Twenty Ten

It has been a while since I blogged on anything personal. Having returned from a Festive Season visit to Melbourne seems a good time to address that.

Here

In some ways things went too well for me on moving to Canberra. I fell into work within a week of moving here in April which was surprising but also made me too confident of my luck. Since that temp role ended in July things have been more patchy. I get good feedback for my resume and interview performance but I am also reliably informed that things are sluggish just now (even if Australia has technically deflected a recession). This is even the case of the relatively plentiful area of clerical work that I focus on. I have to keep all these external factors in mind lest I fall back into old ways of regarding competency. I anticipate it is just a matter of time.

All sorts of things change with time and affect one another. I have had my job-seeking challenges. Petra has had study-related challenges. And both of us are thinking that we may cope better with all these things if only we had more space than a four-room bungalow allows. Still for now that is our circumstances and we are too busy to contemplate any changes till the dust has settled on the coming Canberra Intervarsity Choral Festival (CIV). Petra is convening that event while I am a hanger-on who is free of rehearsal and performance commitments to do odd-jobs for her. Seeing interstate friends in my adoptive hometown will be nice.

There

Things can be a bit sleepy in Canberra which is why I visited Melbourne recently. I spent time with both family and friends in a number of different settings from the suburbs to the Mornington Peninsula. I was a bit apprehensive of changes I would face. There is only so much that remote forms of communication can tell you and only so far that speculation can fill in the gaps. There is nothing like face-to-face chats to provide a gossip booster-shot.

Across the two or three groups I move in I found changes to relations and perspectives and life circumstances. I was reminded how fragile our ability as humans to live happily with one another can be. I shall have to remember that the next time I feel like castigating diplomats for coming back from an international meeting with nothing much to show for themselves.

However I also rediscovered how fascinating and invigorating and important others are and how seeking to understand others is a purpose of mine.

And I cannot forget fun. I had fun seeing Avatar at the Valhalla and Sherlock Holmes in Rosebud. I got very relaxed in hot springs and refreshed in bayside waters. I had some fascinating religious and political discussions with friends of different persuasions. I got fed some fantastic food. Too those who actively facilitated these things I am grateful. I am energized for what is to come.

Back Here

The national capital is also a rural township and I have become too much of a home-body in it. One mistake I have made is to hold off on making non-work commitments till I have work itself. Fun and fulfilling things still happen but in a haphazard way. I wish for a bit more of the routine I once had. One thing I can try is to revive the civic life that I let go of once the Australian Democrats became a micro-party. I have recently volunteered at a few Amnesty International stalls. We shall see how that and other things go. I have a few options to explore but just have to make them happen. We shall see what 2010 brings.