Issue #87 A brief look back...
And a tentative look ahead
Hello there. Happy 2025 to you!
Although the Solstice seems like more natural time for deep reflection and renewal, it is customary to use the turn of the calendar year as an excuse to glance back at the year just passed and to think about what we want the year ahead to look like.
It has been a weird year for us. Starting dismally yet ending with opportunity and hope. It served as a good exercise in perseverance, plus a valuable reminder to never write the year, or indeed yourself off, for good things just as well as bad could be just around the corner.
Last year we were so bold as to publish our hopes and dreams for the year ahead, perhaps in some way hoping that if we wrote them down and said them out loud that the universe would hear and bring them into fruition. Of course, we know the universe doesn’t work like that - it’s up to us to make our own luck - but it was worth a try.
Many things on our list of plans for the coming year didn’t pan out as we hoped. Ok, the majority. But other things did happen that were unexpected or that were offshoots of our original intentions.
There were also some interesting revelations. We had decided to start running workshops again in 2024, which for several reasons (but mostly the terrible weather) didn’t work out. Strangely though, we felt a sense of relief when we had to cancel our bookings; I guess we didn't really want to run workshops again that much after all. Sometimes you have to commit to something fully before you find out how you really feel about it. A couple of teaching and guiding opportunities came our way which we loved doing - I think it is just the pressure of filling workshop spaces and hosting that we don’t enjoy.
We did not make as much progress with reviving our online store as we wanted, but we did add a few new items and I did do a lot more woodworking projects with commissions for gates and tables made of oak. I also made a new home for the wooden things I make.
Another thing that was on our list was “Adventures”. Although we had small adventures aplenty throughout the year with some memorable mountain days, the weather kept us from the overnighters and multi-day hikes that we had envisioned at the start of the year. That one constant in our lives, a lack of funds, kept us from travel to far away lands and our prospects for adventure were looking bleak for the year. Thankfully our luck changed (or perhaps persistence paid off) with an invite to take part in the Fjällräven Classic UK in September which ended up being a highlight of our year. We wrote about it here in case you missed it:
There are other highlights that went someway to making up for the poor beginning. Giving a talk at Kendal Mountain Festival in November was a particularly big deal for us; despite the fact that we were feeling down on our luck and lacking in confidence due to the rocky start to the year we agreed to take part, knowing that it is usually better to say yes to opportunities that come your way. On occasion saying yes to things has backfired, but in this case our risk was rewarded - preparing the talk provided us with a catalyst to think about who we are and what we do, and we had a lot of fun speaking on stage, catching up with people at the festival and we feel a lot better for it.
One other opportunity came along towards the end of the year too - a new piece of land to look after, adding to the little cluster of woodlands and their surrounding habitats that we manage and work in. We have lots to do - trees to fell and firewood to make, fences, bridges and pathways to look after, trees to plant and wildlife to improve habitat for. This is not an opportunity we were looking for but, we’re glad it found us. We’re glad too to have people around us who help steer opportunities in or direction.
And what of this New Year? What will it bring? What do we hope for?
In truth, I don’t know. Despite grievances about struggles of self-employed life and a lack of fairness in society, we are generally content and proud of who we are and what we do. We will continue to live in accordance with our three guiding way-markers: Nature, Creativity and Adventure. To move slowly and gently through the world. We could not wish for much more.
The things we would seek to change are outside of our control, but it would be nice to keep the positive momentum going, to capitalise on the small successes from the tail end of the previous year. A few more talks and events (we actually already have one planned). We would like a little more time and space for creative projects. We have been talking about starting a new podcast. Maybe this will be the year we take a holiday?
And maybe we could arrange for some better weather, because that quite frankly sucked last year…
Well, whether you care for resolutions or plans or reflections or not, we wish you nothing but the best for the year ahead and offer our heartfelt thanks to those who supported us through 2024. We hope to back next week with tales of cold weather…
With warmest wishes,
Andrew, Emma and Benji
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P.S if you'd like a quick and easy way to support what we do in 2025, you can make a donation here - we appreciate every penny!
May it be a good year for y’all! We are still getting so much compliments for the design you made us 🫶
Hadge here: Totally agree with Joan’s comment and look forward to seeing how this coming year unfolds for the three of you as you continue to stride out into the adventurous unknown 🙏 Happy New Year 💚