This year has represented huge upheaval for everyone, but change and flux can be opportunities as well as challenges. As they say – people are like tea bags because you never know how strong they are until they get in hot water!
At the start of this year some of my longer term associations with Hellion Trace and I am Echoborg naturally came to a close. March rolled around I was just getting into ‘job hunting’ mode when… well, you know. Thankfully, I’ve had a lot in my personal life to keep me busy. I have been in the process of buying a house since September last year, and lockdown gave me the space to really invest my time and energy in that. We finally moved last month, and have been able to really take the time settle into our new home.
I’m now based in the Forest of Dean, essentially my childhood stomping ground. It’s perfect, as lockdown has proven how important it is to be close to nature and family. However, I’m also still close enough to Bristol to maintain my creative practice and connections there! It’s especially useful that lockdown seems to have really opened people up to remote working and virtual meetings – long overdue for those of us with disabilities or other barriers that can make meatspace difficult sometimes!
I’m also keen to bring some of what I have learned working in the cultural and creative industries back to the Forest of Dean, as it’s such a remote rural area there is such a lack of a cohesive cultural scene. There are definitely exciting things happening on the smaller scale – interesting artists and organisations tucked away doing amazing things – but a real lack of connection and collaboration.
It’s a confusing and scary, but exciting, time. I hope that we all learn to maintain this sense of empathy and patience that has permeated the last few months.