Where Am I Now? No, Not Where I Expected ...

Updates, celebrating Scotland's softness, embracing the journey with its many twists and turns

Dear friends,

I am so happy to say hello again. Despite the unexpected moving around the world, I am finally putting pen to paper, fingers to keypad, and writing.

Wherever you join me from, and through whatever pathway you found this newsletter: Substack, the Creative Bridges conference, friendship or other spaces - Welcome.

You and your story have a space here. Thank you for allowing some room for mine in your inbox.

You are always welcome to join this conversation, scroll down for more…

Life Takes Unexpected Twists and Turns

It has been a very odd few months, sometimes overwhelmingly beautiful - wandering the land of Northern Mull and the hills and forests of the Cairngorms.

Sometimes, plainly unexpected, as I thought I would be picking up this newsletter again from the urban cafes of Dubai, and very briefly, I did revisit the city, to unexectly find the company that flew me out there could no longer afford to employ me.

And so a mere two weeks later, I was flown back to Scotland - both jobless and without a place to live. (And, yes, this is the second signed contract in my job search this year that a company has cancelled at the last minute - lots we could say about the modern workplace).

Coming Home, Knowing Home, Being Home, In All Its Senses

So instead of Dubai, or Scotland, I am unexpectedly writing to you from Portugal, where a Substack friend (shoutout to

Liza Debevec

), very generously offered me her empty flat to stay in for a month while she was away.

And that is where you find me, as I try to find some grounding in a year that keeps turning me around, relocating me around the world, and asking me to question if North is still North. (Currently, I am not quite sure.)

As I mentioned previously, I don’t find it easy to write without a steady routine (and the minute I sat down with the intention to write this article, the street was instantly filled with revving jeeps, noisy street cleaners and beeping buses, as if my commitment to writing again was being further tested and challenged.

I have realised that I need to get better at focusing on creating, while unsettled in location and life direction, as that seems to be the way my life has taken this year. (And yes, that very dedicated street cleaner is coming back for a tenth sweep of the area directly outside this cafe. Perhaps modelling a commitment to cause.)

Of course, being quiet online doesn’t mean I have not been creating and dreaming. I have many half-finished pieces from the past few months, a new online course in development, an ebook I am working on, and a novel to submit (and extra energy to submit, thanks to the amazing collaborative support and editorial eye of

Mariah Friend

reviewing the first chapter - do check out her novel self publication journey and monthly community exchange).

While I have been resting, this newsletter has frequently found its way onto the Rising International Newsletters Board on Substack, furthering my commitment to the belief that sometimes it takes a moment of stepping back and rest for our work to take on energy of its own.

So, while I might not have been visiting your inbox regularly, I have been incubating, and I have a lot to share. I am looking forward to deepening my ideas and reflections through conversations and exchanges here.

In the meantime, a few notes and scrapbooks from the past months and some gifts and collaboration requests.

Scotland - Mull, Cairngorms, Scottish long summer days and colours

Scotland, from Tobermory to the Cairngorms, my homeland, has carried me through some difficult days the past few months.

A brief moment in Dubai and an unexpected arrival in Lisbon, a new temporary landing place

Waiting for the bus in the 40-degree heat of Dubai and images from a few days wandering a more temperate Lisbon this week.

Gift Subscriptions

I have two gift subscriptions to

Lacy Phillips

By Candlelight. Her rooted writing, as well as the TBM process, has been helping me stay vaguely sane amongst the ups and downs of life recently.

• If you want one of these gifts, please send me a DM or reply to this email.

Collaboration Invitation

I will be exploring some new collaborative processes for this newsletter, including interview opportunities (I will share these later).

For now, I am looking to connect to anyone who is interested in the following:

• Have you been exploring the idea of setting up an online event or podcast?

• I have 20 years of events experience, from facilitating intimate exchanges between women farmers in Myanmar to big stage conversations for world leaders at COP 28.

• As the world of employment is letting me down right now, I am looking to explore if there are ways my experience could add value for smaller businesses, freelancers and solo-preneurs.

• If you would like to pick my event content and strategy brain in exchange for sharing a bit about your event/podcast dreams and challenges, please reply, leave a comment, or send me a DM.

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  Join the conversation

• As always, say hello to me, to each other and join the conversation in the comments.

• As I have been sharing some of my life updates, I would love to invite you to do the same.

• This is your invitation to share a picture, a link from your newsletter, a quote, or anything that has been lighting up your life, keeping you sane, or helping you make sense of the world.

• You don’t subscribe, that is the best way to keep me motivated. You can do that here.

• And you can buy me a coffee here: Flat whites with oat milk gifts.

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More soon friends, deep breaths and good energy as I work out what is next,

Catriona