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Gabrielle Gweneth

Gabrielle Gweneth

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Sunshine: You probably don’t realise how much you love it

How often do you think about the sun? I mean really think about what it does for your life, consider how it helps you get through your days?

Before moving to Glasgow the sun was something I took for granted. I knew I liked it, that it was important in my life, but I couldn’t say much about its subtle affects on my body and mood. 

Now that I live here, where the sun shines infrequently, I completely understand those ancient people that worshiped it as a deity. More often than not Glasgow mornings are grey, but on the off chance it’s sunny, that doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way all day. Then again, you might think there’s no hope for sunshine on a day bullied by angry rain clouds, but sometimes sunbeams still fight their way through. When it comes to my weather app, the only thing it’s good for is telling me the temperature. 

Sunshine gives us a boost even on hard days

After one gloriously sunny Saturday, the sun didn’t appear again for another five days. Five days! I’m sure that’s not the first time that it happened, but it’s the first time I thought to count. 

Do you know what it felt like when the sun finally did appear? Fireworks! Inside my body! There were bursts of joy one after another, bright and colourful, complete with my own sound effects as I shouted “yay!” and “the sun is out!” As the hours ticked by and the day still shone bright I felt like I should have a celebration to mark the occasion. 

Those sunless days had their own reasons to be challenging, and without the sun things seemed especially gloomy. When it reappeared I realised how much its absence made all my work and worry seem all-consuming. My whole world literally brightened – it wasn’t just the light of the day, there was light in my mind.

Sunshine makes us superheroes

It probably goes without saying that sunny days make you feel happy, but it’s more than that! When the sun is out my to do list seems so much more doable than on days when it’s missing. Hard jobs fit more neatly into the category of life called ‘work’, rather than seeming like a weight around my neck, pulling me down. When the sun’s out, I can separate my feelings about something from the need to get it done. Said another way, I feel more capable. I spend less energy both starting tasks and moving from one task to the next. 

Remember when everyone was telling us to stand with our hands akimbo, chins up, like we were superheroes? This was supposed to give us confidence for the important presentation, the conversation with our boss about a raise, or whatever other daunting task lay ahead. I definitely tried it at least once, in a bathroom before an interview. When the sun’s out it’s like I get the benefits from that exercise without feeling silly or wondering how long I need to stand that way before it’s ‘worked’. Sunbeams lend me their strength, making me more self-confident and motivated. 

Sunshine keeps us alive, literally

On hard days here, when I’m wondering whether I ought to stay, the fact that there’s so little sunshine factors into my consideration. The whole climate seems hostile to my existence, which sounds dramatic, but is simply true. Because the sun shines so rarely, my melanated skin has a hard time making enough vitamin D on its own and I have to take a supplement. You know what could happen otherwise? Everything from hair loss, fatigue, muscle pain, depression and increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Basically, without vitamin D your body can fall apart! 

Everyone in Glasgow seems to knows how important it is to get vitamin D, and that dark skinned people need to take supplements. Never before has my baseline health routine been the subject of casual conversation. Nearly everyone that I’ve come to know here has asked me about whether I’m taking a supplement. On one occasion, when I said that I skip when I see the sun is out in the morning, my friend looked at me as though I was taking my life in my hands. 

How you can make your own sun-joy

Novels always wax eloquent about the moon – its light, its pull, its mystery and romance. Maybe the sun can seem gauche, the way it shines so brightly that it’s almost shouting at us. But I’m so thankful for its enthusiasm! If you were to ask me to make a list of my favourite things at the moment, the sun would be right up there in the top two. At this point I’ve pretty much stopped texting my friends with sun alerts – “The sun is out!! *huge smiley face* *party hat emoji*” – but 10 months on and I still feel that way every time.

So here I am, sharing this joy with you. The burst of gratitude that comes with a sunny day will be hard to engineer if you live in an already sunny place, but there’s probably some way you could improvise it for yourself. Instead of rushing on with your day as usual, stop a moment and think about how the sun feels on your skin. Look at the way its light creates shadows, interacts with surfaces and makes everything in front of you seem crisp, almost hyper visible. Grey days have much softer edges.   

I hope taking a moment to appreciate the sun brings as much happiness to your days as it does mine. And if you want to shout about it but think your friends will look at you sideways for doing so, leave me a comment! I’ll do my “sun’s out!” dance right along with you. 🙂 

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Heya!

I’m Gabrielle, and you know how they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? I like mine with a side of recipes. I can’t contain my enthusiasm in the kitchen, so this space is for me to share my adventures with you. Read More…

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Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣ ⁣ Thanks to Glasgow I’ve Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣
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Thanks to Glasgow I’ve discovered the unique pleasure of a light-but-late-night walk. 🌙☺️
These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neigh These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neighbours’ front garden recently. They’re right on the sidewalk, facing the main road, so I see them whenever I’m outside. Since they’re on the corner, I also see them when I look out my living room window!⁣⁣
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They’re *delightful* aren’t they?! They weren’t here last year so I’m really thankful to  whoever planted, or scattered, these seeds. I think they’re poppies but I’m not sure, so tell me if you know!⁣⁣
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Yay for…⁣⁣
🌸 summertime⁣⁣
🌸 people with green thumbs⁣⁣
🌸 small things yielding big joy⁣⁣
🌸 feeling loved by the stranger who made this joy possible for me 😊
One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how ea One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how easy it is to meet people. ⁣
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When you’re on your own locals and other solo travellers are far more likely to come up to you, or strike up a conversation, than when you’re in a group. I’ve made friends with so many more strangers being alone versus being with even one other person. ⁣
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Living in Glasgow, now that we’re getting out of lockdown, doesn’t seem to be that different! The people here are really friendly, and twice now, standing at this spot (one of my favourites) during my afternoon walk, I’ve had great conversations with strangers. ⁣
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The first one challenged me to a skipping contest (I accepted. And won 😉. ) The second, on Monday, just wanted to talk. ⁣
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Our conversation ended up being pretty long, which surprised me since on the surface we had nothing in common. But when I think about it, I realise we connected on the level of our stories: immigrants alone in a new country. ⁣
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We skipped the small talk about the weather and went straight to our homelands. I learned more about Lebanon in that afternoon than in my entire life, including the fact that they serve 7 appetisers before a meal! 🤩⁣
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It’s amazing how sharing stories helps you feel connected to people, even ones you’ve just met. ⁣
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Now I’m curious: when was the last time you had a great conversation with a stranger? Do you have a fun story about meeting someone new?
When you’re building a business it’s easy, too When you’re building a business it’s easy, too easy, to skip over the foundational work that sets you up for focused, long term growth. You need money 𝘯𝘰𝘸, so you prioritise doing all the things that will bring it in the door. And that makes sense! ⁣
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But avoiding the foundational work, or doing it in a haphazard manner, will bite you in the butt. ⁣
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You need to know, for yourself and for your clients:⁣
🪄𝘩𝘰𝘸 your background and skills are unique, and create a powerful connection between you and your people⁣
🪄 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 differentiates the way you deliver your service or product from everyone else⁣
🪄  𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 you’re taking your business in the long run: what’s the number one value that guides your work?⁣
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Even if you started your business out of necessity - like the pandemic yanked away your job stability - these questions are at play in the work you’re doing every day.⁣
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They’re shaping the future success of your business whether you’ve got a handle on them or not.⁣
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So you should probably have a handle on them right? ⁣
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What if I told you that I could help you sort all this out in just a few conversations - and that it could be fun! That we could lay the foundation for a multiple six figure business…. with stories? 🔥⁣
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I’ve worked with clients who do everything from creating handmade, bespoke tea blends to providing leadership coaching. ⁣
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Regardless of industry, if you’re in business and want a framework 100% aligned with your unique stories that maps out your positioning for years to come, I can help. I’d 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 to help. ⁣
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I’ve got 4 spots available to work with me this month. Ready to feel powerful and inspired by your OWN bad self? Let’s talk! Send me a DM or go straight to my calendar and book a call. 😉
Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out of town for the weekend, to the northeast coast, and I felt - finally - like I was in all the instagram pictures I’ve been swooning over since I moved here.⁣
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Thanks to @emmaseabuckthorn I went cycling and on long walks to cliffs and a castle. I also tried a bunch more Scottish dishes - like Cullen skink! It’s the bomb.com! - and overall felt a lot more grounded to life 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. Not inside my computer or across the ocean, where most of my family and friends are. I get lots of comments from y’all about how amazing my life looks, but don’t let the ‘gram fool ya! It’s not all rainbows and I’ve felt painfully lonely at times over the last year and a half here. ⁣
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Anyway, on Monday I spent the day in Edinburgh with a dear friend from high school, who I hadn’t seen in ages, and that was wonderful. We saw the Queen! Like for real for real. We were having a picnic lunch outside her palace and not long after she drove right past us. ⁣
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It feels like summer! And I’m so glad. 😊 How’d you spend your weekend?
Flashback to around this same time in 2017! ⁣
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I was in the studio recording the narration for my story, Rushin to Bacchanal: When Caribbean Festivals Collide, for podcast Afropop Worldwide. ⁣
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This was the culmination of months of interviewing and script writing, a project that built on research I did for my master’s degree on Junkanoo and The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. ⁣
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Such fun times! I lived my best life talking to people about their experiences and opinions, and then wrote a story about it! Similar to what I’m doing today. 😊⁣
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What were you up to 4 years ago this month? #fbf
What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I wasn’t always sure that it actually counted as a hobby, since I’m not physically doing anything, but then I realised - Lots of people find other ways to fill the time that I spend reading! Like, there are other options! 🤭 😄⁣⁣
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Around high school I became uncomfortably aware of the lack of books with characters, settings or contexts like mine. ⁣⁣
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Where were the stories of people from the Caribbean? Little girls who grew up anticipating mangos and scarlet plums, afraid of stingray encounters and taking Emancipation Day (our Juneteenth) for granted? ⁣⁣
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Representation matters, and we can’t rely on people that aren’t us to do all the representing for us. It’s not even that they’re all being wilfully malicious or exclusionary…. they’re just living their own version of normal. ⁣⁣
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So how are you representing yourself in your business? Connecting who you are and the work you’ve done to the bedrock of your marketing and positioning? ⁣⁣
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The meaningful, memorable way you can do all that is through stories. ⁣⁣
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If you need help, we should talk. Book a free, 20 minute call with me and we’ll find one story you can start sharing today! The link’s in my profile. 🙂⁣
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P.S. I literally had a library card before I had a place to live in Glasgow. 😅
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