A surprising year

It is twelve months to the day since I left the Foundation for Conductive Education and the National Library of Conductive Education.

http://www.conductiveeducationinformation.org/2009/02/now-is-time-to-say-goodbye-to-era.html

I felt sad and angry. Angry that the Library would no longer be a living library as there would be no-one with the time and expertise to search, find, beg for ,and add material to it. Keep it growing. As far as I know those assigned to looking after it have other responsibilities and therefore little time, if not none at all, to devote to it. Shame. The systems I put in place mean that basic services of issuing and returning items can be offered to the service users, students and staff at the Foundation. It is the only Library in Conductive Education that is open access (I know that the opening hours have been reduced to term time only by appointment) and applications for new membership not being accepted. Access is possible but not in the way it was. Shame.

Soldiering on

I felt sad as I thought that after eighteen years plus in Conductive Education I was leaving it and taking my knowledge with me. I did not think I would be able to keep up this blog, that it would be impossible without the Library around me, but I have managed it and hope to continue. A number of people have written to me with enquiries which I have responded to and the number of hits, now 10,487 as I write this, has been quite satisfying with an average of 200 a week.

Just do it

More time can now be spent on preserving the knowledge and information on Conductive Education through publishing and I am part of the Conductive Education Press publishing house. www.cepress.org The first book, Just Do It, came out in December and sales have been steady. There are plans for several more books, so its future is looking bright and exciting.

Popular and personal support

I would like to thank again those who wrote to me a year ago saying such kind and complimentary things and also those who signed the petition.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/help-save-our-library/

The support of several people over the first six months helped enormously. This meant so much and encouraged me to stick with Conductive Education, determined to work for it in new (if unpaid!) ways.

An unexpected anniversary present

I started preparing this posting a week or so ago and since then I have had a surprising communication which means this extra paragraph. I received an email informing me that I had been nominated and accepted for the award of Honorary Conductor to be presented at the World Congress in Hong Kong later this year. Apparently a letter had been sent through the post in December 2009, and I had not received it, but a copy of this from Professor Schaffhauser, written on behalf of the Andras Peto Institute of Conductive Education and Conductors’ College Senate, has just arrived. Naturally this was completely unexpected and left me at sixes and sevens, as they say. Of course I was delighted to accept. I am now waiting for further information and may go to Hong Kong. I did go there as a child and have some happy, if slightly vague, memories of the trip.

It just goes to show how life can change in a very short time - and I wonder what will the next twelve month bring!