Stephanie Hardy – Writing from the Heart
Looking for hope, progress and ikigai in an increasingly volatile world
Category: Diversity & Inclusion
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Fear and Failure
Fear can be paralysing, particularly fear of failure if you’re operating in a field where you’re seen to have experience. After a few conversations on this recently, I wanted to reflect on some ideas that will probably be familiar but we sometimes forget. Failing is essential to growth. If you don’t get things wrong, often… Read.
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Perspectives
On Friday night, 29th January, I got clipped by a car wing mirror whilst in the middle of a zebra crossing. Today I want to relay what happened, and then reflect on the way our perspectives can influence how we process events. Friday evenings since last March, I routinely dial into a group call with… Read.
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Beat Blue Monday
I believe that as 2021 begins, it’s more important than ever before not to put your life on pause because of our circumstances. With Blue Monday mere days away, this feels particularly topical as a way to beat it. Christmas provided a good period for reflection, with New Year constituting a moment to challenge myself… Read.
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Finding our diamonds
There’s a lot of anger and hurt in the world right now, and I understand why but I worry about the long-term consequences. Whilst expressing the feelings is cathartic, negativity can end up fuelling negativity in a vicious spiral. Not a single person needs that weight right now. Today I want to reflect on finding… Read.
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On Competitive Drive
One of the hardest things for me is trying not to compare myself to other people. I’m competitive and ‘losing’ makes me grumpy, no matter how deserving the ‘winner’. Despite this, I don’t think competitiveness is an inherently bad trait – in fact it can be a real strength. The challenge is being mindful of… Read.
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Can ‘Busy’ be good?
I’ve been thinking recently about “ikigai” and its definition of “the happiness of a busy life”. This concept has been butting up against points articulated in an article by Anne Helen Petersen from January 2019 on “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation” – she reflects on the impact of the requirement to be constantly productive… Read.
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Lists vs Lockdown
In view of Boris’ announcement, I thought I’d talk about mental health this week. I can’t offer any advice because I’m not a trained mental health professional, but I have personal experience with anxiety and depression so I’m reflecting on how I’m handling it. My situation is that I live alone, am part way through… Read.
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Money Matters
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the interrelations between different indices of deprivation and minority groups. In particularly, finances have been on my mind as I listen to ‘The Deficit Myth‘ by Stephanie Kelton – I’ll be coming back to concepts in the book in later entries, but it is so very good I… Read.
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“I speak with an accent, I don’t think with one.”
“I speak with an accent, I don’t think with one.” This quote from one of my old managers has stuck with me. It came up when we were discussing racism and how people respond to difference. It was one of those moments that made me realise my own privilege and all the assumptions we make… Read.
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The Power of Writing
We’re in an era of telling our stories at the moment. From “Me too”, to “Black Lives Matters”, to “This is Me” and “It gets better”, we’re all using personal accounts to motivate change for the better. And it works because of how emotive those stories are: we can make the reader or listener feel… Read.
Writing from the Heart 