Change. It’s one of those things that is absolutely guaranteed in life, whether we are ready for it or not.
Sometimes it arrives quietly, sometimes it feels enormous, and sometimes you suddenly look around and realise quite a few things are changing all at once.
That seems to be where we are at the moment.
On the home front, our oldest, Tom, is moving out and into his own space with some of his amazing friends. Now, as his Mum, I’m allowed to be a little sad about this one. There’s something strange about watching your kids grow up. You spend years encouraging them to become independent, capable humans and then, when they actually do exactly that, you wonder who gave them permission!
But underneath the Mum emotions, I am so incredibly happy for Tom and his friends as they head off on this next adventure together. There will no doubt be plenty to learn along the way — about bills, groceries, cleaning, whose turn it is to buy toilet paper and all those other wonderful realities of adult life.
I wish them nothing but happiness in their new home and I’m excited to watch this next chapter unfold for them.
There’s a bit of moving happening at Village Voice HQ as well.
After calling The Annexe in Portland home, we are moving just a little further up the road to our new office at 32a Williwa Street, Portland.
It’s not a huge geographical move, but it feels like a pretty big step for the Village Voice.
Our new office will give me a more personal space to work from, but importantly, it gives us more room for our growing team.
What began as a little newspaper has grown into a wonderful group of people working across Community, Design and Production and Digital Solutions — all bringing their own skills, ideas and personalities to what we do.
And, as it turns out, we’re an all-ladies team!
Well… almost.
We absolutely need to acknowledge our amazing Boris, who is very much part of the Village Voice family. You’ll often see Boris out on the road helping with deliveries, particularly those bigger, bulk newspaper drops that require a little more muscle than some of us are willing to volunteer!
As the Village Voice continues to grow and change, I think what I love most is that the heart of what we do hasn’t changed at all.
We’re still here to share your stories, celebrate our communities, support local businesses and organisations and make sure there is always room for some good news in our region.
So, apparently, change really is part of life.
Kids move out. Offices move up the street. Teams grow. New adventures begin.
Some changes tug at the heartstrings a little more than others, but they also remind us that moving forward is a pretty wonderful thing.
Here’s to new homes, new offices, new adventures — and whatever comes next.
Kel 🙂
