November Updates

Hi guys!

How are you all? As always, the end of the year has crept up on me. I'm enjoying autumn and winter more this year. I found myself being more mindful through this summer and trying to make the most of it, so when the change came, I was ready. I also spent the last two winters at my job in homelessness, our busiest time, and I can't deny it's lovely to have a break from that this year. I loved my old job, but particularly last winter was an extremely stressful time and I knew I needed a break from the front line.

I've been in my current job for a bit over four months now and it's a nice change of pace and opportunity to learn. I don't think I've ever stated it outright, but I work as a mental health professional with people who are homeless and experiencing mental health and substance use issues concurrently. There's a lot more to it, it's quite a specific role, but that's the gist of it. It was only just commissioned and I'm the first to hold it, but that also means it's fixed-term dependent on whether the funding is renewed. It's a nice learning curve in lots of ways, but also specific enough that I'm not actually overwhelmed with work. I'm an outreach worker, meaning I go between lots of services, so I also have almost complete command over my time and schedule, a real 180 from before when I was based within a service five days a week. Still, as I said, it's fixed-term, so I've also been spending some time recently applying for other roles in the event that the role is discontinued.

Otherwise, a big personal goal this year was to prioritise my health (particularly after that very difficult time last winter), and I've finally now found myself with the time and energy to commit to that. I've taken up running and am trying to do some kind of workout five times a week overall. I've also been in therapy for a year now. It's definitely all paying dividends.

For good measure, I also decided to makeover my bedroom this month.

A few other fun things: I had one of my biannual trips to Ireland to spend time with family, I saw XG who have quickly become one of my favourite girl groups, and Joe Hisaishi for the second time, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, an absolute privilege.

If you haven't guessed already, this is where I guiltily say there wasn't as much Umineko progress as I'd've liked this month. I'm still on Episode 7, though I've picked up speed again. The more progress I make, the more excited I am about the videos. They'll be in production very soon.

This month I listened to The Good Whale from Serial Productions, which follows the thinking and long process behind the release of the orca Keiko from captivity back into the ocean. Truthfully, I didn't find the storytelling as water-tight as other Serial Productions titles, but it's a treat to have anything new from them and an interesting deep-dive into an issue that isn't as simple as many think. Perhaps one for if you have a particular interest in nature or animal rights.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into my life, which I sometimes forget to even talk about. Tell me about your November!

Speak soon.