One Year of Touching Distance
"So, what do you do?"
For years, the answer was simple. I was part of humanitarian response, deployed to emergencies, working alongside people navigating some of the hardest experiences imaginable. That was my identity, my shorthand, the thing I'd say with certainty when someone asked. It gave me a place to stand
Then that chapter closed. And without that label, I found myself genuinely uncertain. Not of the work I wanted to do, but of how to stand in it without the structure I'd always had around me. When someone asked what I did, I didn't quite know what to say anymore.
This year, through these newsletters, through my own self-exploration work, through the people I've had the privilege of sitting with, that answer has become clearer. I'm here to support people through some of the toughest times in their lives. To help them feel more grounded in who they are. To create space where they can navigate a difficult world in a way that feels ethical, values-driven, and genuinely their own. It no longer feels awkward to say, because it has been the truth all along.
It's easy to let a job title carry that weight. And it works, until it doesn't. Until you decide to leave, or life decides for you, and suddenly the shorthand is gone and you're not quite sure what remains. The question worth sitting with, ideally before you need the answer, is: what's your why? Not your role, not your organisation. The thing that travels with you regardless. The way you find to live your purpose, in whatever form that takes.
I share this because I suspect some of you know exactly what that feels like.
"Linda helped me shift my perspective and build the confidence to make decisions that feel authentic to who I am. I always felt seen and supported, but she also asked the hard questions that pushed me to think differently."
- David Kennedy
What this year has taught me
I learned a lot of things I expected to learn, how to market, how to run a business, and how to keep going when the path isn't clear. But the deeper work was in the unlearning. Unlearning the judgment I'd been placing on myself: the quiet belief that if you don't get the response you were hoping for, it means something is wrong with you. That a closed door is a verdict.
It isn't. The people who are drawn to you are the ones who can already see what you have to offer. There's no need to convince, to push, to perform. And none of that works anyway unless you believe it yourself first; that's what makes it real to anyone else. I'm still learning to trust that. But I'm much further along than I was.
On showing up
I'd heard the phrase many times: people lean in when they feel they know you. I understood it intellectually. What I didn't fully appreciate was how vulnerable it would feel to actually do it.
It's not about likes, engagement, or reassurance. It's about showing up every Wednesday, even when you hear nothing back: no replies, no signal, no way of knowing if any of this is landing, and choosing to share yourself anyway. Trusting that the space is worth holding, even in the quiet. That has been one of the most stretching and quietly rewarding things about this year.
A moment I keep coming back to
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of running a women's leadership workshop in Jordan. Sitting with women who simply needed space, to be themselves, to say things out loud that don't normally get said, to explore without judgment, was a reminder of why this matters. Safe spaces are rarer than they should be. I feel grateful every time I get to help create one.
As Alice, one of the women in the room, put it:
"We are very unique as women, as leaders. The challenges that we overcome — we all have to work this extra mile to become more resilient."
— Alice Mousa
If you've been reading and I haven't heard from you
That's completely fine, that's how this works. But if you've ever wanted to say something, now might be a good moment.
As I think about what Touching Distance becomes in its second year, I'd genuinely love to hear from you. Not in a big way, just honestly. Short questions, less than four minutes. And I'll share what I hear back in a future newsletter, the patterns, the surprises, what it makes me think about.
When Wednesday comes around, do you find yourself looking forward to Touching Distance?
What's one thing from Touching Distance that has stayed with you?
What do you value most about what I offer?
What would feel most useful to you in the year ahead?
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Or just comment below and tell me whatever's on your mind. I read every single one.
Thank you for being here. Genuinely.
With you always,
Linda
Founder of Touching Distance
