What the world needs now is another newsletter and ways in which I try to distract my brain
I'm catching up on all the podcasts that have slipped past and this week I listened to a Conversation with Friends episode of the First Time Podcast between McKinley Valentine and Angus Hervey. It was all about newsletters and they put the newsletter challenge out there for writers.
So, for what it is, here is mine.
Not really sure at this stage what I'll write about or how often I'll write, but I have to start somewhere.
I live in Melbourne where we are in Stage 4 restrictions and life is pretty ho-hum. Like many others, I'm missing my friends, swimming and hugging. This lot of restrictions have a weight to them that is harder than last time so I'm trying to find ways to distract my brain that doesn't seem to stop buzzing.
Ways I try to distract my brain
1. Bike rides
I jump on my bike most mornings and ride down to the Maribyrnong River, up to Edgewater Lake and pause somewhere around the lake to breathe in the fresh air, look at the light, ducks, trees and pretend I'm somewhere a little more remote.
the river
2. Early morning writing
My alarm on my watch buzzes me at 6.00 am weekdays and I climb out like a robot, make my espresso, pull on my clothes I laid out the night before, do my 10 minutes of stretches, open my laptop and start work. The night before I make sure I have left my word doc open with the cursor blinking hopefully at the point I need to continue writing. I don't have too many rules for this early morning writing, but one is to not look at the internet as it is a void that is difficult to escape from. For at least an hour I don't think about COVID.
3. Knitting
I have succumbed deeply into the knitting world this time around. It is a great way to keep my hands busy while I watch telly in the evening AND I get a thing at the end of it. For those not in the know, there is a website called Ravelry where knitters and crocheters put all their projects and wool. I started with sorting out my stash of wool I've gathered over the year, then deciding to finish some old projects. So far in these COVID times, I have finished a blanket that I have been knitting for seven years (or more), finished a scarf, knitted a buff and a cobblestone cowl and have two projects on the go: a beanie for Mr 17 and a Cruiser cardigan for me.
the cobblestone cowl
the beginnings of the cruiser
4. Bookish things
The Melbourne Writers Festival Digital has been an incredible distraction. I completely oversubscribed to everything which has meant that I spent last weekend, last week and this weekend with my headphones in listening to a wonderful array of writers and thinkers talk about climate change, feminism, books and so much more. It has been a blessing of a distraction.
I also attend as many virtual bookish things like launches and writer talks as possible in the hope to stay in touch with what's going on and to support writers.
The only downside of this is my bank balance and my lack of bookshelf space for all the new books being pushed through my door.
5. Reading
My reading has slowed down and this may be from a full brain, exhaustion etc. but I'm still reading and losing myself in fictional worlds.
Last book read was Gulliver's Wife by Lauren Chater
Current read is The Lost Soul Atlas by Zana Fraillon
Reading pile...will soon topple and kill me.
End of transmission...