Here I stand at the beginning of a new academic year, ready for all that it might bring. I see it as the opportunity to renew learning, and to remind myself of positions I might choose to adopt when it comes to writing, and how I interact with the world. In that respect, I am for humans, and I stand against hatred. I embrace positivity, and I reject negativity, although very aware of many things in the world being far from perfect, and sometimes far from being just ok. I am happy to be reminded of any occasions, through my own imperfections, of any occasions when I may stray from this path.
Looking forward, much of my year will be taken-up with study, but I still aim to be here week by week for much of the year, sharing writing, and hopefully finding enough time to provide support, friendship and feedback for other writers too. I am grateful for all the support I have received in the last year, including most recently, when I was largely not here during my Summer break.
I am now retired, with both new challenges and new opportunities. I will be continuing at university as a student, and I will also be re-joining a small group of writers, writing together for wellbeing, on a weekly basis during school term-time. I am hoping that both of these activities will also feed into my presence on Medium, too.
During the Summer, I found myself journalling every single day. It is a simple practice, often rejected by writers, but one which I value, not just for the enormous wellbeing benefits that it brings, but also because it develops writing as an ongoing activity, and provides assistance with idea generation. So, I am hoping that I will continue with that practice permanently.
I hope to post writing here at @fraserdme, but also sometimes with publications, creating regular patterns. I mostly hope to post at least one thing for Medium on a Sunday, but that may be delayed if writing for a publication, but ultimately, it will always also be found here at @fraserdme, and it will always include the ‘Wellbeing’ tag.
It is good to be back. I wish my fellow writers well with all their endeavours in the forthcoming academic year. And I am thankful for all those reading, highlighting, responding and following me. I am most appreciative of every single bit of support, and the time taken to read what I have written.
Onwards and onwards.
Fraser
September 2024