This week, I reflect on the power of words - how we write about ourselves, and what we say and write about people. It matters because it impacts how we then think about support and how people might want to live their lives - but so often, we get this wrong. How much would you like someone to write a plan for your life and hold you to it, making out that you had written it yourself?

I’m getting increasingly clear that the essence of Gloriously Ordinary Lives is paying attention to the mundane and the heart sing - and after a recent conversation, I’ve realised… that heart ZING plays an important role, too!

In episode 8 of the Gloriously Ordinary Sundays Podcast, I chat with the wonderful ⁠Mary Gardner.

Mary and I 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.

This week’s post is a quick one as I wrap up my time in Kefalonia. I’ve been working with Beyond Limits recently and together, we’ve spent time exploring Test Three (the photo test). Steve’s reminder that "it’s all in the eyes" stuck with me—true joy can’t be faked. Curiosity is key when looking at a photo; sometimes what you don’t see tells the real story.

This week, I’m writing from sunny Kefalonia, my first break since both of my children moved into their own homes. I’m reflecting on the incredible journey my son’s social worker, James, helped us navigate as my son moved into his own place. By truly listening to what we wanted and asking the right questions, James turned The Boy's hopes into a cost-effective reality.

Over the past month I have been sharing Gloriously Ordinary Lives with different groups of social workers... and I’ve got a niggle: the 'yes buts'. So this week, I come back again to my ‘What would it take?’ question.

I’m talking all about what it takes to get great support that creates Gloriously Ordinary Lives …and what gets in the way. This week, a video felt like the best way to share a little about my mum's story when she needed support from social care.

Bryony Shannon and I have been thinking about the word ‘obviously’ and how we use it in social care. This week, I reflect on the need for us to notice and question ourselves whenever we start a sentence with ‘obviously’. What might seem obvious to us may not be obvious at all to others.

Reflecting on the label of ‘carer', and how it oversimplifies the complexity of human relationships, especially when loved ones rely on social care. Relationships are far more nuanced, involving give and take, joy and pain. How can our social care system better support these connections without reducing them to carer and cared for?

As summer ends and September arrives, many of us are navigating the back-to-school rush, launching kids to university, or supporting them through new chapters. As many of us face new beginnings - whether it's settling into a quieter home or grappling with what comes next - here’s to finding our way through what comes next.

This week I chat with ⁠Gary Bourlet⁠, founder of the People First Movement in England and co-founder of ⁠Learning Disability England⁠. 

On the podcast, Gary tells us all about the ⁠Good Lives⁠ framework and we discuss the links between Good Lives and ⁠Gloriously Ordinary Lives⁠.

Talking all about Test Three, the photo test, and the importance of considering the story behind the photo.

This week I share three different voting experiences that occurred on election day - mine, The Girl's and The Boy's. I reflect on Test Five, being part of something and doing things that matter to us, and the need for the 'web of support' that we speak about at ⁠⁠Social Care Future⁠⁠. The web that recognises the human rights and civic duty around our franchise.

I’ve learned lots about mundane and heart sing over the past couple of weeks, from my own life and from the fabulous people who are part of the Getting Curious about Gloriously Ordinary Lives course. I’ve especially learned how it’s not as neat as I maybe first thought it was. Are things ever.

The Boy moved out yesterday… It's a weird time when your kids are launched. In the lead up to the move, we've played out the Five Tests beautifully over the past few weeks and I talk all about it in this week’s blog.

In this episode of the Gloriously Ordinary Sundays Podcast, I catch up with the brilliant Karen McCormick, from inCharge. Karen shares her really exciting plans to build an app designed to help people get Gloriously Ordinary Lives - something I am so excited about!

So I’ve been on holiday to Kefalonia for the last 10 days. It felt like a great opportunity to reflect on the photo test from the Five Tests of Gloriously Ordinary Lives - and share my own! PS. Yes I think I will be bringing black and white kitten home next time.

I started using the words ‘Gloriously Ordinary’ when my kids were teenagers to try and explain to the various systems around them how we wanted life to look like. Not some strange version of special or different, but exactly what other young people their age might expect. When I formally launched Gloriously Ordinary Lives last year, that was the essence I wanted to keep. So, what is it for?

This week, something a little different for the Gloriously Ordinary Sundays - a vlog! I ask you to take a moment to reflect on your own lives and what mundane and heart sing has looked like for you recently.

This month I catch up with the amazing ⁠Bryony Shannon⁠ and we talk all about Test Two of Gloriously Ordinary Lives - the importance of language in health, social care and education.