Finally I get to use my tiny notepad.
With Soraya Abdel-Hadi
I've met Soraya before at a couple of events and she is a passionate and well-informed speaker. So I was excited to hear her speak at Yestival. In 2014 she turned her life in a different direction and decided she wanted to put her time and energy into causes that mattered to her but in a way that would still pay the bills.
Soraya was one of the speakers at Camp Yestival and she ran a few exercises with us which were aimed at getting us thinking about the causes we're passionate about, how we could help them and potentially make them our job.
The causes or situations which I realised I felt most passionate about were:
SOCIAL ISOLATION
There are layers of society who don't have a tribe, nothing and no one that they belong to. Isolation and loneliness can lead to so many other problems.
HAPPINESS
Happiness isn't taken seriously enough. It's not invested in or looked after but ultimately It can change the way we see life.
MENTAL HEALTH
There aren't enough provisions for mental health care in many areas of the UK so a lot of the time it's up to us to look after our own wellbeing.
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Technology is helping to streamline processes and make a lot of things easier. But if you're scared of or not able to use technology then will you be missing out? Will you still be able to book doctors appointments? Will you be excluded from vital services?
Soraya then encouraged us to think about our own personal skills and what we could bring to the table that could be applied to the cause. I think in the past i've been guilty of trying to do everything, to help everyone, and you end up doing nothing very well.
To actually write down my interests and think about where my skills could genuinely help inspired me and made me feel like I could make a difference.
