Encourage-spent
Taking a Break
This is a post about slowing down, taking stock, and stopping for a while. It is a reminder to myself that even when your ‘thing’ is part-time, or something of a side-project, you are allowed to take a break.
What do you do?
It is one of those questions.
At its best, it is curiosity spoken out loud … it is a genuine inquiry, an invitation to share a little of who you are.
And yet, there are simmering undercurrents of a more specific question … how do I place you (measure you, judge you, rate you, value you), matched to perceptions/societal norms/expectations?
I come across this often in the conversations that emerge in the Encouragement Sessions.
What do I say when folk ask me what I do?
If someone asks me in France where we live I reply,
Je suis a la retraite
“I am retired” … that’s loaded down with baggage, isn’t it? It simmers with undercurrents of things being over … it nags away at ‘worth’ in the way modern society measures it … it pricks the conscience of someone who did okay in the world of work, who ‘achieved’ stuff in the measurable ways that these things are totted up to the satisfaction of anyone who sets themselves up to judge.
Sometimes, even if you are a glass-half-full encourager, the baggage can weigh heavier than it should. You push yourself to do MORE, to demonstrate that you still have SOMETHING TO OFFER. You book meetings and speaking engagements because they are purposeful, a counter to misplaced perceptions of what retirement means.
My ‘Something to Offer’ beyond the traditional world of work is this, the Encouragement Manifesto and all that flows from it.
There is the Manifesto itself.
We have words that folk have written for us about the values at the heart of the Manifesto (and an aspiration to gather more):
Your Words, Gifted
Four years ago we gathered up the values that had underpinned our coffee shop/deli to create the Encouragement Manifesto. We wondered if they might strike a chord with others so we invited some folk to write about the value that most resonated with them
And we have the Encouragement Sessions.
Don't Take Our Word For It
We host something we call the Encouragement Sessions. They’re one-hour Zoom calls, one-to-one, conversations built upon positivity and enthusiasm.
There have been over 200 Encouragement Sessions since I started offering them in 2021 as a way of helping people take stock in a post-pandemic world.
This year, there have been 36 calls, with another booked in next week.
These mentoring conversations are open to all. They are free at the point of use. One-hour Zoom calls to anywhere in the world, with anyone who asks, with the simple aim of lifting folk up. They are conversations about change, transition, and creativity. We talk about ideas, persistence, projects, and dreams. I listen and respond. I add energy, positivity, enthusiasm, and my own experience to the trust that people give me. It takes a huge amount of courage for folk to make the calls so they get my full attention, concentration, and focus. We cover a lot of ground. I take on some of the burdens folk carry because we all need a hand when the journey gets tough.
Barrie
Next week’s call will be the last one of 2024. I’m putting my hand up and saying out loud that I am tired. To make the Sessions valuable, I need to be at the top of my game, brimful of positive energy.
So, I am taking a break to recharge.
Taking a break will give me a chance to explore where I take the Encouragement Manifesto. Ideas simmering just below the surface:
A 10-part podcast series, each episode focusing on one of the values of the Manifesto. I’d like to include interviews to connect with folk who share the values and who are encouragers at heart.
Encouragement Sessions in January 2025 (get in touch to book in).
A book about the ideas and lessons that have emerged from 200 encouraging conversations.
Moving the words we gathered in 2020 from our website to this space.
Inviting more contributions to the ‘Gift of Words’ series.
Seek out speaking engagements that offer opportunities to host encouragement sessions in person:
On the Trail of Encouragement
We were asked to speak about the Encouragement Manifesto at an amazing trail running and music festival called Love Trails. This is the story of what we learned.
We’ll be back.
Encouragement is our Superpower but it is yours too.
Don’t wait for us to be back doing our thing … please reach out to someone who needs encouragement and lift them.
It makes the world a better place. Fact!
A bientôt
Barrie
A recharge is essential when you can accommodate one, especially when positive energy is your main gift and currency. I've never thought of you as retired, you seem more busy than many professionals that I know. Tell them you're a writer: it's at the heart of everything you do; even your encouraging is finding and shaping the words that people need to hear. Writing and thinking without those Asimov fingers!
indeed it is such a loaded question… thank you for taking the time to address this unsaid, but keenly felt conundrum … happy to know you are taking a break to recharge … your draft ideas all look super exciting. Have fun doing less Barrie. I know I am only one of many cheering you on from afar. You make the world more lovely and more magical.