I know pretty much every blogger I read has done a 2011 recap. Recently I’ve found myself in a bit of a January slump, and haven’t been feeling all that inspired. One thing that has made me appreciate how good last year was, even with some sad and difficult moments, is doing the photobook. I finished it the other night in the wee hours of the morning, completely shattered but feeling that I had accomplished one of the things on my bucket list. I know its only a little thing – just a compilation of my favourite blog posts and photos and moments, but I can’t wait to see the actual book. It’s a little expensive to buy this month, but I get paid at the end of the month so I’ll be buying it then.
Another thing that has been making me low is the money situation I’m in. I know I shouldn’t let money get to me – I know its not in my control at the moment, because of changes the government have been making, and now more than ever I feel that I have to pull myself together and set up my own business and figure out what skills I need in order to do what I want. If that means taking courses in Proofreading or Editing or Copywriting, that is what I might have to do. Life is far too short to spend it under a cloud of uncertainty. It’s difficult to see where to go next though when you’re worrying about whether you’ll be able to pay the bills next month, or if you’ll be able to have a social life. I’ve been so lucky, I’ve had and have got so many amazing opportunities. This month for the Hearing Times I’ve interviewed (by email) an incredibly inspiring person, and it gives me hope for the future. It’s very easy to be pulled down by money issues, but I’m determined to make this work. I don’t know. I guess because not knowing is the hardest thing sometimes. This probably sounds cryptic, but I don’t mean it to be, I guess I’d rather some things remained private! Maybe one day I’ll feel able to talk about the issues I’ve been having, but not at the moment.
Last year I experienced these things:
- Doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and winning.
- Novel writing in a cool cafe bar in London
- Completing a one month blogging challenge in October
- Being a member of the ‘Press’ for the first time at the Edinburgh Festival
- Passing my BSL Stage 2 Exam
- Staying in a Studio apartment in Barcelona
- Writing four articles for The Hearing Times
- Reading 60 books in one year for the Goodreads Challenge
- Dan and I’s ten year anniversary. Literally. We met when I was 16 and he was 18 in August 2001.
- Going to Oxford for the weekend.
- Plus London in February
- Seeing Thomas Truax live at The Spice of Life in January
- Going to my friend’s engagement party
- Graduating from The Open University with a Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing.
- Losing a beloved Cat.
- Learning important lessons about motivation and self esteem
- Learning how to let go and let it be.
- Challenges are important to my sense of adventure
I’m sure there are other things that happened last year that I haven’t mentioned, but these are the things that stick out the most at the moment. I’m not sure what this year is going to bring, but I hope things will go somewhere positive, and that I’ll find the motivation and inspiration to finish and edit my first novel. Then write another one…maybe?
Cats and Chocolate 