burning paper

I guess everyone who writes a blog makes some statement about the new year. This is a particularly strange New Year for everyone. What should be a time to put a globally terrible year behind us, is in fact a time of higher anxiety and a reality check that the crisis we face is as real and as present as ever.

I really cannot complain. I am lucky that the virus and steps to control it have not undermined my household in the way it has for many workers. In undertaking study and stepping out of work in 2019 we had already pulled in the oars of expenditure and adopted a simpler life. In addition I have been lucky enough to be awarded this funding with Jon meaning that, as 2021 starts with a cough and a bump, I already have momentum in something that is personally and professionally worthwhile, creatively interesting, and likely to lead to other opportunities. As a bonus, it is a small contribution towards addressing that other, ever-growing crisis that towers behind the pandemic - climate.

New years celebrations are a ritual of new beginnings but often fail to deliver change as we would hope. I am blessed that my new beginnings began a month ago with a very significant change, so I can quietly ignore this diminished celebration.

Happy 2021!