Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - 20th October 2024

Quick one this week as I prepare to head home from Kefalonia.

I’ve been working with the lovely folk at Beyond Limits over the last few months helping them embrace Gloriously Ordinary Lives in everything they do (more about that in a podcast early next year). They’ve really helped me think more about all of the tests and we’ve done lots of exploring and unpicking of Test Three (the photo test). They’ve left me with a couple of nuggets.

Firstly, Steve keeps reminding me that, ‘It’s all in the eyes’, and he’s right. You can’t fake the look in someone’s eyes when they are experiencing real joy. He shared this video with me last week of two people dancing.

On paper, one person is supporting the other, but there’s joy in both people’s eyes so I’m not sure that is relevant.

Secondly, we’ve also all agreed that the most important thing is to be curious about a photo and unpick the why, where, who and how. Someone told me about being on a night out with a group of people and support workers where a worker hadn’t spoken to the person all evening and then took a photo of them ‘enjoying themselves’. Hmmmm… Sure the actual photo was great, but if you get a bit curious you might hear a different story. I’ve a few of those photos on my phone and I’m sure you have too.

Finally, a photo for you to be curious about – only in Kefalonia can you expect a cat as part of your petrol station experience – and a couple to hopefully make your heart sing.

PS. Did you see? The Gloriously Ordinary Sundays Podcast episode 7 is here. I chat with ⁠Gary Bourlet⁠, founder of the People First Movement in England and co-founder of ⁠Learning Disability England⁠. Gary tells us all about the ⁠Good Lives⁠ framework and we discuss the links between Good Lives and ⁠Gloriously Ordinary Lives⁠.