I’ve been inspired by a call last week where we got chatting about the idea of ‘third places’, an idea first coined by Ray Oldenburg back in 1989 in his book, ‘The Great Good Place’. To be honest, I probably haven’t thought about the idea or used the words third place since the 1990s, but the idea is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. Here are some thoughts.

In episode 15, I indulge myself a little bit with some nostalgia, going back to the time when my two were at school and reflecting on what great inclusion looked and felt like to us as a family.

I'll share some lovely memories of The Girl's experience, and you'll hear Ciaran talking about his own memories - getting the bus with other kids, going to prom, Duke of Edinburgh, the school trip to France, and chasing and running around at break time.

Have a listen, and we'd love to hear what you think!

You all know me as Tricia Nicoll – Gloriously Ordinary Lives. You know me as Mum to Ciaran and The Girl, as daughter to Barbara.

You know me as the woman who loves cats, swimming in lakes and the sea and getting to Kefalonia as often as possible.

I have found myself a bit Alice in Wonderland-ish over the past few weeks. There have been several occasions where I’ve wondered who I am today - and I talk about that here.

I ran a lovely little Glorious Ordinary Lives session this week with a group of friends and colleagues from Social Care Future, and we had a bit of a moment. We were having a conversation about how it’s impossible to disagree with the Social Care Future Vision. Find me the person who disagrees with the idea of living in the place we call home with the people and things that we love. But I know people sometimes struggle with the idea of gloriously ordinary, and I always think it’s because I haven’t explained it properly.

Since the start of the year I've been facilitating three different Gloriously Ordinary Lives programmes and I've been lucky enough to hang out with some really thoughtful folk.

I thought I'd give you a break from the workings of my brain this week and share some of the insights people have shared with me over the last few weeks.

A conversation with The Percy Hedley Foundation about something that feels a bit niche but affects far more people than we think – when people need to have food blended or puréed to eat. Going out for a meal is one of the most gloriously ordinary things you can think of doing.

Language matters. I know you know that, or you wouldn’t be reading this. I stumbled upon a new one for me last week, ‘additional support needs’. I think the ‘additional needs’ one has made it onto my radar, along with ‘special educational needs’, of course, but I picked this new one up in a post on social media that described an event around ‘inclusion and ASN’, so I had to dig deeper.

Test One for Gloriously Ordinary Lives is all about thinking whether the support someone is getting is what we'd want for ourselves or someone we love. One of the things we focus on is our daily rhythms, rituals and routines. As humans, we are creatures of habit. The detail of how we live is critically important to how okay we feel and how gloriously ordinary our life is. It's definitely all in the detail.

In episode 3 of the Gloriously Ordinary Language Myth Busters, we’re busting the myth that we need a glossary or language guide.

Podcast by Tricia Nicoll and Bryony Shannon.

Hello, and a very Happy New Year to you all. I really hope your end-of-year break was everything you hoped it would be. But I suspect that for many of you reading this, that's not the reality of the last couple of weeks. Full disclosure, I find Christmas and New Year incredibly hard, and this has been a particularly tricky one...

Quick one this week aimed mainly at me as I challenge my thoughts and beliefs about what is right and what is truly gloriously ordinary. I come back to that most hateful word in the human language: SHOULD.

In episode 2 of the Gloriously Ordinary Language Myth Busters, we’re busting the myth that because the language is in the legislation we have to use it. 

Podcast by Tricia Nicoll and Bryony Shannon.

At Social Care Future, we talk a lot about reframing social care. There's a reason our vision is about living in a place we call home with people and things we love, not about well-organised and regulated four visits a day. Social care is about the support we need to live our Gloriously Ordinary Lives. Unfortunately, that's not the story many people know – inside or outside social care.

This week, three great stories showed me how the Gloriously Ordinary Lives lens helps us think differently about our role in social care.

Test three started out as quite a straightforward one in my head, I think.

Take a mental image – what does it tell you?

Make a judgement - would you want that on your phone or would it make you sad, embarrassed, frustrated?

An easy way to think about whether someone’s life (or the support they are getting) really is gloriously ordinary. I’m coming to realise it’s hugely more than that.

Introducing… Gloriously Ordinary Language Myth Busters! Podcast by Tricia Nicoll and Bryony Shannon.

I've had a lovely couple of days at a Dovida conference in Dublin. A highlight was watching two police officers having a kick-about with some local boys – and an opportunity to capture a great photo test! Other lovely moments during the conference included some brilliant, and important discussions, about things that were making sense to people about Gloriously Ordinary Lives, and also things that were not making sense.

There was a post going around social media last week about a young autistic man losing his work experience at Waitrose.

There’s rightly been a huge amount of outcry about this, but some of it has missed the mark, I think. Here are my thoughts.

I’ve had a few conversations over the last month around Test Two and the idea of, ‘Would I use that language in my kitchen with my family or the café or pub with my friends?’. People rarely have an issue with the test, and I’ve yet to find someone who doesn’t agree we’ve created a bunch of daft and othering language in our world of social care. The sticking point, which I find fascinating, is the apparent conundrum of which words to use instead. Turns out, the answer might already be in your kitchen.

In episode 14 of the Gloriously Ordinary Lives podcast, you'll hear that I am absolutely thrilled to introduce you all to the lovely ⁠⁠⁠Marianne Selby-Boothroyd⁠⁠⁠, who's joining the Gloriously Ordinary Lives team... that's right, the Gloriously Ordinary Lives team! How exciting is that?

Have a listen, and we'd love to hear what you think!

I've just come back from one of my favourite days of the year - our annual Social Care Future gathering. Support workers, social workers, families, commissioners, directors, disabled people, policy makers, older people... all united by our shared passion for creating a Social Care Future where we get to live our Gloriously Ordinary Lives. Here are my reflections.