Planning is for wimps….

It’s not. It’s for the sensible and measured, neither of which are natural to me. I love a good list, but only so I have a target to beat.

I’ve foolishly (joyfully) undertaken two festivals in two weeks. Dafter than daft in many ways. I’m lurching from delight to despair and then hopefully to recovery. A lot of the physical side is helped by the Attitude is Everything organisation who work with event hosts to make things more achievable. Accessibility measures mean no queuing, no endless walks from the car-park and provision of viewing platforms where I know I’ll be able to sit. It all makes a huge difference. I’ve a lovely group of friends who subtly take care of me, as well as a wonderful husband who takes on the lion’s share of prep and practicality, under close supervision of course.

I have built self-care in to the weeks in-between. I’m ignoring the mess of the house, and food is simple but high in nutrients. Another part recovery is taking a break from writing. I’m still scribbling the odd thing and have a small copywriting project but that is that’s all at the moment.

Essentially, two weekend festivals mean taking a two week break from routine and that’s ok. My occupational therapist has almost given permission to have these foolish times by helping me see that life will be like this sometimes and all I have to do is figure out how to make it work.

This isn’t ideal and I’d rather be able to do all the things that need to be done (my wilting tomatoes make me sad) but it’s not possible. I’m learning to inhabit the middle ground, a most unnatural state, but it means for these two weeks I can spend time in my favourite places, discover new music and gather new thoughts.

Whilst all is quiet for writing at the moment, there is exciting news on the way. In the meantime I shall continue to admire my sparkly docs, and to enjoy sitting in various fields.

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Published by Kathryn Anna

Kathryn is a writer based in Shropshire. She writes short fiction, flash fiction and poetry. She has no formal education in creative writing but she reads every poetry book she can get her hands on, and enjoys various online writing groups and courses. Kathryn has M.E., which brings its own challenges to her working practice, and means she has to monitor her activity with great care. Despite the frustration of these limitations she has reached her goal of having work published, thanks to support from Nine Arches Press Dynamo mentoring scheme. Kathryn has work published or forthcoming in print magazines like Mslexia, Popshot Quarterly and The Dawntreader and online in places like Words for the Wild, Nine Muses Poetry, Sledgehammer and Riggwelter Press. She was longlisted for the 2019 Fish prize for short fiction, and Paper Swans Press single poem prize in 2020. Kathryn is a columnist for Spelt Magazine, and has recently been awarded a micro bursary from Raven Studios in Shrewsbury to work on a new pamphlet. She also accepts private commissions under the moniker Poems from the Hare. When her health allows, Kathryn works as a freelance copywriter and can write confidently across a range of subjects, including travel, food, literature, hospitality and customer service. In addition to these core topics, excellent research skills means she can tackle subjects as diverse as muscle cars and dog training. She takes on proofreading and editing work as requested. You can find out more at her business site https://thewordemporium.wordpress.com/ Kathryn loves language and its persuasive power. Most of all she loves to write.

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