“It’s a grand thing to get leave to live.” Nan Shepherd (1893 – 1981)

It’s been a couple of weeks now since I left my wonderful colleagues at York Museums Trust to take on a new adventure.

I’m calling it a ‘creative sabbatical’. But what on earth does that mean?
No, I am not going back to my previous role after a brief pause. No, I haven’t retired. No, I am not going mad. Yes, it is terrifying. Yes, it is exciting. Yes, I think I am brave.

I’ve worked for a lot of amazing organisations over the past 25 years (and some less amazing ones), as well as undertaking freelance consultancy, creative facilitation, teaching and academic research. With each institutional role, I’ve taken on more and more leadership responsibility, with bigger and bigger remits. But I haven’t really stopped to think about why I’ve done this. In fact, sometimes I just haven’t stopped at all, let alone stopped to think.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but last autumn, I had a few days in hospital followed by some time off work to recover from surgery. I also started learning more about perimenopause, and reading about transition and trauma. I discovered that my body was trying to tell me something, and realised how short life is.

Having some enforced time out made me reflect on my values, remember what makes me tick, where I feel I belong, and where I make a difference. I value creativity – both the creativity of others, but also exploring my own creative unknowing. I am also insatiably curious and love learning and unlearning, imagining and noticing, and facilitating others to do the same (often using objects and art). I also understand how important it is to care for people and planet, and to listen to and look after ourselves.

So in what I suppose is my ‘silver jubilee’ year of working life, I am taking some time to re-set. It’s a pause that isn’t really a pause at all, but a journey.

I will be taking some courses (the art foundation course I have wanted to do since I was 18). I will be doing more within my local community in Sheffield and in nature. I will be playing with objects and materials and words. I will be facilitating imaginative learning and inspiring curiosity. I will be developing my creative consultancy work, and I will be open to collaborative work opportunities when they arise.

Please do get in touch if you are curious.