It's been quite a tough summer. I haven't really had the energy I usually have for my side projects, for reflecting or for taking care of myself. Working for the government during unprecedented political uncertainty has been really hard on us all. My migraines have been a lot worse than normal, which means I've taken off more time than usual (two and a half days) which has ben stressful. Sickness policies can so easily become ableist, we all have to be careful about this as it's so much harder for someone with a disability to tackle them. We've moved house, which was really painful, as our now ex-landlord is a complete and total arsehole. We've decided to not let her take advantage of us, like every other landlord we've had has. So there's been a lot of back and fourth and we still haven't had our deposit back (it's been a month). We are privileged enough to not need it right now, but I'm really angry about it.
I feel like I'm finally starting to regain my energy, excitement and drive. Though work is hard, I am actually really quite happy. And we've worked through the tough times together. We absolutely smashed our service assessment and we were able to boast about the phenomenal work we've been doing. I love the cross government user-centred design community. I'm optimistic that I'll get back into my groove again now. Though I was struggling, I've done some really cool shit this summer, so here's a couple things I'm really grateful for from the past few months:
Tom and I went to Cinque Terre in Italy. It's one of my favourite places in the world.
My cousin got married and for the first time in ages, my whole family got together. We're scattered across the globe, so it's very rare we get the opportunity to spend time together.
I faced my fear of public speaking twice. Lots of new opportunities are being presented to me because of this. Exciting!
Spent time with a lot of my favourite people, and (mostly) forgot to take photos
After several years of trying, I finally got referred to a neurologist for my migraines. I've got low expectations, but can't help be a little bit hopeful that they might be able to help.
We. got. a. TV! We haven't had one for a couple of years because we haven't needed one (couldn't afford one lol). But lemme tell ya, watching movies on a big screen is soooo much better than watching them on my laptop.
We saw some of Tom's family that he hadn't seen in yeaaaaars.
Learned how to do a couple more financy things at Democracy Club. My role there as a remote admin assistant is honestly providing me with some awesome experiences and supplementing my skills in a way that my day job never would.
Found the most delicious restorative yoga class that Tom and I have been going to every Tuesday.
We love our new place and our new landlord is letting us get a cat *weeps*
October is going to be a really fun month. It's my birthday next weekend. Tom's getting surgery to fix his perpetually runny nose. We're going to Montenegro. And I'm going to write a few more crowd funded articles. I suspect that now I've got a bit more energy I'll be able to get back into the gym again.