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I read recently that leaving a job isn’t just about walking away from a pay check; it’s like saying goodbye to a chapter of your life. I agree – after 13 years I’ll be leaving the university of Edinburgh this summer. I feel very lucky to have had these wonderful years but very soon, my little office will need to be cleared out to make way for someone new and I’m still wondering what to do with my books.

It’s the right decision for me but I do have mixed emotions – thinking about my colleagues and friendships, the students who have taught me so much about myself, the opportunities and difficulties all of which have been a gift.

I’m grateful that I have the freedom to leave. Colleagues have asked whether I feel this is a milestone but I feel we shouldn’t see life as a checklist or measure it in milestones – its more the moments in between which reflect who we are and our hopes and desires.

A few weeks ago a Muslim friend told me he’d decided to go on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca as he was restless, and despite a successful career, he wasn’t sure where his life was going. Maybe this spiritual journey might help, be a new awakening. This week as thousands of Muslims perform the rituals of hajj in Mecca and Medina, it’s been an experience where tradition and technology converge. Pilgrims guided by the latest ai -powered crowd management systems to help reduce congestion, multilingual chatbots to answer urgent questions and advanced technology which instantly translates and transmits sermons into multiple languages for worshippers. All these tools are designed to make the experience easier for everyone. But within all of this, many will have carried the essence of the hajj quietly, praying that they return home with a more peaceful and forgiving heart, a renewed faith and sense of purpose.
There’s always risk in making a change but it’s important to make peace with change. Whether it’s in our professional or personal lives, sometimes we should embrace rather than fear feeling unsettled by our own wants and needs.

Of course there’s huge comfort in familiarity and routine but fundamentally our lives are a search for meaning and fulfilment. We are created for more than mere accumulation of things or external validation. In the constant noise around us it’s important we don’t drown out our own inner voice, that we have the courage to listen to our heart whether it be in a quiet corner of a pilgrimage, or leaving your office one last time.

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