Un/know.

Dis/agree.

Pause/Move on.

Breathe in.

Breathe Out.

“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”

Richard Rohr

Change is a Journey

When we started The Well we weren’t sure that it’d work. Would anyone refer themselves to us? Would anyone trust us to care for them? And if they did, would we be able to meet the need? Doubt, the inner critic, insecurity, the nagging voice that tells you to stick to what you know, do the ‘easy thing’… We had it all. Setting up The Well signaled CHANGE – and change is SCARY

Did you know, The Well is now 8 months old? And in that time, we’ve passed on ingredients, recipes and – we hope! – the confidence for hundreds and hundreds of people to cook themselves thousands of body-and-soul warming meals. More than that, we’ve built our Well community – sharing stories, meditating together, moving our bodies, giving gifts and reminding each other through these strange old times that we’re not alone. 

When we started The Well we weren’t sure that it’d work. Would anyone refer themselves to us? Would anyone trust us to care for them? And if they did, would we be able to meet the need? Doubt, the inner critic, insecurity, the nagging voice that tells you to stick to what you know, do the ‘easy thing’… We had it all. Setting up The Well signaled CHANGE – and change is SCARY!

But here’s the thing about change… It happens around us, all the time, and it’s up to us how we respond to it. For us, with The Well, change meant looking at our community and saying “what are we needed for, right now?” and then changing what we were doing. Waiting around doing nothing when your heart is pulling you towards something is depleting and draining of the energy for change, and so we had to make those first steps. Of course, the first step wasn’t to announce we were accepting referrals but months of laborious work to research, gain trust and set up a whole new service (and the urgency of covid sped up this process, I’m sure). Change is a decision, it’s first steps, it’s gathering momentum. Slowly The Well was born, and over the last 8 months it has evolved because of you – the community that has grown up around it. 


So as we tentatively begin to look to the future (with the rest of the world fortunate enough to have been born in places where we take our health-care systems so often for granted), The Well will continue to be here for anyone who needs support and will continue to go with the flow of change. I wonder, is change ahead for you this summer? Perhaps you’re leaving Manchester, or have finished studies? Whatever’s ahead, remember that change is a process that starts with a decision – and then walk bravely out into the unknown. Baby-steps will do, it’s a process… and sometimes cliches really are true: it’s a journey, and it’s yours. 

Share this post

Skip to content