Life Outside the Box: An Interview with Isabel Errington

Confidence & Courage, Flourishing in the Here & Now, and Prioritising Family as a Single Person

Jul 05, 2024

Welcome to all new readers! This is the seventh interview in a series where we celebrate the intentional choice to live as whole persons and not just one-dimensional job titles.

The overwhelmingly positive response to my essay, Leaning (In and) Out, (Not) Having it All, suggested to me that there are a lot of women (and men) who are keen to set aside the societal pressure to hustle hard and put all their energies and decades of life exclusively into one single career box.

This series offers interviews with those who have chosen a life outside the box, in a variety of ways. It’s my hope that in getting to peek into the lives of others, we’ll all be inspired to step outside the pressure chambers we may feel stuck in - even if our lives are very different in practice from those shared here.

Encouragement, permission, examples - I hope whatever it is you need to step outside the box, you’ll find it here.

Today I’m welcoming Isabel Errington, from Oxford, England.

When I learned about all the wonderful things Isabel was doing, I knew I needed to interview her. No forty-hours-a-week-in-a-cubicle for her! Teaching fertility awareness, caring for children in the community, collecting and selling good children’s books - I loved hearing about Isabel’s confidence in doing a variety of work that she finds meaningful, in a way that fits into her overall vision for life. I think you will, too!

(1) What does your life outside the box currently look like? Tell us about a day/ week in your life.

I think at the heart of my ‘life outside the box’ is my choice of employment, and the part-time and flexible work schedule it affords. I have 2 main jobs: I am a self-employed qualified Fertility Care Practitioner, and I also work as a childminder; I help couples to have babies, and then I also help take care of babies! I trained as a Fertility Care Practitioner because I wanted to share with women and couples a natural, holistic and liberating approach to fertility. I teach them to track and understand the woman’s menstrual cycle, giving them knowledge of the times in the cycle when they are naturally fertile, and when infertile. Some of my clients are trying to conceive, while others wish to avoid pregnancy naturally for a time, and I also teach single women who want to learn how to track their cycles not for family planning purposes, but simply so as to better understand their bodies and monitor their health. It’s an immensely rewarding job to work so closely with women and couples in a field which is both rigorously scientific and richly pastoral.

I have worked in childcare for many years; the choice sprang naturally from a love for and affinity with children. I have worked in formal and informal childcare settings, and worked as a teaching assistant in schools. At present my childcare routine involves working part-time for a small creche at an educational institute, and also privately for families.

I also have another little project on the side, an Instagram page bookshop called Bluebell Books, (Bluebell being a nickname given to me by twins I used to look after!), born simply from my enthusiasm for beautiful and wholesome children’s books! I find it very difficult to resist swiping up lovely children’s books when I find them, either for my own collection, or as gifts, to the point where I realised I had such a surplus that I could even try selling some!

One reason why I see my particular work roles and schedule as central to my life outside the box, is that they allow me time for many other things which are extremely important to me: a strong involvement with my parish community, a lot of time with friends, creative projects (such as weekly choir and improvisational theatre sessions), a good amount of time for ‘life admin’ (housework, errands, emails), and some restful down-time. I am a people-person, I have many interests, and I love to be involved in a variety of projects, (especially with friends, church community, and creatively) and I have found that my work choices give me time to pursue these things, which help me to flourish and to give of myself in many different ways.

(2) How did you get there? What intentional choices did you make?

I have tried to make decisions which first and foremost help me to flourish in the here and now, rather than being guided primarily by more practical concerns (though naturally they do have their place!). I think a pivotal example of this was choosing to study Theology for my undergraduate degree at Cambridge. Many people have said to me over the years: ‘But what can one do with a Theology degree? Where can that take you career-wise?’ I continue to be surprised by the question, as for me, the priority was to choose to study a subject that I loved (and saw as extremely important), to try and enjoy every moment of those 3 years, and then to take the next step when it came. For me that was a 2-year voluntary programme run by a Catholic lay movement that took me to the United States where I lived with other volunteers and worked with children, particularly through catechesis in a school setting. And after that, the next step, and so on.

I am a big believer in trying different things when in comes to the working world. Of course, some careers involve prolonged focused study and preparation, but having personally never felt particularly drawn to any of the careers that fall more within these bounds, I have worked in a variety of fields including education (both child and adult), childcare, charities, administration and freelance PA work.

I have always tried to find work which I enjoy (at least to some degree!) and which is suited to my talents and who I am at a very deep level. I was drawn to my work in natural fertility awareness because it means a lot to me; I want people to have more ready access to this liberating knowledge and vision. I am naturally suited to working with children. My love for children’s books spilled out into Bluebell Books, almost by accident!

I want my working life to be part of who I am, but to not be all-consuming, and to allow time for many other integral parts.

(3) What are you intentionally choosing to say “yes” and (maybe more importantly!) “no” to in this season of your life?

I am trying to say “yes” to my need for a slower pace, and the space to cultivate many things in my life (health, my spiritual life, friendships, volunteering in the community), which many kinds of work would make it very difficult for me to manage. My natural circadian rhythm means I am more industrious at certain times of the day, including evenings (whereas early mornings are not my best time). I had always felt somewhat frustrated and even embarrassed by this, until I came to understand the science of it, and now, as I am fortunate to be able to work flexible hours, I simply take into account this important dimension of my nature. So I usually say “no” to early starts!

If you’re enjoying this interview, subscribe to get more like it in the future. (It’s completely free.)

(4) When you were a child/ younger, what vision did you have for your life? Did you always want to live outside the box, or did it come later? Was it a surprise to you?

From an early age, I noticed I didn’t have any very specific longstanding career aspirations. What appealed to me most was the model of marriage and motherhood – of trying to love God and others in a simple way, in the world, and raising new little ones to love him too. Though I am not yet married, the work balance I have reached leaves me lots of time to be part of the lives of other families, many of them just starting out, which I am so grateful for. I learn a lot from the husbands, wives, mothers and fathers that I spend time with, and it is a real gift to be welcomed into their homes, families and lives.

In some ways I was drawn to a simple model of family life, which didn’t strike me as unconventional, and yet over time I have come to realise that it can be surprising to others, especially for a single person. However, for me community and family life remain at the heart of how I try and live, and the work decisions I make.

The career paths that have attracted me over the years, (first and foremost teaching natural fertility awareness and management), have also been very focused on personal interaction with others (and indeed their family life), and happily work well as part-time employment.

(5) What dispositions/ attitudes/ skills helped you cultivate the life you have now?

I think a confidence in one’s own hopes and aspirations (tempered with reality checks and practicalities) is important. It can be all too easy to worry about how others see us, and whether we are being productive (I am amazed by how much this word is used, even in response to asking how someone is/how their day was, as though our first thought must be to measure our productivity!).

So I think it’s vital to not be afraid to ask, not only how will I save for a house/pension, but also – does this make me happy? Do I want to try something different? Can I adapt my work schedule to something that feels more manageable? Am I taking care of myself - my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health? How are my relationships? Is there something missing that I need to try and incorporate?

In summary: having a willingness to question things and to be open to new possibilities, and the courage and confidence to try them!

(6) Where can people find you online?

I have Instagram pages for my work as a Fertility Care Practitioner and as a children’s books seller. @fertilitycareisabel and @bluebell_books_

» “…yet over time I have come to realise that it can be surprising to others, especially for a single person. However, for me community and family life remain at the heart of how I try and live, and the work decisions I make.”

I loved reading about how clearly Isabel has identified her priorities in life, and shaped her choices about work around them, even if it looks a little unconventional to others! Here’s to courage and confidence in doing the same, no matter our state in life.

Now let’s discuss! Have you ever made a choice that was a little surprising to others, but served the priorities you’ve discerned? What might you do differently in life if you stepped back from cultural pressure and instead just made some decisions from a place of courage and confidence? And, are you tempted to start working with your own circadian rhythm?

Cultivating Clarity

Discussion about this post