I don’t know if it’s the same the world over, but yesterday I noticed a certain buzz in the air as I made my way home from Brisbane. It’s a little bit holiday and a little bit tension, as the xmas / new year break quickly approaches.

For me, December is the busiest month of the year as I catchup with friends for EOY drinkies and finalise anything that needs completion before the new year.

Beyond the bullshit…

While I was in Brisbane on Friday, I went to a lovely gathering of women who I knew from the local chapter of ICF a few years ago. It was so nice to be in the presence of women who speak beyond the bullshit of everyday niceties, who are thoughtful and engage fully with life. I love it that I have people like this in my life.

Goin bush and clearing the mind …

This capped off a week that I spent out bush with my sister, Dee. Again, big conversations interspersed amongst the mundane “what’s for dinner?” and chasing a lawn mower around her ginormous yard. There’s something to be said for just removing yourself from the world for a few days to get some perspective. As Dee only has dialup internet, I wasn’t reading any emails except for those that looked urgent or personal. Returning to an Inbox with hundreds of things I feel I ‘must read’, I realised that I still have a lot of mental junk in my life. I think it’s time to cull the email subscriptions – again.

Don’t mention the thesis…

My few days away allowed me to decompress from my highly-strung November. I had four weeks to do a re-analysis and re-write of my thesis.  While I may not have been posting anything here during the month, I wrote a lot about resilience and coping, and how much I hate academia. I held off on posting this stuff because I wanted it to coincide with a Flying Solo article that gets published next week, and I also wanted to do a little bit of reflection after the fact. So there is plenty to come…

Discovering the effortless novel…

I outdid myself on my Nanowrimo effort this year. I wrote one word – a new record!  While it was a pissy effort, there was a lot of thinking that went on around that one word that helped me realise that there is a really effortless novel I could write. Now I just need to find the courage to do it.  Also, I’m thinking that Nano is not timed right for me in November. Every year I’ve done it, I’ve had some other major thing going on that has taken priority. Maybe everyday has to be Nano day?

Approval to get on with my life – granted …

When I returned to email-land on Thursday I found notification that I had approval to graduate. [Insert hugest sigh of relief] This was totally unexpected. I knew the deadline was Friday but as I’d only submitted my re-write the week before I didn’t think it would come through. To be able to graduate and move on is such a weight lifted. I feel free.

Coming home…

It was wonderful to come home to Carolyn (and the cats!) yesterday. The weather was stinking hot (35 degrees and like a sauna) but I was home. We had a couple of beers on the verandah before the skies emptied themselves (47mm overnight) and I watched the end of season four of Six Feet Under.

It was a perfect end to the first week of the silly season.