Where Have I Been?

Hi all. I haven’t done one of these in a while. As with any (good) habit, it’s easy to start, but hard to keep up. I’ve been feeling busy for the last couple of months, with the emphasis on feeling… I can’t say with certainty that my time has been filled any more than usual, but the experience of busyness has as much to do with how one copes with time management. It’s probably fair to say that I haven’t been coping so well lately. But I’m getting back on track.

Before I start, let me shout out an old friend: thanks for checking in on me and asking for the next instalment of this newsletter. You know who you are.

I’m not going to try to be super thoughtful or profound in this one. Instead, I’ll just mention a few things that I’ve been up to.

A trip to Niagara Falls

At the end of April, we went to Niagara Falls for a few days with my parents, my sister and her family, and two of my aunts visiting from out of town.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. As a kid, I remember being drawn mostly to the flashy spectacles of Clifton Hill, but nowadays, I think I’d be happy to just stand and watch the falls for hours.

One of the highlights was visiting the Bird Kingdom zoo with my nephews. They had a great time observing up close the many varieties of birds on display.

Freelance Life

If you’re not aware, I work on software projects as a self-employed freelancer. It’s great because my hours are flexible. When I get a meaty project, I find myself diving deep into the work, for better or worse. There’s a joy in learning about different technologies and figuring out how to fit things together.

Recently, I had the chance to work with the Stripe platform, to enable the users of a web application to make credit card payments. I had a lot of fun doing it, and it definitely contributed to the sense of busyness that I’ve been feeling lately.

Writing Retreat

Earlier this month, I had the chance to fulfill a dream of mine: I went on a writing retreat. I’ve always fantasized about going to some secluded place, where I would lock myself in a room for days, and churn out half a book. My recent experience wasn’t quite like that, but the reality came as a pleasant surprise: writing doesn’t have to be a solitary endeavour, and a feeling of community can do wonders for creativity.

The event was run by an organization called Firefly Creative Writing. Eight writers joined the retreat, along with two facilitators from Firefly, and we gathered in a house in the woods near Kingston. Over the course of the weekend, the facilitators led us in group exercises designed to get us into a creative mindset.

There were a couple of extended periods dedicated to silent writing, but I did not sequester myself behind a closed door as I had imagined. Instead, I sat in the dining area, at a large wooden table, where a couple of others were also working. Even though I had just met them, and they were essentially strangers, we all had something in common, and I found motivation in that common goal.

I think of myself as an introvert, who can only truly feel at ease if I’m alone; even though this is true to a certain degree, I discovered on this writing retreat that it’s possible to find comfort in the right community.

As always, feel free to hit Reply if you want to chat!

Until next time,

Albert