A New Year and a lot of water under the bridge

February 16, 2021 by donnamareehanson

I keep thinking I will commit to blogging and then I don’t blog. I have ideas and then poof my mojo goes out the window. All the things I’ve neglected have piled up so that tackling them seems way harder than it actually is. I haven’t sent a newsletter. I haven’t updated my book links. I haven’t written or published anything in ages. I feel like a proverbial slacker. And what is worse that I feel like if I just pretend then no one will notice and I’ll stop feeling guilty. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that.

I have to turn my mind to the positives though. I have been working on the Phd. I have been doing craft and baking bread and existing in the world. I’ve been exercising and losing weight. The garden was looking good but the weeds are coming back with a vengeance. Sadly. I’ve also tried looking for a job. Why? you ask. Renovations! Yes, we want to make this place pretty. I just want a new kitchen but that entails new floors. But that saga will continue throughout this year.

I lost a writer friend to melanoma in January and that hurt. She was younger than me and so talented and lovely. I was amazed how she could reach out to me and offer support when my dad died, when she was facing horrible uncertainty. We even tried to meet up and have a hug when I was transiting through Brisbane but with her treatment and my flight and logistics we couldn’t do it. Now Aiki Flinthart is gone. But her work will live on. Huge condolences to her family. Buy her books!

My fascination for doomscrolling has been curtailed by some kind of normalcy in the chaos. Pandemic looms large. Vaccines are being rolled out. We won’t get them here in Canberra until later in the year I think. Then we have to see how long the protection from the shots last for. I feel I am less fearful than I was and that’s probably due to Australia’s stance on keeping the country locked down and its citizens safe. I cannot imagine what it is like in the UK or the USA with the disease rampant.

In lieu of hours on social media, reading the latest bad news, I have discovered Duolingo and even signed up for the paid version when they had a special around Christmas. I doubt I’ll get to speak these languages fluently but learning and revising keeps the brain functioning and creates new pathways I think. I have studied Japanese and Spanish at university but alas never spoke it and lost my skills. Now with Duolingo I can practice and revive them. I have also dabbled in Italian and so I’m doing that as well. French is something I’ve wanted to learn but never got far at all so I’m doing that too. Irish because why not. Although the Irish language is hard, I figure with my mostly Irish heritage my ancestors probably spoke it. It is a way to discover my roots. I am trying Chinese and that’s the hardest. There is no slow button! Anyway, I’m finding it hard to keep them all going. I was trying Maori but that’s getting hard with apps either too advanced or stopping too soon.

I mentioned that I have been working on the Phd and my supervisor and I hope I will submit around July. I have some feedback to get before then and address. I have a presentation at the end of the month and then one in May (pre-submission). Then I won’t know what to do with myself. Hopefully once the mental load lessens I will feel more creative on the writing front. I hope the Phd has not driven the creativity from me fully.

Anyway, I must get to those book links so I can send the newsletter and they don’t do themselves.

Here are some pics of my craft projects over the last few months. Note I did not make the animals on the cake!