Ways to See the World

It's slightly less than two months to go until the UK general election and I'm already a little obsessed with the ups and downs. It helps that I get to keep track of things for work as well. (If you're interested try www.quakervote.org.uk ) There are several interesting factors about this election. For a start we know the exact date whereas in the past, elections usually happened every 4-5 years, and we wouldn't know the date until the Prime Minister asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament, at which point purdah would begin and the date would be set. In 2011 the Fixed-term Parliament Act provided for fixed-term parliaments of five years in length, unless a vote of no confidence in the government is passed, or the House of Commons votes to hold an election with a two-thirds majority. It'll be interesting to see what the long-term effects of fixing the duration of Parliament will be; it has been suggested that knowing the date of the election has meant that politici

After two and a half months of unemployment and a full three months since leaving Corrymeela, I finally have a job. One that is paid an actual salary and involves a proper commute. It's also based in London, a significant change from living on a cliff in Northern Ireland. All in all I was pretty glad I didn't have to spend the last few weeks of the year not knowing whether I'd have a job in 2015. A few days before I was offered this position I'd hit the low point in my job search. The rock-bottom point when your self-esteem is on the floor and you wonder whether you're worth hiring after all. A few days later I was offered two different jobs (lucky me!) and had to weigh up all my options before going with my gut. Reflecting a little on this job search I definitely learned a little more about myself and what some of my goals are. There were two jobs I applied for very early on that I still think would have been fantastic but weren't the right fit at the time

Let me start by saying that I do not consider myself a religious person and therefore my musings on the subject can obviously be taken with as many pinches of salt as you would like. For the last two years however I have been living and working at a Christian centre. I grew up with religion and over the past few years have lived with two other families, one with a Hindu temple in their front yard, and one where the Orthodox Bishop came round for tea on a regular basis. Despite having been around religion most of my life, or perhaps because of it, I became increasingly angry and frustrated with any form of organised religion. I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and to me religion became a way of holding me back. It was a way of saying you can't do this or that because God/the Elders wouldn't like it, because you're a girl, or because we are 'no part of this world'. I can't pinpoint exactly when I decided all of this was sanctimonious crap but I quietly stopped

Peace and Quiet.  That's basically what my last two and a half weeks have been about. I left Corrymeela on 30 September and came to stay at my dad's house for a bit. It hasn't been exciting or eventful and that was the point. I've been alone for a good chunk of that time and it's been really nice to have that space. I must be more introverted than I realised but having spent two years surrounded by people at work and at home (since they're the same place) it's been pretty refreshing to have the run of a house with no-one but the dog for a bit of company. That, and a double bed all to myself. I've made the occasional foray into civilisation but on the whole enjoyed the down time. I've been applying for jobs and researching a lot and figured out more about where I'd like to go next. I've also watched a considerable amount of TV (less productive but needs must) I'm ok with not knowing where exactly that is but have a general idea of t

One of the things I've loved most about the roles I've taken on is the last two years is being able to listen to peoples' stories. Some of that has simply been a normal part of living in a place with people from all over the world, working alongside different groups that come up, and having really interesting conversations over dinner or a cup of tea. Partly it's also my job. Part of my role is to sit down and have 'one-to-ones' with people. These are essentially check-in meetings where volunteers talk through personal issues or professional challenges. They can be formal and scheduled or informal and fairly random. Mostly I listen and help them to talk things through. It's not my job to be a fount of wisdom and advice and quite frankly I don't have the answers to life's questions. What I can do is be a useful sounding board, I can listen and I can ask pertinent questions. So why do I enjoy them? People have commented that it must be hard to hea

One of my biggest challenges here is not having the space to let my guard down. I find it exhausting keeping my emotions to myself and for the most part I do a pretty good job at keeping them at arms’ length so I don’t get swallowed whole by them and I don’t spill them into community life. It feels pretty selfish of me to let this get to me but in many ways the whole point of community life is to support each other with those things which is probably why there are ongoing discussions as to whether to call this a ‘community’ or not. My problem seems to be that when I feel completely powerless that guard slips and the smallest of things will spark a torrent of emotion over something that is actually very small. Part of me know that this is not healthy means of existence at all (all of that has to go somewhere and if you’re a bottler and have been telling yourself to let something go for so long eventually that bottle will explode when it reaches tipping point) and the other part kn