Here in Wales the start of the year has been very cold and this morning we even had a light dusting of snow. So close to the coast it rarely snows a lot, but the ice on the roofs I can see through my window as I sit at my desk is a good reminder that winter is here.
In a few days, I’ll be back to work as usual, but for the time being my other interests take up the majority of my days, alongside the daily dog walks: namely reading, running and art.
Reading
For the first time ever I am trying to keep a record of what I read (using StoryGraph), and I am curious to see how that goes. I’ve always loved to read and I read a lot, widely across genres both fiction and non-fiction. I tried previously to blog about books I’ve read, mostly from a coaching perspective, but that didn’t stay with me for long and so it’ll be interesting to see if and how this interest shows up on the blog this year.
Given how much I love reading and how much time I spent reading I’d like to find a way to represent that particularly interest in this space.
Running
Running is continuing to make progress, and training for the Half Marathon in Vancouver in May is growing more intense. I am not particularly into going to races, so every time I do it feels like a big adjustment to be running with people. Thus, I have finally signed up for Parkrun and am looking forward to going to my local race on one of two Saturdays each month and get more comfortable running in company.
We did Parkrun on Christmas Day, which was a wonderful morning out, if bitterly cold with an icy wind, which offered me more inspiration to give this a go. Barcode tags ordered. Here we go!
Art
I’ve also spent a lot of time painting over the holidays, and the house is starting to fill up with seascapes and coastal landscapes in various shades of blue. After experimenting with a lot of different creative pursuits last year, this feels like a good fit for something to focus on and to deepen my practice.
I’m also looking forward to seeing more art and exhibitions this year, and spending more time on exploring creativity.
This blog has always reflected my various interests, mostly professional ones, and this year I want to try and sprinkle some of my interests from outside of work through my posts, to reflect more of what inspires me and what brings me joy.
You might find it also shows up in my newsletter, so look out for the first edition next week 🙂
This is the last post of the year, and this one is for my most trusty office buddy, Posey!
Posey turns FIVE tomorrow, and her adventures over the past year have been a big source of joy for me each and every month. I always dreamt of having a dog when I was little, and I am happy and grateful indeed that I have been able to fulfil that dream now that I live a life that can offer a dog a happy home.
As a morning person there is nothing better than waking up with these rascals every day, greeting the morning tea in hand. We walk 3-5 miles each day and that keeps me active and outdoors more than any other activity ever has. Their company makes working from home a lot more sociable and coastal walks more fun, too.
Cuddled up next to her favourite blanket.Exploring the dunes.Beach time with her brother Teilo.Posey in full shark posing mode.At the local pub after a visit to the castle.Summer play in the garden.
Happy Birthday, Posey! Here’s to many more years of adventures together, and wishing everyone, humans and dogs (and cats and other creatures, too, of course) a Happy New Year 2026.
I love writing these end of year posts and I have been doing it for quite a few years: 2024 focused on gratitude, 2023 on my (then new) business venture, 2022 I looked back at 10 milestones, 2021 – the year of the PUPPY – had a lot packed into it and 2020, well, you will remember your own 2020. I wrote two posts in December that year: 2020 #altc – the year forged in fire and 2020 – My year in blog posts, on radio and in drawings .
So what about this year?
I’ve used these close up photos of paintings I’ve been working on this year as a theme for my post, a triptych of a post if you like, to capture the three themes of my year: Joy. Creativity. Focus.
HorizonSeascapeBeach at sunset
Joy
When I think back to January 2025… I probably wouldn’t have guessed that joy would be one of the themes to come out of my review post at the end of a year filled with unhinged politics, unfettered use of AI and so much upheaval everywhere you look. And still, the joy is undeniable. I’ve done much this year that has been so rewarding, from regular beach trips and travel abroad to getting married again and spending time with family and friends. My year as a pen pal has been prolific and one of the greatest joys of the year was the house filled with postcards and letters from friends all across the world wishing us well on our wedding day.
I’ve accomplished a long-term goal to get back into running, and managed to complete several 10k races over the last 12 months. This in turn brought about a spontaneous decision to fulfil a big dream of mine next year: running the Vancouver Half Marathon. Come May 2026, my husband and I will both be standing on the starting line, hopefully with quite a few friends joining us, too. I’ve been meaning to return to Vancouver ever since my first visit in 2019, and I can’t wait to be in BC once again.
These moments of joy have been so precious, and I am grateful indeed for the friends, family and four-legged creatures that have shared those moments with me (even very early in the morning).
Creativity
As you have no doubt gathered already from my posts this year, I have been having an exceptionally creative year, from analogue adventures in painting, drawing, crafting, embroidery and model building to digital creation, writing, making and designing. I have flexed the skills I gained in art school, and put the DIY tools my dad gave me to good use. I also commandeered a second desk (my so called “weekend desk”) so that I (finally) have a space to be messy again, to leave things to be picked up and continued later. I can’t tell you how good it feels.
To give you a sense of what these projects have been, here is a summary of some of the things I have made this year: a book nook, a flower shop model, a garden shed model, hand embroidered Christmas stockings, acrylic paintings on canvas, watercolour drawings on paper, several dozen digital artworks, an illustrated digital story, started a new book (non-fiction), wrote several short stories, a year long (12 module) postcard based coaching subscription complete with custom made postcards that I sent all across the world, many talks, presentations, workshops, blog posts, podcasts, radio shows, playlists, a vinyl yoga practice, lots of new recipes and even more DIY in the form of newly painted rooms, garden furniture and… well, I think you get the idea.
Suffice to say that I have poured a lot of creative energy into the world, in an effort, to “let creativity eat the darkness“. I have done much to shape the world with my imagination and to populate my world with things that are made by me. Which is why the title of the post refers to the handmade year of 2025.
Focus
The year has been filled with joyful moments and with a lot of time devoted to creativity. It has also been a year of clear focus and much progress. Focus on my business and my professional practice. Now in its third year of being my full-time job, my business has evolved and become more robust and tangible.
Like everyone else I’ve found the uncertainty level in Higher Education and every other sector I work in rather dampening, making it harder to find work and putting everyone under pressure. That said, my efforts in developing my offering and my company of one have paid dividend and building in more focus and flexibility has proven very effective, too.
I’ve had many professional highlights this year, including an unexpected but most welcome award of Honorary Life Membership from ALT, a community which means so much to me. Being part of the ALT Wales Member Group and continuing my work as a Senior CMALT Assessor enables me to keep up with current practice in Learning Technology and Open Education, and connect with this wonderful network.
Also, I am excited to have become a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts this year (and can how add “FRSA” to my list of post-nominal letters on LinkedIn ;)). It’s such a rewarding and interesting community to be part of, and I am looking forward to getting stuck in as a mentor in the mentoring network and start to connect with more fellows in the new year both here in Cardiff and elsewhere. If you are also a member, look me up on the Circle platform 🙂 .
My work continues to be varied, which is a joy for someone like me with many interests and aptitudes. Teaching, training and coaching continues at the University of Oxford, and Sereniti as well as internal cohorts at organisations. Whilst I continue to do some executive coaching with individuals, the bulk of my work has been with leadership teams and groups.
Consultancy projects with Reclaim Hosting, especially the innovative Reclaim Open conference, have been an inspiring part of my year and I deeply appreciate working with such a wonderful team of people.
I’ve also continued work in the digital heritage sector, building on a number of projects I worked on in 2021-2023 as part of the Towards a National Collection and Digital Heritage initiatives. Digital heritage and digital humanities is becoming more of a focus for my consultancy work, and I am looking forward to working more in that space in 2026.
One of the things I reflected and focused on this year was how I work, not only what I do. The values that inform my work have shaped my practice, what I bid for, and what I strive for. So to close this post I wanted to share a the notes I scribbled below, which helped me articulate how I embody the values of my business and why.
Here’s to a more open and blended, ethical and meticulous 2026, continuing to give back in gratitude to the amazing communities I am part of.
It’s the season for office parties, and I am in a festive mood. In this holiday-themed post (and on the podcast, too), I want to share a few of the ways in which I reflect on, celebrate and end the year. If you are a fellow freelancer or small business owner, you might find inspiration for your own celebration here.
Like you, I’ve been to a lot of office parties and work do’s, and most of them weren’t all that festive and bright, but some years it all came together and we had a lot of fun together. So in my “Office Party for One” I’ve tried to keep the best bits of what I enjoy and add my own twist of reflective spirit to come up with a end of year celebration that brings me joy and is highly practical, too.
Party hat optional.
Reflect
All of my rituals for the end of the year start with reflection, either on the blog, or in conversation or written down in my progress reports. If you’d like to play along, here are some of my favourite reflective prompts for the end of the year:
What do you remember most?
When did things not go as planned?
How have things shifted over the past year?
What do you want to take into the new year?
What can be left behind?
What do you want more of in 2026?
Most of the time, just clearing the decks feels like a win as work starts to compete with preparations for the holidays, so I set aside dedicated time to try and capture and reflect.
One of my favourite activities is to go through my emails and social media and file away any positive feedback or inspiring interactions I’ve had (for which I keep a dedicated folder). Sometimes that includes more formal feedback, from workshops I have run or from coaching clients or project evaluations, and often it also includes personal messages, like a meaningful thank you note or encouraging DM.
I also file away certificates or details about any professional development I’ve done, ready to refer to when I big for new projects or renew a professional certification.
Once the reflection is done, it’s time to celebrate.
Celebrate
One of the biggest joys of being my own boss is that I get to decide what to do for my office party, and whom to invite. Some years, that means it’s just me, a good book and a warm cosy evening in front of the fire. Or even an early night. Some years I venture into the city and enjoy a festive afternoon or even a night out. Often my husband gets an invite, and we join forces for our “office party” and exchange small gifts, Secret Santa style.
Remote working has so many advantages, and I generally love running my business from home. That said, joining in with festive fun, and feeling the buzz of people, the glittering street lights and the enticing smells of Christmas market treats makes an end of year celebration a lot more fun.
End the Year
The end of the year is my quietest time of the year as most of my clients and collaborators down tools. I take advantage of no longer being the one whom everyone calls in case of emergency, and so I take a week or two completely off, to rest, recharge and spend time away from screens.
Sometimes I use the time to make progress on creative projects (my book in progress is looking at me, demanding my attention) and sometimes I just switch off and use the time to get outside, play games and cuddle the dogs.
My OoO auto-reply goes on, my inbox goes quiet and I tidy away work for another year.
I’ll be sharing my end of year reflections in the next post. What will you take away from 2025?
It is nearly time to wrap up blogging for another year, and I’m feeling all festive. Shout out to Jim Groom, who is blogging at all hours in the run up to celebrating 20 years of his bavatuesdays blog. Over here on my own domain, things are progressing at a more leisurely pace, and it’s time to look at what’s been happening on the blog over the course of the year.
In 2023 I posted 72 posts on here, and last year I made it to 65, and this year has been another excellent year with 61 posts. Although this era of tracking everything makes one feel that all progress curves should be going up, not down, I am delighted that I have kept up my blogging practice for another year.
It’s becoming harder to make ones voice heard across federated, fragmented social spaces, and I don’t use this site to bring everything together, so every post I share elsewhere isn’t counted (and that’s OK).
Instead, I am excited to look back at my year in blogging here, sharing what’s interesting to me, what I am working on and whatever else I come across that makes me curious.
This month, as a little gift from me to you, you can join in with my leadership coaching subscription service, AKA Long Distance Leadership Postcards for free. I’ve made December free for all to access, and this month’s topic includes three free resources to explore.
Whether your 2025 has been busy and productive, or brought unexpected challenges, whether you are getting ready to rest or just about to set out in a new direction, I have designed this month’s coaching moment by mail to offer new inspiration and encouragement by focusing on your creativity, develop leadership capability or clear the decks with increased productivity.
Over the last 12 months we have explored 11 Long Distance Leadership Postcard topics around creativity, digital wellbeing, productivity and leadership development. To celebrate the end of the first run of Long Distance Leadership Postcards, you get to choose your own topic – or explore all three! Whatever you choose to do, enjoy and take care as we close out 2025.
Your guided tour
If you’d like to get a guided tour, tune in to the episode below in which I walk you through each resources and how they could be useful to you. Enjoy!
Coaching in 2026
I’ve loved coaching with you this year and I am already looking forward to the new year. If you are curious about coaching with me, get in touch. I have some space opening for spring and also new pro bono sessions available if you’d like to try and give coaching with me a go for free.
You can find out more about how I work and what my clients say about working with me on my coaching pages.
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