Nearing the End of 2024

A year ago, I thought 2024 would bring a new beginning. Instead, it turned out to be a year of finding my feet and gradually discovering a new direction, in other words, more of a year of transition. What surprised me most was that like the year before, it was a year in which personal developments took precedence over work. It has been worthwhile though.

As I mentioned a year ago, health issues led to a lack of earnings in 2023 but thankfully I had a bit of a buffer to make it through the year. By the end of the year, that buffer was running out. At the start of this year, it quickly became clear that the compendium project would be entirely self-funded, which is challenging when money is running out. In addition, while several consultancies were offered early in the year, a series of delays on all of them meant that the work did not start until summer and money only started coming in after the first deliverables were submitted.

So, while the overview of the sixth year of Family-Based Solutions (HERE) shows a lot of projects taking place this year, they essentially all happened at the same time, in the third quarter of 2024. As is the way, in the life of an independent consultant. This made finances a bit of a theme for me, this year.

In addition to that, while a year ago it seemed like my health issues had been resolved, this turned out not to be the case. They returned and got steadily worse. In October, I ended up having surgery to resolve the issues once and for all. This brought with it great relief, but also medical leave and recovery until the end of the year.

Through all this, however, I have continued to develop a lot, both personally and professionally. New priorities and professional directions have emerged, building on the work on ‘Understanding the Trauma of Children from Institutions. A training manual for case workers’ (HERE). The time for reflection, provided by my medical leave, has gradually allowed me to shape those new priorities into a new professional goal and direction. With the start of 2025, I look forward to starting work on a new website and a book as a starting point for that new direction, which aims to get Beyond the Trauma Wall. So, watch this space.

It will be interesting to see whether 2025 will bring the sense of new beginnings it seems to promise, but that I thought were on the way a year ago as well. If not, I look forward to further development to move closer to those new beginnings, as that has been very worthwhile this year.

I wish you a joyful and peaceful Yule, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or other festivities that you may celebrate. May 2025 bring mutual understanding and cooperation, respectful dialogue, peace, connection, compassion, and love to all.