Or maybe the year of the adjectivally and adverbally challenged. Whatever the case, is likely to go down in our household as the year when most folk ran out of adjectives and adverbs. We discovered the limit of superlatives. Sometimes we have commented, as this year has trundled along at the pace of an arthritic tortoise, that as it has seemed like the longest year ever, we have forgotten what life was like before some of that is good news of course — more on that later ; we can no longer remember what we were really expecting from , so much has changed along the way, and changed again, and then again; so many plans have been made, delayed, reconfigured, shelved, scrapped, replaced, etc.
As one who chooses to live on a rock in the English Channel, I was perhaps used to the concept. But remote also used to have connotations of obscure, god-forsaken and unapproachable! Nice to see it redeemed therefore into something more constructive and positive. It is not the only factor, but there are distinct advantages of being bordered by rough seas all around.
Couple that with excellent leadership, swift and decisive government decision making I would say that of course and we find ourselves living in what has recently qualified as one of the happiest, safest and healthiest places to live according to comparisons with British and global regions in OECD statistics. Interestingly this was in effect one of the aims which my friend Marc Winn and others came up with when they launched the Dandelion Project during my time as Chief Minister six years ago or so.
We all thought they were a tad mad back then! But — more seriously — this GG is in some ways a therapeutic and cathartic attempt on my part and no doubt somewhat selfishly to analyse, reflect upon, and re-evaluate the activities, relationships and values which have been challenged by living through I therefore warn you that this edition may not be as silly as some might like, it may not be as hypnagogic as you hoped, and thus I remind you that there is always the abridged, anodyne, alternative version available here.
Travelling regularly for business is nowhere near as glamorous as some may imagine, I am sure many of you are aware of that; living out of a small suitcase which you pack, unpack and pack again, sometimes in the space of just a few days, trying to sleep in different beds of varying quality, incessant airport delays and security issues, grabbing fast food in a hurry to get to the next appointment, reading briefing notes and responding to interminable emails on the go — leaves you with an underlying background exhaustion, which possibly only a year like brings to the surface.
