So this is Christmas
Reflecting on a cozy Christmas and embracing positivity after my recent redundancy.
I'm typing this week's email from a pub table, on my phone, with a roaring log fire while my partner relaxes opposite with a book. Our kids are miles away being entertained by their grandparents, and the only thing I have to worry about today is whether the fancy French cheeseboard we half-finished last night will still be good today.
All in all, it's been a good Christmas.
Last week was a big one for me: I wrote here about my unexpected redundancy, and posted something slightly less specific on LinkedIn. I got such an outpouring of support and recognition from people that I was hugely moved - I should lose my job more often, I thought. A couple of former colleagues (and even strangers) reached out with offers to recommend me for upcoming roles, and I ended the working year feeling positive and even excited about 2025, rather than filled with trepidation and doubt.
I also went into the office for the last time to hand back my equipment. I timed this so I was unlikely to bump into anyone else - I have no particular reason to avoid any of my colleagues, but I didn't want to find myself having to make an impromptu leaving speech or awkward hugs and goodbyes. I just wanted to drop my laptop and pass off and leave the building for the last time.
Unfortunately my plan fell at the first hurdle as the office building was still locked at this early hour and I no longer had access to the company Slack account to look up the out-of-hours password. I had to bang desperately on the glass until a stranger who was already inside took pity on me and let me in. I dropped off my stuff and made a quick exit, only after nicking a bag of coffee beans for the road (nobody tell the office manager).
Since then, I've done my best Elton John impression and "stepped into Christmas". Nothing else to distract me, just family time and eating more rich food than is strictly healthy. And it's great.
I hope that you and your loved ones are enjoying a great, chilled out Christmas, and all the best for 2025. Thank you for reading Man Feelings!
Mini-feels this week
Hope I die before I get old
We had a family party yesterday for Boxing Day and I ended up accompanying my four-year-old nephew to the toilet. I've had enough experiences like this with my own son to be unfazed about maintaining a full conversation with a child while they have a poo, but the length and depth of this one (the conversation, not the turd) was particularly impressive.
During the chat, he asked me what "theme" my next birthday was going to be. I told him that in 18 months or so I'll be turning 40, and how it was going to be a big deal.
"Will you die when you're 40?", he asked. "I hope not", I said, explaining that I probably have a few more decades in me yet.
"But you might do, right?" he continued. "We don't know."
I agreed that we didn't indeed know, and he suggested that "Auntie Maddy" would tell him if I died on my 40th birthday. "Then we'll know if I was right", he concluded, as he strained for the final push. Out of the mouth of babes...