The Week That Was…
We’re really feeling the winter chill here in Queensland now. For some, it’s a welcome change, for others, it’s too shocking to even talk about and didn’t they move to Queensland to avoid this sort of weather…
I had a big weekend planned for this weekend. I was going to visit my best friend and meet her new grandson, then attend two sessions I booked a long time ago at the Capricorn Writers Festival, a mere 30 minute drive from my house, and then I was going to catch up with another friend at a cafe in the city for morning tea. I should know better by now than to make all these plans in advance. I should certainly know better than to pay a lot of money in advance for tickets to something. Out of all these lovely planned activities, I only got to do the first, meet my best friend’s grandson – he’s adorable and cuddly and so lovely. But as to the rest of the agenda…pain.
For several medical reasons that I won’t go into specific detail about, I suffer chronic pain that is grounded in being extremely hyperflexive (as in, contortionist type of flexibility). The last six years has seen pain shift about in my body constantly, the cause is all one and the same, regardless of where the pain sits, but I’m never without it. I have learnt to manage this pain for the most part and still go about my business as usual, but when that pain mainfests itself in my head, in the form of a cluster headache, it’s like a shut door on life for several days. Pain relief medication doesn’t work. Sleeping doesn’t work. Staying awake doesn’t work. I just have to exist with it until it decides to disappear, usually 3 to 4 days after onset.
There’s probably no use getting upset or angry about it, but nevertheless, I was pretty upset and angry yesterday at missing those two sessions at the Writers Festival. It’s not just the loss of money (well, it is a bit, those tickets were $90) but I had been really looking forward to finally being able to attend a festival in person after living so remote for so long and always missing out on everything. They were the only sessions of interest to me too, so that festival ship has sailed.
I am used to missing out on things (that’s why I put so much effort into my house being comfortable and aesthetically pleasing – I spend so much time in it), but even so, the disappointment is still there. I only realised yesterday how dependent I’ve come to be on festivals being digital. There’s a lot to be said for livestreaming events as I’m sure there are so many people, for so many different reasons, who can’t attend events despite very much wanting to. Sadly, this festival opted out of livestreaming so I truly did completely miss out this time around.
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Joke of the week:
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What I’ve been watching:
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What I’ve been reading:
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Until next week… 
