As the end of 2015 draws near I find it increasingly hard to motivate myself to do much of anything. I have the desire to lay in bed all day and eat bucketfuls of brownie batter.
I remember this feeling well, from university. One of creeping apathy, the promise of a break being ever-close after just a few more performances, juries, exams, papers. Back then a December break meant going home and hopefully enjoying snow, catching up on sleep and laundry, eating pumpkin pie and ham sandwiches and drinking a lot of beer.
Now, a December break means not going to work for a few quiet days, hopefully catching some waves at the beach, catching up on life and social time with friends, and eating a lot of BBQed food- likely grilled shrimp, or kangaroo.
It still means drinking a lot of beer. Some things don’t change, thankfully.
For the first time in a few years, I won’t be travelling over Christmas. Even though I’ll be spending it in Brisbane, away from the familiar family traditions and holiday fervour, I’m grateful to spend a stationary Christmas here with my hodgepodge assortment of Australian family.
2015 has been a big year. A very big year. So much living squeezed into twelve months. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to spend a few days processing all of it, giving lessons learned and experiences had a chance to seep in.
It’s looking like December will be a combination of work fetes and social soirees, a folk music festival spent with friends from Aus and NC (!), a Swedish Christmas Eve, and Australian family Christmas morning.
It’s the most magical time of the year, after all. This year it’s a more solitary magic, away from family and the familiar, but it carries with it the magic of very real gratitude and a deep joy for what life looks like here.
Life Upside Down 
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