Last week was as busy as they come. I spent my time either at work or sleeping until the Sunday came and brought with it my suprise-ish birthday party for my partner. Even that was exhausting. I think everyone was feeling it though. It was one of those weeks. And so food, drinks and just company with games was nice, but it didn’t leave me with a lot of energy. And so now I’m here to restart the week on Monday, before my working week starts.

This week, I have a lot I want to do, and I’m spending my morning trying to plan it and put it into motion. A lot of writing and a lot of reading, is what I want to get done, amongst some personal goals/tasks. I also have some writing management tasks I need to get done that I’ve been delaying for a while.

Reconciliation Week has also started! And so I’ll be working towards doing my part for that. I’m still often unsure of what I can do, other than the “standard”. I say “standard” to mean what people should really already be doing, protesting, supporting, raising awareness, education oneself, educating other non-Indigenous Australians etc., but there are more things that I can do as a writer. I’ve already done a few throughout my Minor, but I’m trying to find that line I can walk that is both respectful and allied. A lot of people forget that there’s that line, that sometimes your well-meant advocacy can be misplaced and can push on the voices that need to be heard, First Nation’s Voices. I should get a little more into this in a post to help sort these thoughts and better explain myself.

Writing Management

I have a writing log file that I haven’t updated since July 2020. It’s also the file with my writing goal log, and so that also speaks volumes as to the attention I’ve paid it. I want a physical copy of what this log file does, and so I need to revisit it and update it. The log manages my project details, so I can see them all in one place, where they’re then categorised by size, genre, last time I worked on it, projected size and current size. They also have the location folder of the work … which is a system I have since overhauled and so will need to update again.

Writing

I have a lot of editing to do, and a lot of writing I want to do. I’ve picked up a notebook for writing around my work, before shifts, during breaks etc., something I used to do a lot. I have a whole pad filled with writing from my job a few years back. I’m still working on DWF but am trying to finish polishing X. It’s ready for final edits, but having read the manuscript so many times, no matter how much I love it, it’s just such a daunting task. Particularly now that it’s ready for final edits. I just keep thinking that there’s not enough. Just casual artist things. But that’s the point of editing and refining right?

Reading

Right now I’m reading The Martian, by Andy Weir, and Empire’s Children, by Patricia Weerakoon. I’ve almost finished The Martian, but I just didn’t have any time to read it last week. Empire’s Children on the other hand is my work reading. I read it before my shifts (because I’d rather be a chunk of time early than a crumb of time late). I’m enjoying both, and they’re fairly easy reads, so I’m hoping I don’t get stuck in the middle of one and can keep building up my reading momentum.

Reconciliation Week

Reconciliation Week has started and I’m trying to think of a project to do during as way to reflect my commitment to reconciliation. I follow quite a few different Indigenous-led, and some non-Indigenous led that are committed, organisations on social media that have been letting people know what they can do. Because that’s the first step “what can I do?”

I think I want to do a series of short non-fiction and fiction works for the week, but I will be pressed for time to do so. I should have been working on this earlier, but June snuck up on me. I want to make sure for NAIDOC week I have my affairs in order. Because this is important.

I’ve picked up and have started reading Songlines, by Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly, and Design, by Alison Page & Paul Memmot. Which I was pleasantly surprised to see promoted for this week in one of the biggest retail stores in Australia. So, things seem to be on the move for change, at least on the outside.

Hopefully this week won’t be as exhausting as the previous week. I slept well last night, so I’m banking on that making up for the bad nights of sleep last week. Let’s be productive! Let’s get things done! Let’s get a cup of tea! Because I need it … and maybe another coffee.