Tuesday 24 October 2017

When duty calls

It's time for another life check. That’s when I check whether 'what matters to me' is reflected in how I spend my time, energy, money, other resources. It’s also when I take stock of whether I have a good handle on what resources are available in my life, how much is required for non-negotiables and whether my goals are a suitable size for the available resources. It’s what I call checking my ‘time investment’ (as opposed to time management – I’d hate to get to the end of my life having managed my time amazingly but on things that didn’t really matter).

And right now, I need to factor in another calculation. Right now, my actions are not going to align with the bigger picture of what matters to me. And now is not the time to re-align them. This is a time in my life for investing in things that are the right thing to do because they are my responsibility. And my challenge is to be self-aware enough to know I have chosen freely to prioritise duty over what really matters to me. And my challenge will be to keep one non-resentful eye on the bigger picture so I don't forget who I am and what matters as I plough through a time of prioritising things that don't align with what really matters to me.

Why do I bother with duty? Why do things I don't particularly want to do? Why work hard on things that won’t help me towards my bigger picture goals? Because while what matters to me is important, I am also a social creature and I live in community. And sometimes duty needs to come first. And because sometimes, the doing of duty is the only opportunity we will get to develop the character we will need to achieve what matters.

So I sit with my blank page. I look at the next months, the next two years. I think of what I've been experiencing as growing and conflicting pressures. My pen is poised. And I think:
·         What resources do I have?
·         What rhythm do I need days and weeks to have so I can stay healthy and renew my strength?
·         What is my big picture?
·         What is my immediate duty?
·         And therefore what needs to become my immediate picture?
·         How do I choose to allocate resources?

·         And, most importantly, how do I become more me through this battle? How do I emerge victorious, with clear sight and a clear conscience? And battle it is, to let go of what matters to me for this season of my life for the sake of what I see as my duty. 

Monday 9 October 2017

Why I joined a union

Why I've joined a union
I first became self employed because I couldn't work in a 'proper' job because of family circumstances and my own mental health. It suited me down to the ground - but only because I have a husband who at that time had a reliable employed income. 
Later I ran a microbusiness as owner/director. Now I'm working for a small cooperative I helped found.
Along the way I discovered coworking and twitter as ways to build networks, develop a sense of solidarity with other microbusiness and self employed people, and deal with the isolation that can come with no office space. I met Indycube that way too.

As one person, it is easy to be picked off. I've met skilled graphic designers, videographers and speakers who will work below the living wage just to secure work. I've heard of people driven to food banks by late paying customers. 
I firmly believe in cooperative principles. I support mutual aid and shared, mutual self-help over charity and hand-outs. 

And I support anything where those of us at the coal face of the economy can have a voice in policy discussions, debates and decisions about work. 
I don't have time or emotional energy to do that for myself. I'm too busy being part of a microbusiness, and it's not something I'm particularly skilled at doing. That's one reason for me joining the new Indycube Community union. They do what they are good at - speaking up and representing us - while I get on with what I'm good at.

The union isn't just idealistic talk or speaking out on our behalf. They've identified with us union members some key practical issues that make life harder for microbusinesses and self-employed people - isolation, late payment, legal support and what happens when you're too ill to work. In true cooperative style, Indycube Community has found ways we can work together to share the load. This means that by joining the union, I don't need to fight for payment or against unfair terms by myself. I can use the coworking spaces when I want the company of like minded-people. And there's even a chance to join a mutual scheme where we all pay in and can all get help if too ill to work. It's back to the future. It's what happened in Welsh communities before social security. It's what self-employed people need again today. 

The idea of a union for independent, self-employed people is a bit radical. So they are offering a no-money trial membership. I was going to say a free trial, but it isn't. Indycube Community is its members. If we put nothing in, all we will get out are the monetary benefits not a strong voice and representation. We need to put in our support which means replying to emails asking about life as a self-employed person and telling others about the new union.


Here's a link to join. http://www.indycube.community/join-us/ Please don't join out of selfish self-interest. Join because we are #strongertogether and the UK needs us to be heard.

Friday 6 October 2017

Free to a good home

Short story starter - free to a good home! I didn't intend this as a short story starter, just a combination of observation and whimsy while sat in a cafe in Penclawdd. But I read it back and it sounds like a great start of a story. There's just one problem. I don't write stories. And that's why it's free to a good home. Just tell me what you do with it if you use it.

I notice what I notice because of who I am. The waiter's apron. How the plates are balanced. Sounds. Arms. Movement. The swift, confident wiping of the table, white dishcloth polishing the surface for the next customer. The colour of the table and four chairs, the textures and the irregular, homely placement of the chairs round the square table. Never faces. I never notice faces. 

I noticed the child's coat only because someone drew attention to it. Its vibrant, bold ballon pattern is out of keeping with the beige and cream decor. There is no sound of a child, no sight of a child in the cafe. Just the coat of a child. And I begin to create stories of how that coat came to be there, hanging on a coat stand next to the obviously adult damp coats and waterproofs in a cafe of adults.