Work & life travels of an introvert - Article #2

It's half term and my family and I are heading to the depths of West Wales in the UK, to a tiny city called - St Davids. Travelling the weekend that storm 'Boris' was due to arrive meant potentially difficult driving conditions. Luckily(!?), many folk had taken heed of the advice to stay at home and we make the journey in a good four and a half hours.

We have been here a several times, our accommodation a small hunkered down eco cottage called 'The Cabin' right on the coastal path. It’s an easy five-minute walk to the beach and beautifully isolated, except for a multitude of people peering into the cabin whilst walking along the coastal path! It’s equally unnerving and amusing – being caught at the right (or wrong, depending how you look at it!) moment we can be caught in the midst of telling off the kids or just enjoying a game of trivial pursuit, equally we saw folk walking in glorious sunshine, pouring rain, gale force winds and heavy hail – I think we got the best deal there!

But, regardless, why not close the blinds? I hear you ask, well the view is just amazing at all times of the day so to close us off to the outside world would mean you miss out on so much. I guess this is true for many aspects of life, we will bring their shutters down in an effort to protect ourselves but in doing we miss out on so much, there is immense courage needed at times to crack the blinds open and then completely raising them and this is not a thing that comes naturally to many, I certainly include myself in that list having experienced this in the past. 

But I digress, back to where we are. The cabin itself is tiny, a bathroom, one bedroom and a living/kitchenette area, a couple of bunk beds in a tucked away corner in the hall between the bedroom and bathroom. The space provides an opportunity for some quality family time, there is no mobile or broadband available there(!). It is a struggle for the kids during the first few days, which is both entertaining and frustrating to watch in equal measure. Eventually they get into the swing of things. Days are delightfully simple, a lazy start followed by breakfast and then a walk to the beach, enabling us to soak up the experience of being on the coast during this time of year. The weather represents most of the seasons with wind, rain, hail and bright sunshine all aplenty during the week.

The Welsh coast is my happy place, I'm fortunate that my wife also loves to be by the sea so it's a win/win. I grew up being able to cycle to the beach in Wales along with my closest friends. Memories of riding to our local beach and freewheeling all the way down the last hill to the beach and long days spent boulder hopping and the general enjoyment of just being there as teenagers and then when it's time to return, friendly farmers offering for us to hang onto their truck/trailer to get back up the hill again, I'd like to say simpler times, but as with many things, it was of course difficult in its own way, but that’s a story for another time.

I take delight in my kids (now 11 & 9) beginning to appreciate what the Welsh coast has to offer and I hope, embedding the sense of belonging that I have. The Welsh have a word that encapsulates this and so much more, which is ‘Hiraeth’ (Pronounced “hee-rah-eh-th” in English). I’ve always spoken primarily Welsh to my kids even though thy have grown up in England (and yes I do get very strange looks at times!).

My girl completely understands but does not speak it which regardless, is lovely, but equally frustratingly my boy for whatever reason has not picked it up as well and understands bits and pieces. How can you talk the same language to two people at the same time and one understand and the other not? I wonder if I was more present for my first during her early years or if it’s just one of those things and my boy is just wired differently. I confess it was so easy to just assume what worked the first-time round will work again and it is very much a lesson learnt for me. Never assume that just because one person gets what you are saying that the person next to them will also – of course this holds true in the workplace as much as it does with friends & family.

We make sure to spend time in St Davids, there the kids get to hear me speaking Welsh to native speakers outside of my immediate family, which in itself bears fruit in one shop with free samples of chocolate! We spend time doing treasure hunt type activities in the Cathedral which directs you to really interesting features there. 

I must say, every time we go there we spot something we had missed previously, it’s amazing how the same thing can look so different dependent on your own personal emotions and those around you are at the time. I find work much the same, I’ll walk away from a particularly complex issue and instead work on something different for a while, which helps me shift/get back into a different mindset. I’ll often jest that I do my best excel work over a glass of whisky! In reality, this is the same, I’ve sat back, relaxed, re-framed and a glass of something in my hand that helps me look at it from a different perspective, I think so many people get stuck on ‘the problem’ be it something personal in our lives to work activities – make sure you have that break, re-frame and then try again, you absolutely have not failed if you can't do it on the first attempt!

As with all things, our time was not without its drama – a quick jaunt to the local hospital was called for as my little girl had landed awkwardly from jumping over a gate onto an ankle that was broken some two years ago. We were fortunate that it was right at the end of the break and after x-ray, noted it was just an extremely bad sprain. It was a timely reminder of how fragile we are and how the silliest thing can have such significant repercussions. Always remember this as part of your interactions with others. What may be seen as a trivial/silly thing to one, could make the difference between another person breaking completely, be mindful in your interactions.

I’ve scattered pictures that I took there through this article to try and give a sense of what I love so much about the welsh coastline and to close out before I ramble on for too much longer, I’d love to leave those of you that have read this far (and a huge thank you in advance!) with a question – what is your happy place and why?