The NEA ~ none event

The people running the New EA Govt scheme have not been back to me, the promised second session of this is meant to be tomorrow, now it won't happen. This characterises my whole experience of the years frustrating ups and downs, one step forward two steps back; it just occurred to me it's also the nature of  the unexpected journey of the ex-pat getting stuck back in their homeland.  

Understandably, at 86 yrs old. Mum gets worried about my start over from nothing situation, particularly when the west is in deep recession & my last business ended with me homeless because of my lack of business skills & the appallingly poor advice from my Bank.  She deals with her uncomfortable feelings by saying things like "well you would go and break your jaw" like it was an intentional act. As if  had just got off a train, saw a hole in the path and thought, OK, I'll just pole-axe myself into that hole chin first, break my jaw, cut my face& break some teeth, stopping only to rip my shoulder joint & bang my knee hard on the way down. 

I'm so sorry Mum, you are quite right you shouldn't have to deal with such an errant daughter at your age and you're right that you never gave your Mother such ghastly things to cope with. As you love to point out, you have always been "sensible" and have none of that "bohemian free spirit" in your bones, there's was no time for that when you grew up during WW1 & WW2.  Sometimes though, when she says that, she sighs as if she has glimpsed a part of herself dormant & un-lived in the wings; mostly she rolls her eyes in mock despair.

It's late at night, 23.56 to be exact, been asleep in the evening, am wide awake when i want to be asleep. This is a pattern of how my days can turn out since i got back to the UK, it's a bit of burnout. The return to a changed homeland can be surprisingly unsettling and stressful even if it is planned.  If it just happens to work out that way there are basic issues of housing, income and making new friends; some of your old ones will have moved on in your absence. Moving is tiring and disruptive yet with short term lets or inevitable changes in your own or landlords circumstances eg: the unexpected arrival of your pets or the realisation your new live in landlady is slightly psychotic, sadly finding home forays become a regularly depressingly tortuous  event.  Just when you find somewhere that ticks every important box, just when you've changed your official address with everybody, changes are announced and you're packing again ! 

I can't take it seriously any more, can't get attached to a place or long term ideas of a home, am just appreciative of all the different places am being gifted to live in, all the people am meeting, the lessons learned  every day. Since home from life in Egypt,. have had 8 different homes. 

Have been able to live here whilst my landlord started a new life, sadly for him, it's not worked out, sadly for me, he's now coming to live here. It's a 6 month agreement we have, with an if things change ~ one months notice clause. Once more I am searching for a new home. May home number 9 be wonderful. 

2012 will start with opening a new business and another home move, no pressure there then ! 

A new Gateway 

New Enterprise Allowance ~
 .. an adventure in madness ... or magical success ?

Picture taken at El Kab, Egypt Winter 2009. 

During the next 8-12 weeks I'll be writing about my experiences here in the UK, as i start and complete the NEA scheme. It's for anyone wanting to set up a new business and who has also not been able to work for a while. The accident which broke my jaw and ripped my shoulder last yr has taken some getting over. I am left with a lower jaw that is still fractured, though it sits in place supported by muscles. There is joint damage in my left shoulder. I have had to accept a need to change the way my work can happen safely. So there has been that process of resistance to change, uncertainty ~ how do i do this ? can i do this ? will it work ? blah, blah ....... throughout this, inspirations have come to be considered and many elements have synergised to bring me this far. Almost 2 weeks ago, a meeting was held to introduce the scheme to people like me who want help to restart work. A woman attendee crocheted all the way through the event, every now and then she interjected with comments which eventually revealed she was not entitled to be in the group !  Hmmm do hope this is no reflection on the usefulness of this scheme and the journey to works for self and "general dogsbody" status that so many of us including myself crave lol

We sat patiently in an old railway station building, trains roar past drowning out all in the room, some screech to a stop & we hear people chatting and dashing about, whistles blowing and tootings. We're in a horseshoe arrangement of desks; one desk didn't fit, there were empty seats at the horseshoe but still one couple choose to sit at the extra desk which faced the wall. They remain there with their backs to all throughout the laborious listening we had to do.  The woman, sits at a top desk, apparently uninspired by her role today, she reads rules and conditions from 4 sheets of A4 paper. Only when she reached the end of page 3, did some group members realised they were not eligible for this scheme.We were not asked to introduce ourselves; and so it is that i have sat in what could be a roomful of potential entrepreneurs and have none of their details and they have none of mine. Due to the nature of the way they work we may never meet in this group again.

After filling in forms giving only name, contact info and National Insurance number, it was time to leave, room rented for the hour i guess. "We'll be in touch" she called to us, that was 12 days ago, nothing has happened.....

So, I continue to develop plans, write, dream and vision this new working life and where it may lead .... far off lands ... or a dog around the street corner, can never tell. The process of this scheme is unstoppable, so this could be my new place for venting and loving the whole of it.  It is time now for me to pick up all the threads of my work and life and weave them into a beautiful new landscape..

Shanti to the Universe and to everyone who brought me this far .... 

Adventure on, the ship is Sailing !!!!  

Ahoy there new animals and people in new vistas, I'm on my way !!  

Starting a new chapter ...

Sunrise

Whilst every day brings a new sunrise and a fresh start .... some days feel more like beginnings of a whole new chapter. It's a month since at last a homely space to live opened up. Much unpacking, organising & reflection has been happening ... my body seems to have recovered from the accident last year, it has taken far longer than i could have known. So, now it is time to finish work plans and start over.

Since the accident turned my life & plans upside down, it has taken some time to feel able to commit to new plans & to find ways to allow them to unfold. This autumn a govt scheme is unrolling to support new business start ups giving my approach a focus & i get a free mentor who in theory will be supporting me through the paperwork process. Recession is probably helpful; many people will be happy to learn there are simple, inexpensive ways to keep their animals healthy preventing expensive visits to their vet.

Workshops, appointments, online courses, talks and my first book look at ways of improving animal well being, by taking advantage of their evolved instincts and learning how to easily give animals access to helpful natural superfoods and approaches they naturally know how to work with.  

Gaining insights into their natural abilities is so empowering for us, we can learn how to help them stay well by being guided by their instincts which have evolved over millions of years. Most of us feel a lot happier when we know there is always something we can do that helps our animals whatever is happening to them. Complementary approaches offer first responses in emergencies which are safe, gentle and work with the animals own body while you wait for veterinary help and are also concerned in the long term with nutrition and physical balancing to enhance condition and resistence to ill health.

Simple strategies include looking at the animal in the wild and what it chooses to eat during the different seasons, what it's natural life would be about and how to introduce wild forage foods and aspects of their natural life into their life with you.

Seeing the reaction of an animal to different plant extracts can reveal any stressful imbalances in nutrition or lifestyle which can easily be worked with. Whether weakness is rooted in emotional, physical or psychological causes does not matter, there is always a way of dealing with imbalances and negative effects.

 Animals often mirror our own selves, in learning more about natural nutrition and different approaches, many people gain insights which are useful for themselves. One client wrote to say, " Dear Kryssie, we have loved introducing natural feeding to our dog !  He really savours and enjoys his food with huge enthusiasm and in just 8 weeks appears healthier and younger. We have come to realise he is now eating like a gourmet while we eat junk, we would love another appointment to learn how we can eat as healthily as our dog "  

Another wrote, "Dear Kryssie, Thank you for the trauma relief Oils for our dogs emotional distresses.  My wife has been offering them to him by hand every day as instructed. The dog is much less traumatised and happier and i now also have back the lovely woman i married minus all her grumbles, tears and health moans. I guess they worked on her too !" 

Rewarding work, starting again, very soon :))

For more information, watch this space and you can contact me by email kryssie@kryssie-francis.com