Where has the time gone?  

Five months have flown by since I left the security of full time employment and began this new adventure.  It's been quite a roller coaster of a journey. 

To be honest, I spent some time enjoying the freedom of no longer being a slave to the alarm clock.  If I woke, as I habitually do, at 3 am, I no longer went into an anxious tizz, worrying about would I ever get back off to sleep? Would I be able to face another working day, trailing the coils of exhaustion around with me all day?  I now could be Zen like, knowing that I could catch up with sleep at any point during the day.  So of course, I would fall back off to sleep easily .  

The joys continued.  

I even enjoyed tidying up, as it was no longer the frenzied, frustrated whirl of five minutes before heading off to work; the filling of the washing machine, the collecting the battalion of coffee mugs and wine glasses which reside on almost every  surface in the flat, so they wouldn't be waiting for me when I got home. Then, as I was about to leave for work, hearing the pathetic meows from the cats, informing me  that the cat litter needed changing and the awful realisation that I'd forgotten to buy more.  I had all day to do these things.  It was great.

However, I'm not very good at being a domestic goddess and I soon tired of trying to be one. It was time to get back on track with  Scottish Ceremonies.

So, I got my publicity together. I began to distribute it and talked to everyone I met about it.  I'm a good talker.

Soon enquiries about weddings began coming in.  I was so excited, happy and eager to go.  Then reality hit.

In Scotland, unless you are a minister, a priest, a local authority registrar or a member of a humanist society, you can't do the legal bit of a wedding ceremony. It's a very uneven playing field and discriminates against those celebrants who don't wish to be prescriptive.  This set up means, couples who want to have different elements in their ceremony which would include aspects of spirituality (or not) have to  go off to a registrar with their witnesses, spend 10 minutes doing the boring legal bit before  then they can have whatever wedding ceremony and celebrations they want - with a celebrant like me! All hand crafted and personalised. Although it's not great to have to explain the differences and what I can and cannot do, I think being able to do what you want to do, outwit the legal boring bit, is the way to go., but I'm finding couples are wanting something which appears seamless.  I beg to differ, but it takes some convincing.  

Oh well, good things aren't always easy.  

I'm now working on ceremonies for those couples who have been married elsewhere and want a ceremony in Scotland, amongst the heather, in a glen, on a beach, in castle or a bothy.  As big or as wee a do as folk want.  Or a romantic renewal of vows. Or celebrating a new start in life. Lots of new things to work on.  It's great being able to respond to people's dreams.

I have been busy doing funeral ceremonies and services.  
It's difficult to explain how honoured I feel to be able to do this.  To be trusted by grieving friends and family to help them mark a loved one's life and death is such a gift.  Being with families, when they are in the midst of grief is a very special responsibility .  It's a privilege to hear their stories and to reflect their words and memories to a wider audience.  I love it.  

So glad I made the leap.

​Hello.
 
A couple of weeks ago, I left my work, the work I’ve been doing for over 25 years.  I was a  wee bit scared. The reality of leaving my lovely, supportive and funny colleagues made me apprehensive and more than a  bit teary.
 I’ve worked within community based adult education with groups and individuals.  Together we’ve organised adult education classes, creative writing groups, community arts projects and wonderful exhibitions which display the work done.  Sometimes I’ve worked with individuals who were learning to read and write as adults.  I’ve worked with older people in residential homes to help them in having a say about the services they require.  I’ve worked with carers of older people from minority ethnic communities in order that their voices and needs are heard and listened to.
It’s been great.

It was time to leave and do something new.  I’ve completed training with the Fellowship of Professional Celebrants in Wedding and Funeral Ceremonies and I’m now embarking on a new career as a Celebrant. Leaving the security of a local authority job (although, to be honest, there is no security  anymore as local authorities go through the ominously titled ‘transformation’ process) and heading off to a career where I have to start from scratch is scary. I’ll have to convince people to trust me with ceremonies which mark the most important events in their lives. Challenging as they say. Exciting too!
 
I’m starting this blo​g to capture the highs and lows of this new endeavour as honestly as I can.
I also love history, cookery, books, walks along beaches and cats.  I’m sure they’ll feature too.
 
Please join me!