Читать книгу The Gap Year(s) - Nathy Gaffney - Страница 15

There is an African term I want to tell you about: Sankofa. It translates to “Go back and fetch it.” Different from the notion of dwelling on or wallowing in the past, it speaks to the value of revisiting our past in order to collect things that will help you build a successful future. It is symbolized by a bird craning its neck behind it to cradle a precious egg.

I’m pretty big on symbology, and this really resonates with me.

At the time my marriage ended, I was 47 years old. Surely, I’d learned some stuff of value and worth in all my years traipsing around the world, which I could draw on to help me build a brighter, bigger, badass future. I was a mum, for starters, and whilst I’d had a pretty rocky start, I reckoned I was doing okay in that department. So, I did a ‘Sankofa’ on myself and dared to look back. In other words, I did an audit of all of my employment (and life) experiences. The good, the bad, and the ridiculous.

My CV as it looked then is just below for your viewing pleasure. (This is abridged by the way – it would make for another book if I laid it out in detail! … Hmmm. Note to self.)