Creativity journal #30
Not quite 40 ...
Monday
Admin day – emails and invoices and session prepping for events this week.
Tuesday
Doctor’s appointment – results from some scans and x-rays – I’ve got some facet arthropathy in my lower spine and I’ve got a lump near my shoulder that needs an ultrasound and I feel like I need to discuss some new ailment with my doctor every month – FUN! Doc says I can’t volunteer to help lift pianos …
Banh mi for lunch!
Shadow judging – we’ve only got two weeks left and the students are starting to think about what they might make for their creative responses – it’s so open to whatever the kids choose, with some in our group wanting to recreate the front cover of one of the books, write a poem, create a diorama, and more. I can’t wait to see what they create, and I think this might just be my favourite part of the project.
Wednesday
So cold this morning – ice on the windshield – Australia really needs to build better houses with better insulation because warming our house is costing a huge amount of $$ and apparently other continents with generally much colder climates aren’t nearly as cold inside their homes as we are here in Australia. Crazy!
But there is still some beauty to be found …
Cultural session at Miss 8’s school today. I read Tubowgule and chatted about why I wrote it, the writing and publishing process, we did an activity where the kids got to design their own opera house, and one student won a copy of my book, which was wonderful because the student was really excited to win 🥰
Had a call with my bro-in-law who bullied helped me to tick things off my list. Was rather productive but then I had to hang up and rest for an hour before picking up the kids from school because I can only handle so much demanding enthusiastic behaviour in one day.
Wrap up
Ended my week with an early birthday celebration with family. I am NOT 40 yet. I am clinging to my 30s!
In all seriousness, I’m not too worried about turning 40. So many great, big, important things happened in my 30s – I got married, gave birth to my 2 kids, made huge strides in my career with the most significant being the publication of my debut book Tubowgule: A Sydney Opera House History. I just snuck in with my book! And despite the ups and downs I feel like I moved forward in more ways than just my age and had significant growth besides the increase of grey hairs and wrinkles.
I still often feel like I don’t have it all together, and life is indeed still chaotic, but I’ve made ripples if not waves, and set myself on a path that feels right.
I don’t know what’s to come in my 40s but I’ll let you know next week how it feels when I’ve officially crossed over from 30 to the big four-zero 🤣
What I’m hoping for is a decade of cementing myself further in my creative fields and continuing to build on what I’ve already begun. Maybe with fewer doctor visits, though that might be too hopeful …
Your turn
How do YOU feel about milestone birthdays? Do you celebrate or let them pass by without any fanfare?
Also, I’m on the lookout for more participants in the How to live a creative life interview series. Check out this month’s interview with
(link below) and reach out if you’d like more info about how you can be a part of the series.
I acknowledge the Darkinjung people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I am writing from today. I walk, talk, write, and create with respect on this land, and I acknowledge the enduring connection the Darkinjung people have with this Country; I thank them for their care of this Country, and I pay respects to the Elders past and present, and extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here reading or listening.
For me, even milestone birthdays, are the same as other ones, but with one difference: the gifts you get. On my 20th birthday, i both saw one of my high school friends and her parents again after some years, and my parents gave me a beautiful yellow 8GB Silicon-Power USB Stick (which i still have but don't use much). For my 30rd birthday, i was allowed to go to a confectionery, choose and buy my birthday cake.