This post comes to you from the Blue Pumpkin Cafe at Phnom Penh Airport as I await my flight to Bangkok, leg 1 of my 3 leg journey back to Manchester.

My last month in Kampot has been one of contemplation concerning my writing future.

You may recall that I originally planned to write a book as part of my three month experiment into making Kampot home.

Well, that hasn’t happened.  I’ve really struggled to get past the two page blog post/essay phase on any given topic, whilst also having a crisis of confidence over my writing style, including a real dumb ass phase where Norman convinced me that comparing myself to other writers was a good idea!!!

However, it’s not all doom and gloom.  Whilst I haven’t put much writing out over the last couple of weeks and I have decided for now that a book is not the way to go, I have found a way forward.

I love writing.  Not only do I find the process hugely cathartic, putting my thoughts into the written word gives me great joy, as does receiving the positive strokes (Transactional Analysis speak for warm and fuzzy feedback) from you guys when I share my writing with you.

Following my brief stint in the UK and my first foray into English Language Summer School work -EEK! – I have decided to make Kampot my home for the foreseeable future and so my life will continue to be one where I get to wear flipflops every day.

However, in reality it probably can’t truly be described as ‘New’, thus rendering this blog’s title defunct and leaving me with a quandary.

That quandary has been further compounded by the need to promote my professional self online as I continue to build my portfolio career (ooh err how posh am I describing my life of playing at work, doing bits and bobs of stuff that I love as a portfolio!!!).

As you can imagine, I mulled this over endlessly, spinning thoughts round and round in circles in my head, reaching conclusions, doubting then dismissing them over and over with the ever helpful Norman giving his input despite being told epeatedly to shut the f*ck up!

One of the biggest issues I’ve grappled with is how, and whether, to separate professional from personal.  Should I really openly expose my battles with Norman to  organisations I may potentially get work from and is my work really of interest to those who enjoy reading about the exploits in my bonkers life and head?

But I’ve finally donned my big girl pants and made a decision.  And I’ve decided that for me combining work and personal is the way to go.  Yes, it might be a bit risky exposing organisations to my potty mouth and hormonal bonkersness and it may also be a turn off for some to read about all things leadership and performance management but the fact is that all of these, along with a whole host of other stuff, are part of who I am.

And being brutally honest, if readers don’t like seeing and experiencing the whole me then they can jog on because we aren’t going to get on in real life anyway.  Life is too short to play games and pretend – I want to do what I love, with people I love whilst being my 100% bonkers, oversharing, laughing, crying swearing like a trooper, irreverent self.

And so, the time has come to say farewell to anewlifeinflipflops.wordpress.com and hello to my new online space:

http://allthingssaraperry.co.uk/

It’s very much a work in progress so please bear with me (am I the only person that has to google that saying every time I write it to make sure I’ve used the correct ‘bear’?) as I continue to tweak it.

And, because it’s still a work in progress I’m really keen to hear what you think and get suggestions of other stuff you’d like to see included and ideas about how to make it better.

So please please talk to me.  Comment below, email me or use social media, I don’t care how you get in touch,  I just want to know what you think.

 

 

And just before I go, a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who has laughed and cried with me this year as I’ve shared with you my journey to create a new life in flip flops – it wouldn’t have been the same without you.

See you on the other side

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