Importanter Stuff

The symbols of my present life (the white shirt and the lanyard) are screaming at me.  “Stay”, they say, “it’s safer here”.  “And you know it so well”.  And in a way, they might be right!

 

I’m within sight of the finish line, but I’m checking myself constantly to make sure that I finish the race with a sprint. In just two weeks I will be moving from the safety of the life I’ve been so invested in for 40 years and will start on my journey to Importanter Stuff (I must update my spell checker to let it know that my made-up word is now firmly part of my new vocabulary!).

 

The first phase of our plans, in our world of giving, is now firmly set – the Visas for Belarus are applied for and arriving to us on Tuesday next.  Two months of Orphanages, Asylums, Convents, and language challenges await (yes, I did say Convents – you’ll have to check back regularly to see what I’m talking about).  Our second phase is “in the bag”, just a case of nailing the dates now. And our third phase is starting to unfold!

 

Am I excited? – Yes.  Am I nervous? – Oh Yes!

 

The decision to turn my world upside down and inside out was not taken easily (or recently). This has been inevitable for quite some time (but I was in denial, and at a stage of my life where doing this would not have been possible).

 

We’re raising funds for the two charities that we will work with in the first phases of our new life.  Burren Chernobyl Project (based out of Ennistymon in Ireland) and Refugee Support Europe (based out of Brighton in England).

 

Support us by clicking on this link https://www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/donosullivan

 

I’m not done just yet, there’s the final weeks of handing over all that’s in my brain to my successor (and before you say it – I know you were thinking it – that will take more than 10 minutes!).

 

As those of you that know me would expect, I’ve installed some parachutes and safety nets. But my intention is not to use these, and to move further from them in the coming weeks and months. But leaving 40 years of relative comfort behind will not be easy (and I say that whilst still in the “comfort zone”). But as I’ve said, to so many people since my first post here, – I would hate to look back in years to come and regret a decision I took too long to make (or didn’t make).

 

Stay with me here where my world of #ImportanterThings will unfold (and yes, of course, there will be a book ).