I guess it is mid-winter and we have been lucky that so far it has not been all that viscous. Photo above was from last week, when a sudden dump of snow wrought havoc, but the next day it was already melting. By Kanazawa standards, it is looking like a mild winter.
Internally, though, I am very much like the iron and stone that Rossetti uses in The Bleak Mid-Winter poem, which Peaky Blinders's fans will recognize as the Shelby family's favorite. Back in the fall, I watched the entire series again for a second time. Like The Wire, I always get something out of rewatching Peaky Blinder clips on YouTube, so I went back and watch the whole lot.
Initially I had though of writing some kind of end-of-the-year review of my trials and tribulations, but now that I am here and typing away, I realize that in 2023, my thoughts were a bit of a scattered mess that are maybe better left untangled. As usual, I will refrain from writing about work in specific terms (Once I had a creepy experience of being contacted about my photos and then being asked about employment opportunities). In general, however, I had a productive year, even though I am still struggling to land the plane with some publications, at least I did the work of putting something together to submit.
This year I focused a lot on trying to let go of negative thoughts. I appreciated the words of Micheal Singer a good bit and enjoyed his podcasts while taking walks. I also have been getting a lot of help from listening to new-agey music like this. I find that playing it in the background when I am working is useful to block out the negative self-doubt vibes. I am certainly not drinking the cosmic spiritual Kool aide, just experimenting with ways to clam the storm that sometimes blows inside my little head.
My hope is that spring will bring in a new groove and for now I just have to hibernate a little bit longer.
Ok then.