The other day at MyST, in one of our regular team reflective practice sessions, we got to thinking about the endings of our work with children and families. A number of our pieces of work with children were coming to an end, and it seemed useful to think together about endings as a theme.The discussion […]
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That Martini thing… When I was about 12, I went to a friend’s house party and got drunk for the first time. I very quickly drank what seemed like a whole bottle of Martini (it was the 80s), and spent the next six hours throwing up into the kitchen sink until my parents fetched me […]
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On the homeward straight of my run last Sunday I tripped and fell over. Lying there on the ground, covered in mud, ripped leggings and bleeding knees, I noticed a dilemma about what to do next. Should I acknowledge what had happened, feel the pain and take a moment to recover before gingerly getting up […]
Read 'Falling over' >The other day at MyST, whilst talking together about our work with a particular child and family, the worker most closely involved spoke about how the child’s engagement with him seemed a bit patchy. Then another colleague began to notice a pattern in the interaction. ‘This child’s pattern is always to be in and out, […]
Read 'Cutting a pattern' >I’m no Domestic Goddess. My home is far from perfect. But if you look on my top kitchen shelf tonight, you’ll see the glittering sight of three people’s different birthday gifts, wrapped, ribboned and bagged, each with their respective thoughtfully chosen and penned card by their sides. And as you regard my gleeful face, you’ll […]
Read 'Want to develop? Stop right here' >
The other day at MyST, a group of us were reflecting upon our work with complex difficulties amongst complex systems. And it got us thinking about the nature of complexity. A few characteristics of complexity came to mind immediately; many moving parts, interacting in multiple ways, and highly unpredictable. In complex situations, it is impossible […]
Read 'Our old friend Vulnerability' >
I was recently talking with a friend and she began to tell me about how the stresses of the Covid 19 pandemic and its impacts on society, freedoms, pleasures and relationships were taking their toll on her. She said that she had started to feel low, unhappy and hopeless. She had even started to think […]
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I remember, years ago, working with a boy and his foster carers. After 10 years living together, the foster carers had reluctantly come to the conclusion that they could no longer provide a home for the boy. They told me that it just didn’t seem to be working any more. They had started to believe […]
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We were reflecting on our professional development in our roles recently. Having been involved in building MyST from an idea to a regional programme over the past 15 years, we have become very familiar with how things can be in this field of practice. Tracing back over the years, we reflected on our many mistakes. […]
Read 'Meeting 10,001 people from another country' >
I love fashion … or ‘style’ as I decided to rebrand it once I grew too old for Topshop and needed to justify to myself why I’m paying double for my clothes these days. And indulging this love, I was recently in a re-opened John Lewis, cruising the rails of ladies-wear. My arms were slowly […]
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