Six years ago, with bated breath, I left my job with the Hay Group to set up my own business. The deep personal and professional journey on which I was about to embark was as yet unknown to me. The richness of joy and experience that lay ahead were beyond my imagining at that time. I felt fear, excitement. Mostly, I felt fear.
My colleague from way back when, Norman, let me know of a community of professionals with an interest in questions of learning and development, who meet virtually through a daily digest of postings and responses. Back then it was called UKHRD. Since then it has become the TJ (Training Journal) Online Discussion Forum. From the beginning, I found a community of people willing to support each other. From the beginning, I discovered my own joy in participating in the forum. I loved to share and I loved the variety of feedbacks that came my way.
Last Christmas I was blown away to receive a card from Carrie, one of the readers of the Digest, who let me know just how much she enjoyed my postings. Suddenly I became aware of my own joy in writing in a new way. What a paradox! So obvious was it to me that I enjoy writing that it was sitting outside my conscious awareness. I started to ask myself, what do I want to do with this gift that I enjoy so much?
Later, it seemed natural to engage members of the Forum in this question. I spoke with Angie, another member of the Forum, about her own experiences of blogging. Our conversation was more than enough to inspire me to begin this blog even whilst being as yet uncertain about the purposes it would serve and unaware of what it might lead to.
Suddenly, this evening, as I plan a posting which has yet to be written, I think of my colleagues on the Forum with a deep sense of gratitude. From those who have read my postings in silence to those who have given feedback, from those who have welcome my postings to those who have found them harsh or unfair, from those who have sought out my professional support as a result of what they read to those who have offered support in a wide variety of areas. And this evening, I especially think of those whose actions inspired me to begin this as-yet-still-young weblog.