A Fool's Leap

How being bipolar and bored led me to many “fool’s leaps” and a “portfolio career” that has taken me from from Dogsbody to Death Doula

In my life I have been many things.

At work I’ve filled many roles, had many titles. Here are some:

Supermarket dogsbody, warehouse dogsbody, kitchen dogsbody, office dogsbody.

Hat check clerk at an ice rink (actually, I was a shoe check clerk. Oh boy!)

“Credit controller”, “Contract controller”, legal enforcer

“Webmaster”. “Big Chief of Technology”, “Loose Cannon”

Director, unemployed, unemployable.

Founder, Photojournalist, Editor, Editor-in-Chief

Professional foster carer, semi-professional events and wedding photographer.

Coder, computer programmer, software developer, project manager, “Principal Engineer”

Writer, games designer, publisher, artist, crafter

Death Doula

Change. Lots of it. Almost all unplanned.

I often leap before I look…
…and am caught.

Sometimes with complications. Sometimes with discomfort. Never with regret.

At TEDxNewcastle, Uncertainty Experts” Sam Conniff and Katherine Templar Lewis gave a talk How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Uncertainty. Their advice was basically: make more Fool’s Leaps. Except they backed it up with neuroscience.

A funny thing is, after I’ve leapt, I realise that my subconscious and my gut have been telling me for a while that I need a change. But the frustration had to bubble up to the point where it burst into my consciousness and screamed “ENOUGH!”

I’ve talked about my working life, but the same approach applies to many things. If you’re stuck in a rut, perhaps you just need to rearrange your furniture. It’s helped me.

We fret about a lot: finances, what people think, growing older, dying… fret less, do more. Try something new. Now, how did that work out?

Trust your gut. Leap more often. Into the void. Oh my god, it’s full of stars!

(BRB, I’m just off to google how to become an Uncertainty Expert…)

❤ THANK YOU FOR READING ❤

While you’re here, can I ask a favour? Please help me buy more cornflakes by:

• 📢 Telling a friend about The Mycoleum

• 👕🖼📚🛍 Buying books, art, T-shirts and stuff from my online shop.

• 📃 Buying PDFs from my other online shop

• 💌 Becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter.

• 👂 Telling another friend about The Mycoleum

We’ve all got something to sell. Here: buy my soul. It won’t wear out!

Love ya!
Dxx 🗿

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