In The Last Year…
The following note was written on March 2nd. I took part in Jo Bell’s “Self Compassion Challenge”. One of the assignments was to wite a note to yourself for the following day. And this note has a spot on my desk, and is the last thing that I see before I head downstairs every morning.
In an attempt to bring joy to my days, I came back to the post from this date last year. As I’ll be the first person to admit it, I have difficulty seeing the signs of forward progress in my life.
Since the start of the pandemic on this date three years ago, i’ve come up with a list of the things that I've done in the last year.
At 2 World Trade Center, is the Occulus Beer Garden. I walked around to the side of the building and came across a series of graffit. I’m not sure who the artist is, but I stood and appreciated the nod to The Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.”. Creativity, not cash rules everything around me.
With a thank you to Chari Pere for inspiring this idea.
On the streets leading to the Fulton Center subway station, I looked down and found this piece of artwork. The message resonated with me, at the end of a long day.
And in the last year...…
1 Times Square on New Year’s night. Earlier in the day, I had ushered in the new year with the Salute To Vienna concert at Lincoln Center. This photo was taken approximately eighteen hours after the New Year’s Eve celebration had occured.
I've moved on from a job of eight years and found a new, albeit temporary job
The trip to Italy happened after a two year delay
I took in the view from the roof garden of The Met
The Roger Waters concert at MSG happened after a two year delay
I've taken to reading and posting my poems on Instagram, Youtube, Swell & Tiktok
I had a mini Made To Do This reunion in person, meeting Rachel Jackson, Kristina Tickler Welsome & Jayati Vora for dinner
I awoke the abundant me
I took in the beauty of "The Beautiful Blue Danube" and clapped along to "The Radetzky March" during the Salute To Vienna concert .
The curtain call at Salute to Vienna. Much like the New Year’s Concert in Vienna, the encore consisted of “The Beautiful Blue Danube” and “The Radetzky March”. But with one key differnce, a performance of Robert Burns’s “Auld Lang Syne” to end the afternoon. 2023 well and truly started here.
I've completed Amy Kay's "Poem A Day" challenge during NaPoWriMo
I got to see the musical "Company" during it's Broadway run
I got to meet Victoria Williams during her stay in NYC
I challenged myself by taking Megan Falley's "Poems That Don't Suck" course
I'm hosting an open mic for writers and poets with disablities on 3/30
I have my next trip booked for the end of September, to Greece; with one more on the cards before the year ends.
I'm taking steps to become a more independent adult
I know this list doesn't cover everything that's happened in the last year.
This was one of the moments that happened in the last year that I didn’t mention. In 2021, I participated in the tryptich, “A Thousand Ways” put on by the theater troupe 600 Highwaymen. After a phone call and an initimate conversation came part three. A room of strangers acting out a scenario with a series of cards.
I'm trying to move my life into a more positive direction
It doesn't feel like things are happening, though
I need a sign that what I'm doing is working and where to go next. I won’t stop trying to make foward progress with my life.
At the corner of Broadway & Fulton Street. Around 5PM each weekday, I can hear the chimes at St. Paul’s Chapel. As I walk towards the subway stop at the World Trade Center, this is my view.
