So I haven’t written much in the last little while. Things like Budgets, EOFY, HR, Recruitment, Credit Card statements, Tender Documents, quarterly reports, transferring vehicles,  5 year plans, one year plans, a week off in the mountains, a back injury, a re-injury (gee i’m getting old)  have kinda sapped some of the creative and thinking space. Although excitingly, this week I met with a creative design agency who are going to help make Rediplan a topic of conversation at drinks on a friday night, pick up lines in nightclubs, amongst strangers on a train, and a safe topic for Q&A. Inspiring to be with people who look at the world very differently (it is why I am very attracted to the concept of design thinking… if you can get past the souped up jargon

In this time, the blog turned two. The same week the earthquake destroyed the hopes and dreams of Nepal. I was going to post this then, but felt very insignificant. I’m probably as surprised as anyone that the blog has lasted this long. Particularly in the first months when it was really operating as a download function for my brain. But here we are, still in it. I still sometimes feel like it is very self indulgent, me writing this stuff, and you reading it. Who wants to read my stuff, am I imposing my thoughts (and sometimes strange music selections) on others. But the blog was born out of frustrating that we seem to be learning thing over and over again, in groundhoggian style. Does it have the reach to be influential, I don’t think so, will it?, I don’t know.

Sometimes I feel like I’m being a bit repetitive. Not breaking out of a few themes. Recovery. Resilience. Memorials etc. I am so interested in most things disaster related, I am a bit surprised I haven’t branched out more. I am reading on digital humanitariasm at the moment, and the hisotry of strategy. I’ve also seen some interesting articles from the World Economic FOrum and a urban planning blog a susbcribe to. I do have a list of topics that I want to cover, if I do that, I’ll be writing for ever. Is there anything I should be writing about?

I was reflecting again today about this job I do. It is the best in the world. On e day recently amongst the thoughts that came across my brain included economic costs of social impacts of disaster, the connection of domestic violence to disaster preparedness, understanding innovation in resilience, the connection between insurance premiums as an incentive for disaster preparedness, urban schools and the challenge of preparing for terrorism, the impact of superstorms in urban settings, how smoke tainted grapes have an impact on rural communities in recovery, how to better package and present information in a web environment. It is a rich environment for the pickings, although I promise not to do a post on Quarterly Board Reporting.

I have really appreciated the support that I’ve received from readers. It’s not easy to commit some of these thoughts to paper. It is nice when people read and comment, you know that someone has taken the time to pen some words. And I know others just want to read and take it in. (and some don’t read it at all!). So thank you, dear reader.