Notes from Saving the World

My journey and what this newsletter is all about

Apr 21, 2024

Hello friend,

Welcome to Notes from Saving the World. Thank you for subscribing. It has been a long journey to work up the courage to write online. And I am so happy that you are joining me here.

Today, I wanted to share a bit more about my journey and who I am. If you feel inspired - please hit reply or leave and comment - tell me a little something more about you.

Home

I am Catriona. (It is a Gaelic name and pronounced more like Catrina - although if you say it the Gaelic way - there is a small lilt on that ‘o’.)

I grew up in Glasgow and for the first eighteen years of my life, I barely set foot out of Scotland.

Despite knowing nothing of the rest of the world, I did have:

the Weetabix World Atlas 1988, which I got free by collecting coupons from breakfast cereal,
a bookcase full of stories,
a head full of daydreams,
a Higher French ‘A’,
a desire to find belonging,
a curiosity to understand other places.

My journey

These were my first inspirations on a very non-linear journey into an international career.

I did not plan to, but step by step (and with a lot of detours and dead ends), I ended up living in ten countries on four continents. I now speak six languages which I learned along the way. I have had jobs and lived in places that my 20-year-old self would not have been able to imagine possible.

And because some people have asked - here is a small map of places I have lived.

It has been fascinating and a privilege to live in so many contrasting places, and also to have been able to build a career in the aid sector on the way.

I have also encountered many real challenges in choosing an unconventional path. I live with trauma and the difficult reality that adventures for young women in the world are not really like the ones we read about in books - where we get to go on adventures and escape unscathed.

Especially as a woman working in cultures and environments very different from her home, who had not learned the skills to navigate these challenges nor learned to believe in herself.

All the hidden stories

During my almost 20 years abroad, I have written about my experiences in journals, poems, stories, a fringe show and a novel.

While I have published a lot of research reports (as an expert in land governance and gender) most of what I have written about my personal experience has stayed hidden away in countless files on my computer.

I want to stop hiding these stories and share some of what I have learned. From the beauty and depth of living in different cultures to the challenges of things like loneliness, cultural confusion, feeling unrooted and the vulnerability which occurs from living a long time in different parts of the world.

I have been especially inspired by other women sharing their stories openly. They have helped me navigate many challenges. I hope my stories might do the same for others navigating this complex world we live in.

A few places which have marked my life - Nicaragua, Myanmar and Egypt.

Notes from Saving the World

I hope this newsletter will be as valuable to those who have travelled the world, as to those whose journeys have been less geography-focused.

For me, journeys are not all done with suitcases and planes to catch. Despite having been to many different places, my most profound journeys have happened navigating inner landscapes.

So, this is a place to connect our inner journeys to outer journeys and to bigger global change.

If you are charting an unconventional path…

I have been in the middle of the forest, not knowing which way to go, too many times.

I want to offer my stories as a navigation toolkit for others who might benefit from a companion or a community on their way.

If you are feeling lost, alone or are navigating systems, which do not hear or support them.
If you are seeking inspiration and vision for living in new ways.
If you are looking for tools and ideas to build a bolder life.
If you are seeking ideas to support your creativity and writing.

This is a place for you.

Sometimes we choose our circumstances, sometimes they land on us.

Either way, here you find ideas to grapple with, so you can start to lead boldly from where you are, no matter if it is where you planned to be.

A map of the territory

I think about this online space, as a map. Depending on what you need, you can explore different parts of the landscape.

As we go, I want to explore the qualities we need to go on real journeys, to walk uneven paths, to live creatively and to overcome the shocks life can throw at us. To do that, I will slowly be adding sections on this site to explore these together.

You, your story and your voice are welcome here.

So, put down your bag for a moment, look at the view, come in.

Join me.

Where to begin

Some places you might like to start: