Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - 10th November 2024

I’m getting increasingly clear that the essence of Gloriously Ordinary Lives is paying attention to the mundane and the heart sing. Creating that wonderful balance in life between the rhythm and routine that keeps us grounded, alongside the moments of joy, big and small. The five tests help us dig deeper into that balance.

The more I explore Gloriously Ordinary Lives with people and organisations, the more people share what makes things Gloriously Ordinary for them, and I love it. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a fascinating conversation about the place of extended family in our lives, a healthy debate around how important (or not) paid work is, and quite a lot of unpicking of the word ‘complex’ (if that’s piqued your interest then have a look at Bryony Shannon’s blog about it).

Then last Monday I had a corker. Lovely Steve from Beyond Limits featured in my last Gloriously Ordinary Sundays blog with his insights about the photo test. Working together on facilitating a training session, Steve admitted that he’d only just seen that it is heart SING that I talk about – he’d always thought it was heart ZING! He’d gone on to have a Google of zing and it is ‘a quality that makes something interesting or exciting’. Synonyms include vitality, zest, gusto, passion, love, exuberance. How fantastic is that!

For me, that adds a layer to the mundane + heart sing equation. If heart SING is the joyful things like a cuppa with a friend, a beautiful sunset or swimming in a cold lake (yes I know that’s not all of you), then the heart ZING adds things that are around connection and purpose – the things that put a spring in our step, feed our soul and remind us that we love and are loved.

Apparently, Zing is also a theme in Hotel Transylvania, where it is a magic reaction that happens when a person (or monster!) meets their soulmate, and which only happens once in a lifetime. I’ll take that…although it did send me down a Hotel Transylvania rabbit hole on Reddit around vampires absorbing a fraction of your soul via your blood that some of you might enjoy.

Mavis Dracula and Count Dracula, brilliantly depicted by The Boy for this blog

So, let’s go for creating heart sing AND some heart zing this week alongside the beautiful safety of mundane.

PS. Did you see? The Gloriously Ordinary Sundays Podcast episode 8 is here. I chat with the wonderful ⁠Mary Gardner, and we discuss how Direct Payments and personal assistants are a key route to Gloriously Ordinary Lives. We share 5 top tips for Local Authorities on making Direct Payments and personal assistants work effectively.

PPS. Have you heard the news?

Tricia Nicoll and Kate Mercer are excited to announce our new programme, Advocating with and for Gloriously Ordinary Lives, starting in January 2025.

A Gloriously Ordinary Lives and Black Belt Advocacy collaboration.

We would like to invite you to a FREE introductory session to hear a bit more about Gloriously Ordinary Lives and how it relates to the world of advocacy. You will also have the chance to shape the Advocating with and for Gloriously Ordinary Lives programme and ask any questions you might have.

WHEN: Monday 18, November 2024 - 11 am - 12.30 pm

To book a place please use this link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ce-bQcGUTJWfkIpg40guYA