Who am I?
A question I’ve been known to ask myself!
But since you’re asking, I’m a journalist, writer and sometime communications manager. Most recently leading the migration of stakeholder communications from print to online within the Open University’s Communications Team. And, as part of that, managing a whizzy and wonderful new website www.open.ac.uk/platform.
Outside of the sometimes frustrating world of corporate comms I’m the author of a number of self-help books including The Carer’s Handbook and a couple of titles of making better relationships (both of which have slightly embarrassing titles but they were great fun to do and the day my niece turned up with a copy of Lose that Loser that she’d spotted in W H Smith – without realising I was the author – was the day I decided to stop worrying about it!).
There’s also a history book I did eons ago, and the most recent title, a book on pet bereavement, Losing a Pet, which I set up my own company to publish www.smallbooks.co.uk – because I knew the margins on a small book would be too measly to interest a commercial publisher. That one was definitely a labour of love, but set another ball rolling in my already busy life and there are now more small books titles in the offing.
When I’m not doing either of those things you may find me leading Heal Your Life workshops, or courses in self esteem and meditation (details of these also on www.smallbooks.co.uk), pottering slightly desperately in the garden I inherited which is, frankly, far too good for a novice like me. Runnning. Sharing a glass of something with friends. Walking, walking, walking in the Lake District. Or doing the thing which has been a major focus of my life for the last 20 years – parenting my children Amy and Paul.
If you’re interested in knowing more about my life as a journalist, communicator, managing editor, website manager, media relations type and blogger, with a range of organisations in the not-for-profit sector email me for a CV. Or just email me anyway!
tel: 01908 670080
Twitter @janematthews
I’ve been following your blog ,and loving it ,for a couple of weeks now.I have also been meaning to contribute for a couple of weeks now !! One of my most recent acts of kindness was to bake fudge brownies and leave them for my dustmen when they came for our rubbish.My mum always made a point of leaving a little gift at Christmas for the postman,dustmen and so on.I tried to follow that tradition,but this last Xmas forgot the dustmen.Ever since I have been meaning to make it up to them and finally had some spare time the day before they collected to bake brownies.I packaged them up in an old ice cream container ,hid them from the rest of the family and put a note of thanks on the top.As they come at 7am in the morning I had to dash out in my dressing gown to leave them on the bin just before they came !! I sneaked a peek out as one of the team picked the box up,looked very puzzled,showed his mate and then got on with emptying our bin. I’ve always been grateful that this team arent purists about our rubbish and are kind enough to take extra bags and extra weight when our bin is overflowing (which it often is as we only get two weekly collections).I felt really good about this very small act of kindness and when I left for work I saw they had left our bin neatly tucked in by the door ,where it requires minimal effort from us to put away.I know that was their way of saying ‘thankyou’.
Yumm. Brownies for the dustmen! And probably all the sweeter for being unexpected and homemade. Sometimes I think giving our time is the most meaningful gift of all. In a fast-forward world, spending money is often easier than spending our time.
You’re so right, yes it can be easier to spend money than time these days, in our (generally) money-rich time-poor society. This is an issue I’ve been addressing in myself over the last few years – with my days typically carefully planned & mapped out, and historically little room for spontaneity, I’ve worked hard on ‘opening up’ to last-minute suggestions and invitations from friends, or sudden opportunities to do something more fun. But also – and more importantly – being more available to friends/others needing help, advice or just a listening ear. That too can be hugely beneficial to us: focusing on others rather than the self is so healthy and contributes enormously to our own-wellbeing. I increasingly tell myself there’ll always be another chance to catch up on the housework, do the shopping, read that book or tackle the 101 other things on the jobs list!! (It’s hard though to get the balance right between ‘my needs’ and ‘their needs’, so any tips gratefully received!!)
Hi Jane
Are you by any chance Jane Matthews originally from Erdington?
If so, good to see you’re living such a cheerful and positive life!
Keep it up!
I confess that 35 years on I’m not certain I recognise your picture.
Actually, if you are a different Jane Matthews, it’s still good to see someone trying to be kinder and thanks for a few minutes of pleasant nostalgia, all be it over the wrong person.
Hello Jane. I found your blog after setting up my own. Happy to hear that we are both on the same quest. Love your blog and your experiment. A kindness quest does give one a different perspective on life. Let’s join forces and make it global. Penelope