Queen of the New Year

Hello and I wish a happy 2021 to everyone and a very special welcome to new subscribers

It’s difficult to have useful insights with everything that’s going on. I look through my phone screen that is a window to the world at the moment and think that so much of what’s happening was predicted. So why was it still allowed to happen? Someone please explain.

Every New Year’s Eve, I try to re-read this article that John Diamond wrote in the months before he died in March 2001: Reasons to be Cheerful. I happened to be going through a very low period exactly twenty years ago and his words helped me then. They help me, in another low period, now.

Just before Christmas, it was good to see the launch of the BBC’s Creative Diversity report, with its focus on gender, race, and disability on-screen and off-air. The report also emphasises the importance of social mobility too. I agree with all of these and I applaud any organisation that is putting in the effort to make change, but I couldn’t help noticing many areas are missing, such as age, faith, LGBTQ, intersectionality. It would be helpful to understand whether these are aspects for future attention or not. Otherwise it’s hard to believe that the BBC means it when it says in the report that “Representing all audiences in the UK is a priority for us”. Particularly in the light of this story which was a bit bizarre. And this.

For Christmas each year, my parents buy us a membership to the National Trust. I’m even more proud to be a member this year with the important and principled work they are doing to increase people’s understanding of the connection between National Trust properties and colonialism. Obviously there are some who think that work is too political. Deciding not to do this work would also be political. Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust, was on Desert Island Discs recently. Worth a listen.

I wrote about Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax and his enormous wall in a newsletter a few months ago. It’s been quite interesting to watch this story about the origins of his wealth and land ownership develop over the last few weeks.

As a kid, watching the Royal Institute Christmas lectures was a thing. Here’s what it looked and sounded like when I was eight (in 1976 😬). Loved 2020’s, which featured Chris Jackson, Helen Czerski and Tara Shine. Solidarity with Chris Jackson.

As Afua Hirsch says in this piece: On race in 2020, we took a step forward – from minus 10 to zero. We can't afford to go back.

And we’re not going to go back.

Learning points 🎓

I found out recently that, according to his biographer, Anton Schindler, Beethoven always used exactly 60 beans for his morning cup of coffee. If that is the level of meticulousness it takes to write the most beautiful music in the world, that explains my lack of genius in the composing department.

What am I reading? 📚

Feed your soul: the 31-day literary diet for January

What am I listening to? 👂

I’m not much of a Bruce Springsteen fan but I did enjoy this interview with him.

Joy-giving things 😍

I’m writing this on 7 January which means there are more than 30 daily minutes of daylight today than there were on the shortest day on 21 December.

Light will always return, even in the darkest of times.

My cup is running near empty at the moment but what there is left, you can have.

Lucy

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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