time – when you are desperate for the ‘finished product’ to deliver what you’ve promised, to be useful and make a difference whilst mourning the ‘end’ of the engagement.