Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - 12th April 2026
This fabulous post from Open Future Learning gave me the inspiration for this week's Gloriously Ordinary Sundays.
Post by Open Future Leaning
It’s really timely as we are doing some detailed planning with The Girl as she prepares to move house.
A few things really got me thinking. Life changes, 100%, but there are some things I can’t imagine changing my mind about.
I categorically cannot imagine a future in which multiple cats are not required to be part of my life.
I can’t imagine not wanting to get lost in a book.
I can’t imagine not revelling in a hot, sunny summer day, or getting real joy out of being in and by the sea.
Then there are things in my life that have changed. I know I bang on about swimming, but in 2019, it wouldn’t even have made it into the top twenty list of things I love, never mind the top three.
My brother and his family created this picture for me for my 40th birthday and, whilst the majority is still true, there are a few exceptions: I no longer enjoy red wine, my nails are mainly fairly boring, and live music has to be someone I absolutely love to get me there. All good.
Then I guess there are things that come and go. I generally love to cook, but my incentive to create is less strong now that I live on my own. I still love to cook for a group of friends or family, and I can’t imagine that not being the case. Food tastes change, as does music (although I loved Elton John in 1987 and still do now!). A favourite movie or book might be replaced by something new.
When The Girl moved into her own place three and a half years ago, you’ll be unsurprised to know that I emptied my head into a fifty page document trying to capture every shred of detail that lived in my brain about who she is, what she loves, what she loathes and what our part is in enabling her life to be as gloriously ordinary as possible. I was bullish about making sure that everyone in her team had read and digested it. As we help her think about what the next move needs to look like, her team are looking back at that document, and I’m already noticing some important things that have changed – of course.
The thing is, in our world of social care, we rely so much on people capturing and holding all this critical stuff in written form. We rely on recording being done by someone who has really listened to us, and people who love us, heard us speak our truth (in whatever way works for us), paid attention to the minutiae of detail where necessary, and then bothered to check what has changed in 3… 6… 24… 100 months’ time.
That’s a huge amount of responsibility in a system that struggles at the best of times to communicate, but I’m going to be bold and suggest that it really is our responsibility, in whatever role we hold, to do our little bit to make sure that we don’t assume I still enjoy swimming, baking, Zumba …or whatever it is that I REALLY don’t like anymore.
Maybe take the time this week to check in with someone you know and see if they still like Elton John.
PS. Did you see? The Gloriously Ordinary Sundays Podcast episode 15 is here. 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. Have a listen, and we'd love to hear what you think!