Another year over
Well today is my second last day at work and I suspect my posting will be very thin until early next year. I’m not taking as much time off this year as I have in the past and I know I’m coming back to the mother of all workloads but I’m trying to forget that for now.
I must say I haven’t felt this relaxed in some time. I have many non-work-related things that I do and I think I’ve finally got them all done for the year. Anything that isn’t done yet can wait until next year. Yep, I’m already writing the list of stuff I have to do next year but so far am unphased by it.
I do love Christmas. I’m far from religious but I love the extended family getting together and eating and drinking too much. I get to see a lot of people that I love very dearly but who I don’t get much of a chance to see. It will be a bit of a tense Christmas as there’s some family nastiness going on but that’s not something I’m going to talk about here. Moreover, I refuse to let it get in the way of my good time.
I also like that it’s a time for reflection. I think it’s important to recognise and utilise these times. So if you’ll allow me, I’ll get a little self indulgent.
This year I’ve finished my Masters, including a 20,000 word thesis and achieved a perfectly respectable H2A for the thesis and a H1 for my Masters. This is something that I’m quite proud of.
I’m probably even more proud that I’ve started a non-profit organisation: The Australian Centre for Democracy and Justice. It was about this time last year that I was throwing the idea around with a few people. In fact I think I had my team together about this time last year. It was a different team to the one I have at the moment but both teams were/are fantastic.
For those of you that don’t know I also blog over at the Australia Centre for Democracy and Justice’s Blog which is where I tent to write my more political stuff.
I organised my first Melbourne Social Forum and in doing so meet some pretty amazing people both at the actual forum and amongst the organising committee. We’ve got a really strong team that I really enjoyed working with and that I felt I learnt a lot from. Next year will be bigger and better and I’m really looking forward to it.
I really feel as though I’ve blossomed as an activist this year. I’ve been building up to it for a couple of years now, but I think I’ve finally earned my activist badge for my scout uniform.
Next year is going to be an exciting year as well and one that I’m really looking forward too. There’ll be lots of new things to look forward to and I can’t wait. This eagerness, juxtaposed to being the most relaxed I’ve been in 11 months is a funny place to be – but it’s quite nice. It’s a place for thinking and rejuvenating.
So thank you everyone that popped in to this blog over the year – it’s great to have you on board, especially those that comment. I get an average of about 150 hits a day which isn’t bad. Moving the blog has been fun and I suspect that next year it will blossom into a fully fledged web page. Thanks to those who link here – especially those who have updated their blog rolls to my new address.
Knowing me I’ll probably blog again between now and the New Year but have a great break and make sure you all get some rest – I know that’s what I’ll be doing.
