On living life...

[shapeofthings]

2010 eh? Hello and welcome to the future. After 15 days back home over late December - early January we're settling back into the mellow groove of Hobart in summer. The days almost last forever, the hours slipping by with nary a murmur. That could just be my 4 day weekend talking though...

Work's decided to step me back up to full time hours gradually: 3 days last week, 4 days this week coming, then finally back to the 5 x 8 hr week. I'm surprised, but not complaining, especially as Thursday-gone saw me fighting a losing battle with the elevated gravity fields of my bed and couch. I got a bit of bounce back on Friday and managed to summon the motivation to get out of the house for most of the day (haircut, coffee, a little shopping and much waiting for Alex). Saturday we ventured into town again to swell the crowd at an anti-whaling protest for a while (the sinking of the Ady Gil is a crime against engineering, IMO) before joining some new friends on a sound walk^[1] as part of the Mona Foma arts festival, currently in full swing. After that it was home again for yet another quiet evening, in which I mastered the gluten-free adaptation of my favourite biscuit recipe. Yay!

Today we had A, a colleague from work, and her partner M over for lunch (black rice risotto) and conversation: the first real visitors we've had since moving. It was great to have company and show off our little place. Afterwards we planted out the last of our herb seedlings before doing very little of anything for the rest of the day, besides watching wallabies feed in the rain in the scrub beyond the fenceline. Just lovely. =o)

Pretty low-key, but a pleasant time nonetheless, and I think we need relaxing times like these after the madness of the trip home and the madness of the weeks to come. I'm trying to enjoy peace while I find it, and to focus a little more on living my life in the here and now, instead of focussing on what I could or should be doing, or worrying over a past that can't be changed.

Some days can just be about watching the afternoon light play in the grasses, and really that's ok.

[1] The sound walk was a really interesting experience, and I would recommend doing it to anyone. A group of people (6 to 12 is good) walk together, in silence, at a gentle pace around different parts of the city, listening to the sounds of the city, both human and natural. The group stops in particularly aurally-interesting areas to pay more attention. There is no direct communication between group members until the conclusion of the walk, where the experience is discussed. I found it really grounding, focussing my attention on the external instead of the internal, and some of the sounds were really surprising - things I'd miss otherwise. It's a good way to really experience a place, I think.