Quietly glowing magic

I had a bit of a magical start to 2011.  At midnight I was on a rooftop balcony overlooking London with friends and family, we lit two paper lanterns and released them into the night. They gently floated up into the sky – little glowing balls that joined around twenty other lanterns from other people (they were pretty popular this year).  In amongst the different sets of fireworks from people’s back gardens was a steady stream of quietly glowing, floating balls that were just magical to watch!

Like most people over Christmas and New Year I’ve eaten chocolate for breakfast (as well as the usual dinner and tea), made promises I know I can’t keep and been amazed at how quickly the last twelve months have gone. 

It has been a truly amazing year for me though – I’ve travelled to India, Togo and Peru, meeting the staff and children of Children Unite’s partner agencies.  And, together with five child domestic workers, have lobbied delegates at the International Labour Organization’s annual conference at the UN in Geneva.  I’ve worked for the first time with my partner (Jonathan) which did feel a bit weird but I’m comfortable with it now!  In fact, working with the whole team for this project – Rose, Keren, Audrey and Mariela, has been a fantastic experience.  And then, in September, Children Unite got registered charitable status (and I actually understand our Memorandum and Articles of Association!!) and, last but in some ways least, I left my paid job to focus on setting up Children Unite full-time.  I feel truly, truly lucky to be in this position – especially when so many of my friends are facing redundancy or worse. 

When I look back over the year I am reminded of the quietly glowing, magical, floating balls.  I think I was expecting the excitement of fireworks when I finally left my job to set up Children Unite – but in actual fact, it’s been a bit of a slog since September.  The most exciting time was earlier in the year when I was working with child domestic workers abroad – especially in Geneva when I could see the children’s skills and confidence growing day-by-day.  And I thought ‘Wow, I’m part of this!’.  But it was a humbling, quietly glowing kind of magic – like the New Year lanterns – rather than the noise and excitement of fireworks.

So, I think my key learning from this year is not to underestimate the slow magic of quietly glowing, floaty, things!  And I love the idea of thousands of quietly glowing, floaty magic being released into the night for everyone to share.