This is a very sneaky post, one I probably shouldn't be writing but as it turns out, I will literally do anything to procrastinate while I have work to do. Including, even, writing the first blog post on here since May 2020 - which feels like a lifetime ago, now.
In some ways, not a lot has changed. COVID continues to ravage the UK, we've hit a second spike (May was the first) which is much worse than the summer spike we had. We're back in lockdown, officially for the third time. The Government continues to be utterly useless, hacking away at public funding and U-turning on every conceivable point when it comes to COVID because all they care about is the 'economy' (even though it's falling apart anyway because why wouldn't it, during a global pandemic), and they aren't doing enough to stop the spread of the virus.
Speaking of, we created a new strain! Well done us! Brexit has happened, we've left the EU, but this new COVID strain is just another reason for Europe to hate us, and shut down its borders so no one can get out of the UK onto the continent. Joy.
So yeah, in the grand scheme of things, the world continues to fall apart.
On a personal note, however, 2020 was pretty good. It felt like I didn't really achieve much, because I was just in a house all year, and so being 25 years old kind of flew by - but in actual fact, a lot did change, and mostly for the better.
- I finished my Masters, and got a Distinction!
- Ry and I bought our first home, a cozy little one bedroom flat with a lovely big living room, cute kitchen, nice spacious bedroom, and a communal back garden so I can look out at the birds and foxes.
- This also included learning several new skills including painting walls and wood. Plus, finally we don't live with other people! It was sad to say goodbye to the others, but well overdue.
- I met several new friends, as part of the AC - we met up a few times across the year, and I feel like these ladies will be life-long companions.
- Speaking of them and the AC server, I've learned more about paganism and the Craft than ever before. So much so that I don't really feel like I need TWells anymore - a whole bunch of new workshops came out, and I only felt drawn to two of them. A year ago I would have been desperate to go to most of them.
- Read a lot more books. Maybe not fiction, but the AC Bookclub meant that I read at least 4/5 non-fiction, most of which have helped my Craft learning. I did more rituals in 2020 than I have ever done before, in my life.
- Only a few weeks after moving in to the new flat, Ry and I adopted a cat! He is about two, an elegant black furred boy called Loki, who has come on in leaps and bounds having been a stray before he got him. The bites are now down to almost only two a day, and not painful, no claws anymore, and although he doesn't sit on laps, he sometimes allows us the presence of his company next to us on the sofa.
- I got a new job! Well, technically an internal move as I'm still working for the same company - but I have moved over from D/C, left that behind, and am now the DE at ET. A successful move across, I think, which included more money (because more hours) and the serious benefit of finally working in a team and having my work mean something, and it being read by real life people! It's more stress, sure, but I am actually happy working here (even if I am procrastinating as we speak).
- We've been working from home since March, and that looks set to continue. I prefer this - no commute means more time in the morning and evening for other things. Not that, at least for 2020, those other things were Creative Writing related. Hopefully that will soon change.
- Since September, I have been working with a PT. Although my weight hasn't exactly changed, I'm not as interested in that any more - I know I am eating well, even if I occasionally indulge in chocolate or dessert, and I am stronger by far than I was this time last year. The workouts I can do now are a vast improvement. The next step is getting the nutrition under control, and maybe starting up with some yoga and meditation. We'll see how things go.
