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shapeofthings2018: This year has brought the most stability I’ve had for a while, in that I’ve stayed in the same house, with the same housemate, and am working on the same projects with the same government department and Minister (remarkable, following a state election). Work has been the major focus for the year; a special blend of exciting, stressful, energising and exhausting challenges and achievements.
Rehabilitated, released & in for a free feed - Sepilok
The major policy project I’ve been working on was already proving pretty demanding before the project manager left us in March. With the project running behind schedule on a quite terrifying timeframe, and everything being completely new to me – content, skills, people – I questioned my sanity in putting my hand up to take over the lead role. Then my manager quit: no safety net and no time for self-doubt or second-guessing. I had to trust my instincts and just run with it all.
I did some things I’m quite proud of: I got a group of opinionated and highly experienced older men to listen and respect me, and agree on policy positions. I ran public meetings and stood in front of angry farmers, slowly winning them over. I wrote complex public reports in no time at all. I travelled thousands of kilometres around northern Victoria, talking to people from farmers to water corporation chairs and learning how much I didn’t know. My work and my meetings were in the papers. I got sensible policy reform proposals approved by the Minister and publicly released in the lead up to an election. I pushed myself way too hard for far too long and caught a touch of burn-out. I very nearly quit.
End of the earth - South Cape, Tasmania
I got a new manager and a brand-new team. I got formally appointed to the Senior Policy Officer role. I got champagne from my Executive Director and Director. I have permission to recruit someone to work with me. I have a solid reputation for difficult policy work, and I have the respect and support to implement the reforms, including the trust and goodwill of irrigation community representatives. I need an easier year.
Although it was the defining feature, work wasn’t everything in 2018. A slip into the injury-overwork-illness cycle meant fitness suffered and outdoor adventures were limited, but I did make two outdoor climbing trips this year, as well as an overnight hike with friends and a three-day solo stroll at the Prom. I didn’t make it to the snow this year, or do any hard hikes or kayak trips, but I did get an old malingering shoulder injury on the road to proper recovery after seven years of tendons out of place.
First solo multi-day hike - Wilson's Prom
Travel made up for the limited outdoors adventures a little, with two weeks in Malaysia visiting a dear friend, and another fortnight solo road-tripping Tassie’s east coast. I started with a long weekend dash to Hobart for my birthday and the inaugural Tasmanian gin festival. The Malaysia trip arrived before my brain had processed what was happening and all too suddenly I was on a train in Kuala Lumpur off to meet Katherine. KL is a good place to get out of, so Kat and I headed to Tioman Island on the east coast for a couple of days of snorkelling and relaxing a little before journeying to Saba Borneo for the highlight of the holiday: four days at the Danum Valley Research Station, deep in a national park, to battle the tiger leeches and see the jungle wildlife. Oh, the orangutan and sun bear rescue and rehabilitation centres we visited were pretty great too.
We got lucky at Danum: our assigned guide was a former park ranger who knew his stuff. An incomplete list of animals seen includes three mum-and-bub orangutan pairs, a Bornean elephant, gibbons, red leaf monkeys, two species of civets, flying squirrels, mouse deer and a SLOW LORIS!!!
Bornean elephant - awfully big for a "pygmy" species
The Malaysia trip was a complex one, personally. My first time back in the developing world after leaving Peru, it felt familiar and foreign all at once and stirred up complicated emotions. Foremost was the sense of loss, seeing animals and landscapes that are disappearing. I felt again the guilt of leaving and going back to the spoilt west, as well as a jab of saudadae. There was the familiarity of shoddy construction, cheap outdoor eateries, obstacle course footpaths, and the tropical stench of lush vegetation, sewage and fermenting fish. Sandakan, in particular, felt known-yet-new and I think I’d manage Borneo for a while, if it weren’t for the heat.
Wee face in the foliage - Danum Valley
The Tasmanian trip was also an emotional journey: a much-needed break after six months of madness at work, it was supposed to be time for solo hiking adventures, but an incident with gravity at the climbing gym a week earlier necessitated a less physical trip. I went over by ferry, taking my little car on a bit adventure down the east coast of the island, mixing camping and walking in wonderful national parks with catch-up time with friends. Hobart is a gentle ache of familiarity; an echo of a life I loved. I’ve been gone five years now, but this trip was the first where it doesn’t feel like “home” any more.
By the end of the trip I was ready to be back in Melbourne. I guess it’s home for now.
Bay of Fires beauty, Tasmania
The way work is going, I’d like to stay in Melbourne for a couple more years and get myself established as a water policy wonk. I have some good people here and now I’m staying in one place for a while I’m starting to connect with the community. I have a lovely home and a potted garden I spend too much money on. I’ve travelled so much through the big sky country that I can see the beauty in it, despite the lack of mountains.
Besides, I don’t have the energy to move and start again somewhere new. Not for a while. It gets harder with age, as social connections fray and the costs of being in motion rise. In a few weeks I turn forty and my gift to myself is slowing things down. I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now, and I’m certain there will be more life-changing adventures still to come. Now let’s see what 2019 has in store!
Happy New Year.
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Date: 2018-12-31 06:25 pm (UTC)Do you have the opportunity to mentor/encourage young women in your field?
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Date: 2019-01-01 01:11 am (UTC)The last 2 years I've mentored through Melbourne university (on request, working with women and people from non english-speaking backgrounds), but that's a time restricted and fairly broad mentoring program. It would be great to find someone with passion for this stuff, though I need to slow my life down a little more to ensure I can give them the time they deserve. I'm applying for a program this year (now it's officially 2019) that will help build my leadership skills and increase the value I can provide to mentees, so that's a good step. :-)
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Date: 2019-01-01 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-31 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 01:13 am (UTC)Happy birthday for last September!