Stormy Skies
FISHERMANS BAY, PORT STEPHENS
I didn't realise how long it had been since I have posted! Time for a bit of an update then. I'm nearly at the end of my Masters degree - less than two months to go now. My thesis has been submitted and has gone to the US for marking. We are looking to publish in the Traumatology journal. For anyone who is interested it is on the potential for posttrauma growth processes to improve quality of life for veterans with posttrauma distress (no surprises there). If you are someone who is interested there is so much more I could say (and once you get me talking I won't stop) but I am absolutely ok with the fact that most people go "Huh?". Once I'm finished I'm hoping to start working around 3 days a week although I might take a bit of a break first. I have a few options and they are good ones. I feel very fortunate and am looking forward to getting back to work. And then next year I've decided I'll keep studying and do my PhD..... I know, glutton for punishment, but I like studying and this will be just one more step in the direction I set off in so many years ago.
I paint more now and, as you can see, I make sure I get time out with the camera. I'm not sure it will go anywhere but I like it. It makes me happy. I've been thinking about an exhibition and have had a few conversations with people to kick it off but that would mean I need to get a collection together so I'll work on that first. I've got a few trips planned and a big one in mind for 2025. Things are coming together. I feel like this time of my life could be compared to tending a thriving garden. All the seeds I planted a long time ago are now well and truly growing. I am still weeding things out of my life that I don't want. We always are. But I know what shape the garden should take now so it's much easier to recognise something that doesn't fit. The life I've created is much more resilient to the bumps along the way. The weather doesn't destroy it - or me. Storms are just part of the process. Today, though, the skies are not stormy at all. Things a fitting into place. I'm sure there will still be stormy days to come but today, for me, was not one of them.