Happy (belated) 1st birthday to TBOI!

Some lessons that I have learned along the way and a newsletter update

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

On November 1st, I celebrated this newsletter’s first birthday!

It’s been a funny old year in many ways (the last few weeks notwithstanding). In November 2023, I was unemployed and wondering what on earth I was going to do having chosen to leave my teaching career in the summer due to professional burnout.

Looking back, I know that the burnout was a result of a culmination of factors; the demands of working in education for over 16 years (the requirement to constantly be on and the pressure with preparing students for exams and so on); while another significant aspect was related to my own expectations about work. I have lots of thoughts about this last bit but for now, I wanted to share a few of the things that I have learned since starting this newsletter.

---

I had grand plans when I first set up The Best of Intentions. Before publishing my welcome post, I spent an inordinate amount of time crafting my About page and thinking what direction I wanted to take with this newsletter in. I am a planner and a master procrastinator.

Certainly, one of my first thoughts was that this would be a place to document my career break… I mean, my first post began with the words:

“Since I made the decision to leave my teaching job, I have often been asked, why?”

But it quickly dawned on me that I didn’t just want to focus on career change or work more broadly in my writing. I was burned out! Why did I think that constantly thinking and writing about work would somehow help things?

Sure, reflection is helpful and necessary. But any reflection during the years before I made the decision to take a career break were mostly spent beating myself up for even contemplating taking time out. And while I knew that I wanted to look at my burnout in the eyes, I was also aware that having my mind free to wander might help with the healing process.

So, I decided to make this newsletter into an experiment where I could test ideas, follow my interests, and crucially, practice my writing.

For as long as I can remember, writing has been how I try to make sense of the world. That’s not to say that writing provides all of the answers, but it helps me to sieve through the random and often contradictory thoughts that I hold. Perhaps most significantly, over the past year, I have noticed that when I don’t write for a particular period of time my brain becomes gloopy. An odd word choice, I know, but I can’t seem to retain thoughts and things become… well, gloopy! It is though my brain has the consistency of a blancmange (although I believe that actual brains may be a little like this).

Fortunately, this newsletter has allowed me the chance to explore topics that are career/work related, but also other areas such as: my love of neon, strength training, a love letter to Vietnam, and some lessons that I learned from Shakespeare during a work training session.

And speaking of lessons here are a few more things that I have learned over the past year:

• Never underestimate the amount of research required, but don’t let it drag you down

• Once you have an idea, put it on the page and ignore the mess

• But then edit, edit, and edit again.

• Not writing is helpful

• Because thinking is incredibly helpful

• I don’t have to comment on everything and that’s ok, and

• I don’t have to read everything in my inbox either

• Niche? Smiche! I want to write about lots of things

• Follow the energy when it comes to exploring ideas of what to write about

• But when it becomes difficult to focus, perhaps it’s time to take a break and go for a walk

• Observe but don’t follow the ‘trends’ on Notes

• It is possible to connect and with meet fellow Substackers IRL (shout-out to

  Hannah Ashe
  and
  Michelle Neeling
  .

• And importantly, have fun!

---

One ‘small’ change

A few weeks ago, I quietly turned on the paid feature for this newsletter (£20 per year). I honestly don’t expect anyone to pay for what I share here and my posts will continue to be freely available. Perhaps I will add some additional features for paid subscribers in the future, but for now, I just want to focus on showing up and putting in the good work. Still, the simple act of turning paid on has provided me with a small psychological nudge about how I view my own writing.

So, what’s coming up?

The same sort of stuff, and here are some things that I am working on with varying degrees of energy:

• The psychology of popularity

• Colour therapy

• Failing at ambition

• More posts sharing my photography

• And more about the remarkable city where I live - Hong Kong

Earlier this year, I talked with Hannah Ashe on her podcast for my first Substack collaboration where we discussed creative career change. And I am incredibly excited to announce my second collaboration that will be shared in the next few months. More details coming soon.

So, anyway, happy first birthday to TBOI. But more importantly, thank you to you — all of the readers! Your support means the world to me.

---

And finally… one other thing that I wanted to share from this past year. Back in January, I attended the graduation ceremony for MSc Psychology.

Hello! Don’t let the sunshine or the half-smile deceive you, it was bloody freezing!

It’s now been over a year since I submitted my dissertation and since I started this newsletter. Life goes by fast.

That idea that I described earlier of having no idea what I was going to do once I left full-time teaching feels a little strange now because I do have some work updates! And I am currently working on a piece to share with you soon.

Have a great week!

Sarah

---

Not subscribed to The Best of Intentions? Enter your email address below and you will receive all future posts and access to the archive. Like what you read? It helps tremendously if you hit the ‘like’ button, or share this post with a friend. And if you wish to share a comment, please do! I read and reply to all 😀

Finally, if you are on Instagram, you can find some of my photography here.