As always, the Halloween season has been great fun. At work as a tour guide, I introduced people to the wonders of autumn, told semi-spooky stories, and gave out countless candies. It rained, and it was chilly, but the kids wore raincoats under their capes and wings and still had a good time.
Now I’m eyeing the row of books that have accumulated on my shelf over the past few weeks – Ada Hoffman’s The Outside, Perpetual Astonishment by Tomson Highway, and Esi Edugyan’s Out of the Sun. I’ve got some catching up to do, as well as some planning.
When I graduated from university four years ago I had a vague assumption that my professional writing courses would somehow land me a writing job. Instead, I was hired for my internship experience at a museum and became an educator-tour guide. The fault in my original assumption was a lack of understanding: I hadn’t known that writing skills alone were not enough. Most likely a teacher (or two) in university mentioned the need to specialise and build a targeted portfolio, but for some reason I didn’t absorb this. I didn’t plan, in part, because I didn’t know how to work with my physical disability. I had to learn how to budget my spoons, how to adapt my posture and hand position, how to leave a project when it hurt too much to continue. Now that I’m more familiar with my disability, and with what I want, I can make better choices. In the new year I’ll start training to be an English language (ESL) teacher, which looks like good match for my skills and aspirations.
For November, my plans for this website have two areas of focus:
- Add a Resources page with links to information about neurodiversity, disability, and writing. This will put all my favourite books, channels, articles and more in one place instead of spreading them across many ‘Links & Pursuits’ posts.
- Write a series of short ‘how-to’ posts with holiday themes: budget-friendly eating and decorating, minimising waste, enjoying winter after the New Year’s parties have ended…
As an example for #2, here are a few decorations I whipped up out of repurposed materials:
For now, I’ll schedule myself some quiet time to enjoy the seasons as they turn.
Emma Lammers 