Sometimes life gets in the way
This is not the usual content I put on this site, but sometimes it’s good to share that behind the screen and keyboard is yet another human.
This last 12 months has been eventful, and not in the good kind of way. Though I’ve managed a couple of talks and a couple of podcasts, and I’ve kept up the majority of the mentoring I take part in out of work hours; but in general my extra-curricular activities have slowed down. It has felt like the year of half-finished blog posts. Un-finished ideas.
Sometimes, everything seems to hit in a wave. In the last 9 months or so I’ve lost a couple of people I was close to to cancer. Both times hit very hard.
I’ve had a few other personal things going on that I don’t want to share on here, but nonetheless, all of it accumulated left me de-motivated. I didn’t have the energy to do what I normally did, and certainly not the enthusiasm.
An addition to this weight I’ve been feeling is that I’m still having to take precautions around covid. The pandemic has and is effecting some of us more than the majority. The medication I take means the medical advice given to me for the forseeable is:
- not to go into enclosed spaces with others
- to remain masked
- socially distance where possible, even outdoors.
This means that, for the forseeable, I can’t travel on public transport or go into venues. Now that others are starting to “go back to normal” and attend conferences and travel, it’s having an affect on my mental health as I fear I’m missing out.
Depending on the coming year, it may be that for DDD East Midlands Conference we will have to put in place precautions and checks so that people like myself are able to attend safely. This needs to be discussed in the committee closer to the date as we would have to decide if we want to slightly inconvenience the majority to prevent excluding the few (including myself).
I think I’m reaching a turning point now. I’m slowly ramping up some of what I used to do. Mostly the bits I can do without a lot of interaction. It’ll take a bit of time before I’ve got to where I was this time last year. It will be a long time before I can do what I was doing pre-pandemic.
Anyway, here’s hoping I will find the energy and motivation to finally finish those blog posts and write the talks I’ve been mulling over for months. I would like to do some certificates soon and test some of the learning I have been able to do recently.
I have taken some time to heal and not burn out. I may need more in the future and will take it as and when.
The final note is that I am sorry I will not be able to speak at your in-person events for a while. I wish I could, but I have to do what I can to remain safe and will follow medical guidance. If you have hybrid/remote options, I’m happy to have a chat about it and see if it’s feasible; but for now - I hope you have fantastic times and I am sorry to be missing out on them.
Stay brilliant
