Rainbow Diaries: Epic show weekend!
Saturday 26 October 2024: Week 5
WOW! What an epic weekend… creating the need for a massive rest!
The first ever Rainbow Hunting show experience was at the Clean & Tidy Show at Excel this time last week. It was a family affair… my two gorgeous girls worked on the stand and did amazingly at encouraging people to put tags on the memory tree, think of tricky topics and guess how many sweets in the jar! Whilst they were busy I had three speaking slots… a panel session on the main stage speaking about life admin, an interview on the EXTRA stage talking about Wills with the gorgeous Dani Dawks and a special slot to talk all things Sadmin. Plus I was SO busy chatting to people… I barely had time for a comfort break but it was all amazing.
The Show community is the most friendly and supportive atmosphere… in a strange way it reminded me of Families Days within the Royal Marines… everyone feels as though they are there to support you, especially the gorgeous Penny who organises the show, Michael the utterly perfect Show Manager and the wonderful Shine Squad!
Oh, plus Rainbow Hunting won Content Campaign of the Year award for the Will Challenge - which is just the best news ever!
Anyhow, onto the weekly diaries…
1. This Week's Internal Weather Report!
The anxiety lessened after the show, but a few symptoms rumbled on, especially as I had a talk for the financial adviser members of SOLLA to deliver on my return home this week…
Storm clouds: the huge storm cloud of last week continued, but thankfully more of an echo… the physical manifestations of all the stress about our first ever show still gave me things like a heavy head, dizzy spells and chest pains, and they were combined with a London Lurgy that we seemed to go down with two days after returning home… so I had another call with the GP… so much more helpful and since then things have got even better, maybe it is all in my head after all!
Rainbow: The brightest rainbow of the week has definitely been the success of the memory tree at the show… people were invited to put names of people who have died, plus a comment or something that reminded them of their person on the reverse… and to hang it on our tree. It was so successful that I had five names from Instagram to put onto the tree before the show even started! This meant SO much to me because it’s such a vital part of our bereavement to find ways to have connections with our loved ones once they have gone.
Sunshine: I knew the show would be amazing, but winning the award for the Will Challenge just blew me away… it was the most fantastic moment and I’m so grateful for everyone who took the time to vote for me, as well as those who had the tricky job of judging all the amazing finalists. Thank you all… the award is still on the kitchen table bringing me joy!
2. Business Reflections
Grief and Life Coaching updates: This week’s 1:1 clients have been a delight… every moment I spend coaching reminds me of the importance of listening and the magic that can happen in a therapeutic relationship… creating that non-judgemental and compassionate space to find your answers and to be with someone who “gets it” is my soul’s purpose.
Course creation update: As you can imagine, most of this week has been about resting after the show and coming back down to earth as gently as possible! Somehow I squeezed in the Sadmin talk to the SOLLA members and an interview with BBC Radio South West about Remembrance… and most importantly, I am getting SO excited to see the numbers for the free Will Challenge rising… just over a week to go until it starts, so please book your space if you haven’t already joined in! Plus, I’m busy organising the expert guest sessions for the new and improved Sadmin course and I’m SO excited by some of the people who are giving us their time… I even have a death doula coming to talk about what she does!
Light-bulb moments: After I gave my Sadmin talk to the SOLLA members I got an email from one of the advisers highlighting how great it is that I start the course with Foundations… I’ll chat about it more in the free talk at the end of the Will Challenge, but once again it reminded me of the importance of self care when we add something extra into our lives to prevent burn out.
3. Parenting Teens in Grief
Family highlight: Without a shadow of a doubt, the family highlight this week was the celebratory meal that the girls and I had at the Sky Garden in London on Sunday night. I’d booked it as a celebration of all that we’ve managed in the 8 years since their devoted dad died, but it turned into a combined business celebration after I heard about the award I’d won! The only downside was I had forgotten how scared of heights I am but it didn’t take away from the delicious food and stunning venue!!!
Challenge of the week: Anyone who is a fellow solo parent will know how hard it is to keep going when you are ill… this week’s challenge has definitely been juggling work, illness and parenting 24/7 because it’s currently half term… oh, plus the horses!
Lesson learned: Sleep is magical… everything seems easier when you’re not exhausted! This week I’ve been super boundaried about my bedtime and I’ve even been in bed by 8.30pm twice!
4. Adventures with ADD
Classic ADD moment: I think everyone finds an exhibition hall at Excel a bit overwhelming… but I felt so overstimulated and exhausted that after only a few hours at the show I was making use of their quiet sensory space… it was absolute bliss to put noise cancelling headphones on in the dimly lit room and cozy into a soft chair smelling the heavenly spa-like scents! How did I ever live in London for six years!?
Coping strategy spotlight: Super proud of myself for leaving my stand at the show and heading to that sensory area… I think we all need to know our coping strategies and I took a whole self-care tool kit with me for the weekend in London and was so pleased I had.
ND silver lining: The ability to hyper-focus… my business is my “special interest” and the two days at the show absolutely flew past… chatting to people and generally immersing myself in all things Rainbow Hunting!
5. Widow's Corner
Memory Lane: The day after the show I took the girls into central London and we went down memory lane… back to Sotheby’s where I was working in my first post-uni job at the time when I met my late husband… it felt like a million years ago but such a wonderful time of life when the world was full of opportunity and excitement.
Grief self care: When the show finished on Sunday evening I let the kids head back to the hotel before me… I said bye to the amazing show staff and headed out to the Thames as the sun set… and a grief wave hit me hard… my head was full of a bizarre mix of knowing the one person I wanted to tell about our success was no longer alive… but also knowing that Rainbow Hunting was born from the pain of our grief. Taking time out by the water on my own was exactly the peace and quiet I needed as the light faded on an epic weekend.
Bittersweet rainbows: Similar to last week… I’m so overtly aware that Rainbow Hunting would not be here if my late husband was still alive… who knows where I would be… perhaps still slaving away in a legal job that stressed me out. The Rainbow Hunting business that people kindly called “life-saving” over the weekend was born from the tragic bereavement we’ve all suffered.
6. Horse Tales
Update from the stables: Back home we went into half term and the oldest of our herd was brought out of retirement to give my little nephew a couple of rides… the old boy did us proud and one young lad has had his love of horses topped up, I’m not sure my sister will thank me for that!
Horse Rainbows: The person who looked after the horses whilst we were in London was absolutely fab and she even got the next few meals all ready to go for us… another reminder that sometimes it’s the little things that are the big things!
7. Sadmin Check-in
Weekly paperwork win: I’ve been so wiped out this week that I haven’t done any of my own Sadmin… I guess I need to sit and work out what is the crocodile nearest the canoe! I guess sorting the fridge is up there as a priority, as well as another growing pile of post!
Current Sadmin challenge: In the post-show week and with the London lurgy… the first challenge is to get properly better and do a list of priorities!
Tip of the week: Sometimes you have to go back to basics and just focus on taking care of your health… that’s this week’s tip… look after you!
8. Looking Ahead
Next week's goal: The half term juggle is real next week - juggling coaching (1:1s, Sadmin group coaching and another Sadmin talk), more post-show admin with working out what to do about the memory tree tags and look at the tricky topics, as we’ll as noting what went well and doing the bookkeeping to bring the accounts up to date… all that with the backdrop of teens social engagements and half term fun! Oh, plus the last week of getting people to join the last free Will Challenge of 2024 which starts on Monday 4th November!
Self-care plan: I’m doing pretty well with the basics of sleep and healthy food… so next week I’m going to add in some somatic down time… I’ve bought a Shakti Mat… it looks like a bed of nails… apparently it will be good downtime for me… watch this space!!! And, I’m definitely still focusing on slowing down, maybe the nails are good cos I won’t be able to move!!!
As ever, thank you for taking time to read my ramblings… if anything has resonated please send me an email or message me on social media and let me know.
Finally, please remember… however you are feeling… you are not alone… there are amazing charities out there who can support and if you want to make an investment in yourself I’m here for coaching. Please listen to your gut and reach for the support you feel you need.
Until next week (presuming I can remember to keep this up!), keep hunting for those rainbows!
Take care of your gorgeous selves!
Emma x
PS Don’t forget to check out the 1:1 coaching packages, as well as being the most popular, the six session package is where great work is done… more details are here.