Re-emergence
Having made a personal commitment to post a journal entry per month, I have, somewhat predictably, been suffering a significant case of writer’s block. I have never been a very dedicated diary keeper. Thoughts pop in and out of my head with alarming ease, and then of course, there’s the COVID environment, laying waste to memories across the world.
It’s been a confusing month. The easing of coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne has been welcome, but it has not been as easy to embrace as you’d believe. The joy of being able to go to the cinema, or to sit down for a coffee has been paired with the realisation that things won’t go back to normal for months. Our “temporary” working from home arrangements will likely be needed for well over 12 months, which is, well, tiring. Everyone is still so very tired and time seems to both drag and fly past. I’ve ordered a new desk for my office in the spare room, which is unlikely to host visitors for a while.
Throughout this year, I’ve sought to use this time to be creative and to learn more about photography; online courses, webinars, new books and accounts have been followed. I’ve been both inspired and overwhelmed. Maintaining a creative practice during the deep lockdown was a welcome distraction, something to point to in a year of missed opportunities and delayed achievements. But I’m learning that to embrace creativity is to constantly question and examine not only the world around you, but your response to it. I’ve been thinking a lot about my values and my achievements and what else I might like to accomplish in my life. As things start to return to “normal” those questions are thrown into sharper relief and the answers are still very much a work in progress.
As I muddled through this month, more often than not I’ve still made pictures close to home. The challenge of finding (mostly) new images to make in the comfort of the familiar. Longer days have brought new pockets of light in the house and garden to be captured. It will take some time to re-adjust to different streetscapes and landscapes, although I really love this picture of the bush at Keir’s Reservoir Park, just outside of Ballarat where we caught up with extended family for the first time in months.
As we continue to re-emerge from our COVID lives and minds, I’m still thankful for this project for keeping me grounded and interested in observing life’s little moments. You can see more of the project 366 highlights from November and all year here.