Reverb10: days 1-7

I saw this mentioned on Jenni's blog, and thought it looked like a fun way to end the year. I also took a leaf out of her book (no pun intended with the 'book' part) and decided to do it a week at a time, in 'digest' form. Ha.

What's Reverb10, you ask? Check it out here. And now let's get on with it...

December 1: One Word

The word I would use to describe this year is "travel" - I started out the year still in Canada after spending Christmas with my brother, his girlfriend and her awesome family. A more traditional Christmas I don't recall ever having. By the time I got back to Australia, my fondest wish was to never have to eat again. I did, of course, but it felt so good not to be stuffing my face and puffing out even more than I already had. Phew. Later in the year, August/September to be exact, I travelled again to the States to hang out with friends. We did a roadtrip from L.A. to Atlanta and back again. Awesome fun, but it was good to get out of that car at last. And then I had to plan my travels in January '11, when we're going back to Canada for my brother's wedding. It sounds like a chore, doesn't it? But somebody's gotta do it. And truthfully, I look forward to being able to spend money on other stuff at some point in the future. But I still wouldn't change it for the world! This travel bug ain't going away. Sometime I will have to write about other travels I've done - world trips and the like.

December 2: Writing

I guess if I didn't work full time, I'd get a lot more writing done. Theoretically. During November however, I realised that I was averaging 5,000 words a night on weeknights, whereas sometimes the weekend days yielded even less than that, and I often had most of those days free to write. I guess I haven't lost my procrastination skills even now that my studies have been left far behind. Still, I guess things that get in the way of my writing are other things I like to do online, like check out my Last.fm charts, check my email, watch Billy Corgan (Official)'s updates on Facebook, and hang out with my WoT friends at A'vron Ayende. Again though, I'm not sure I want to trade any of that in for JUST focusing on writing/editing. Why? Because I'm sure I'd burn out in 10 seconds flat if I didn't have my methods of procrastinating, and then I'd get nothing done.

December 3: Moment

One moment during which I felt alive? Probably driving through a thunderstorm - and magnificent it was too - in Oklahoma, wishing it would turn into a real live tornado. Yeah, maybe I'm a thrill seeker, to a degree. Hehe. The clouds were truly stunning, and I got some great photographs. There was another amazing storm on the way back to California, when we were in Texas or possibly New Mexico. Got some wonderful photographs of raindrops from that. So yea, I felt alive, and glad to be, then.

December 4: Wonder

How did I cultivate a sense of wonder in my life? I guess I was just inspired right through the year, following on from last year's NaNoWriMo. My life is pretty fun, even if there are areas that are experiencing a severe lack. Some areas. I've got a cool career (librarian), I get to travel quite a bit, I'm loving what I'm writing, I live in a beautiful seaside town with photo opportunities galore, I've got lots of friends and a great family...it's hard not to have a sense of wonder when reflecting on all this.

December 5: Let Go.

I probably didn't let go of anything this year. I think this year was a rather uneventful year in terms of breaking off ties, or getting rid of bad rubbish, or any of that. But wait, I did let go of something: my twenties! Yes, this year I turned 30, and I didn't hate it at all. Not that I precisely loved it, but my party was heaps of fun, and naturally it had a great playlist since I made that playlist myself. Hehe.

December 6: Make

The last thing I made was a painting (I hadn't painted in ages, and it was fun to get back into it, though I haven't returned to it since completing these two paintings). I think that's the last thing I made...

December 7: Community

Well, I've only recently started up this blog, and I am determined to make some good contacts via Blogger, hopefully get some new writing friends and sources of inspiration for me going into the new year. I am inspired already about 2011, but I want to stay that way, and if I can help others be inspired too, then that's even better. I've really enjoyed interacting in the NaNoWriMo community this year, and also the Last.fm community is awesome as ever. And yeah, I guess that goes to show that I get most of my community interaction online, not in person. There is a great community in my place of employment, though, and I get to work with some of the most awesome people ever. So I'm very blessed there.