Transitions

Call me naïve but I had no idea writing a blog could be so difficult! It has tested my patience and made me dig deep to understand why on earth I am surrounded by the electronic equivalent of screwed up pieces of paper. I have talked to myself sternly and compassionately, written lists of ideas, researched seasoned bloggers, stomped around my local park, listened to podcasts and rested my head on my desk.

Thankfully, I was rescued from yet another afternoon of swirling blog despair by my lovely neighbour calling round for a cup of tea and catch up. Working from home means these cups of tea have become so much more than convivial chat – in many ways they have recreated the ‘water cooler’ moments and given me valuable time to pause and reflect. This particular cup of tea really delivered!

As we chatted and laughed about my blogging woes the light dawned. (I do love an ‘oh, that is why…’ moment.) The vast majority of writing I have done in my adult life has been in the context of highly regulated environments.  Where any text written for internal use or public consumption had to meet very particular standards. And when it comes to writing about health, science, and medicines these standards are there for very good reason.  

Anyway, back to my light dawning moment. However, I realised I have not been trying to blog about medicines or patient access to care and treatments.  I was planning to write a blog - a short, conversational piece to share my thoughts and observations, without expectations. 

I realised what was getting in the way of writing a blog were my engrained behaviours developed from years (decades) of adhering to regulations. Avoiding use of particular words or phrases (no hanging comparators here!), needing to support every comment or observation with evidence, creating reference packs, knowing for certain who might read the blog and what they might do with it, having measures in place to assess the usefulness of the blog…..exhausting!

It is incredibly liberating to know what was getting in the way. So what next?  Another firm talk with myself and simple plan.

This morning I put time aside to reflect on this ‘writing transition’ – what skills and experience I can use for blogging and which I need to keep for other 'literary works'.  In doing so I was reminded of the book, Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes, by William Bridges.   A book I have dipped in and out over the years that has given me food for thought as I have taken on new challenges and considered my transferable skills.  This afternoon I put my figurative pen to paper and started writing.  A cathartic and energising day, in equal measure.

I am sure there will be plenty of false starts, u-turns, changes of topics and screwed up bits of paper in the future. That said, what I now have is knowledge of what might slow me down and cause frustration. When I find myself creating a ‘marked up reference pack’ I will recognise it as procrastination and get back to the task in hand.

Feeling a sense of achievement today.  Onwards….

#reflections

#newbeginnings

#transitions

#transferableskills