Doing one blog a year does not make me a Blogger unfortunately, but I do use it as a log of my changes in thoughts and priorities. Looking over the past few years a lot has happened in my life, and it helps me reflect on my progress.
So, I got here at last. The final year, or is it? People often talk about their final year at university and I understand what they mean, but there is nothing final about it. Even at my age of 70, I see it as a start point. For those much younger it is the start of the beginning of their life’s journey. The stuff I have done, the people I have met, the questions raised over the past 5 years and no doubt more for the next one, all make a new beginning not and end. The fun is trying to decide what to do and how to do it.
The current Covid crisis will close some doors to us, but others will be opened. It is no use denying all the evidence of the problems of the world as so many do. 'Coronavirus is a con,' 'environmental catastrophe is a con,' 'immunisation is a con,' etc, etc. Good luck to the dinosaurs who have their heads stuck up their backsides with those views. The future is with those who grasp what is happening and prepare for the future realities. My plans are still vague, but I think I am on track.
My Daughters and my Grandson are my priorities and their struggles my daily concern, but they are doing well in their chosen paths and am proud of all of them. Especially my 5yr 11mth-old adopted Grandson who started life knowing more emotional and physical pain in his first three years than many of us will encounter in a lifetime. He has come on so well. Large for his age, clumsy, funny, caring and very aware of his environment. He has had incredibly good reports from school, and he loves it.
I am Studying Creative Writing A363 this year and already enjoying it. I found the philosophy difficult last year I must admit. I do not think the ideas and arguments, in themselves are too difficult to understand, but some philosophers talk and write in such convoluted ways that they are difficult to follow. They should all do a course in ‘Communicating Ideas’ as a prior requirement of gaining any qualification on the subject. I watched a video of one eminent philosopher give a talk to a room full of his peers. Death by ‘Power Point’ and if that did not get you, his monotone, head down reading of the paper everyone had a copy of was the worst form of torture any academic could inflict. No wonder Philosophy is a shrinking subject area in universities today. This is unfortunate, as it is a rich and powerful tool. I believe it is essential to help formulate strategies for an ever more complex world.
This year, Creative Writing will let my creative juices flow and I can develop my own style. I have already had some critiques of short passages I have written and am so proud of myself for not breaking down in tears or punching the computer screen. I have taken the criticism as a mature adult and taken it all on board. My critics are doing their best. Bless them.
If I do another Blog next year, it is because I have failed and am trying again or am doing a Masters. I am not sure what to do. I need time to decide what I want to be when I grow up.