I am always surprised and humbled by humans creativity and their need to be together particularly when faced with adversity. Take the current situation… because we can hardly ignore that our worlds have been turned upside down, right? We are now singing, attending church, birthdays, funerals, learning, community groups and hobbies via the Internet, via Zoom, reaching out and staying connected with families, friends and friends we haven’t even met yet. All ages, all walks of life.

Zoom is the word on everyone’s lips or should I say mouse? That and petrie dish, although thankfully the use of that description for Covid-19 hot spots has faded slightly. If you’re not zooming you’re missing out on life it would seem. I love how quickly we have adapted to this innovative method of communication that is bringing groups of people together creating caring and sharing communities in a time in history that without Zoom could have left us out in the cold experiencing higher levels of anxiety and helplessness than may have been.

I cannot even imagine what it would have been like living through the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 where communication would have been sparse or non existent in many communities across the world. The fear, anxiety and isolation would have been palpable I am sure. I like to think in that time in history people would have reached out to one another in their communities and supported each other through loss and illness.

In the current pandemic we have instant communication from so many directions, sometimes too instant. And of course now, our first thought is ‘Let’s get together and have a zoom get together!’

Why not I say? Since April this year Zoom and other online forums have seen me ‘travel’ to so many new places meeting with family, old friends and groups of likeminded people and ticking off my bucket list of ‘Maybe one day I’ll try this type sessions’.

In April I did a four week workshop, the spinoff from a writers afternoon workshop I attended at the inaugural IF Maitland Indie Writers festival in February. https://www.mymaitland.com.au/events/if-maitland-indie-writers-festival/ The four week workshop was a taster in free writing, journalling, poetry and fiction writing led by Hunter writer and facilitator, Michelle Reidy. We had a lot of fun in this workshop.Thanks for your great workshop Michelle! I met and wrote with some great people with whom I have formed new friendships. This was a chance to try something from my bucket list. The workshop was a springboard to whet my appetite to different types of writing.

In April I attended an online webinar with Central Coast poet and performer, blogger, podcaster Will Small. see Will’s website here Will generously shared tips on podcasting with equipment needed, host sites and other very useful information to get you started in podcast land. Will’s podcast series ‘Poetic Beings’ is seriously worth listening to. I have become a follower of all things Will on Instagram @willsmall and have listened to his Man;kind podcasts and stories. I was inspired! Watch this space!

In May I attended a series of webinars with wellbeing coach Maria from https://bounceaustralia.com on a resilience program. This was a self reflection program on finding new ways to break habits that no longer serve you, changing neural pathways and building up your resilience and confidence to become the person you would like to be. This mini course was both positive and constructive helping me look at some of my procrastinating habits and make positive changes in my life.

During lockdown we held several Toastmasters meetings via Zoom which felt strange but we soon adapted and had productive and fun meetings. I attended Club Officer training online and the semi annual conference online which in normal times would have been held in Sydney. We are back to face to face meetings as of mid July for now. We have a plan in place in case we have to revert back to online meetings.

In May I joined Hunter Writers Centre and was introduced to a new world of creative talented people. See website here In June I ventured out of the house to a face to face workshop in Newcastle with Novacastrian memoir writer Susan Francis. It felt weird to be mixing with people again! Susan’s passion for writing kept us all enthralled as she talked about her recent release ‘The Love that Remains’. See book review here Susan very generously shared her thoughts on writing and publishing books in Australia and went on to give us some tasters on how to write memoir.

I was so inspired I downloaded her book on Audible and listened to it the next day. I also bought a hard copy knowing that royalties paid to authors mostly come from hard copy books bought in Australia.

In July I attended another inspirational workshop with poet Ross Gillett. see Ross’s website here Ross was booked by Hunter Writers Centre to deliver his workshop in Newcastle but when travelling from his hometown of Daylesford in the Central Highlands of Victoria was curtailed by border restrictions, Ross hosted the workshop via Zoom. Twelve people each read their poem and Ross appraised and gave enthusiastic and generous encouragement to each of us. This was another fabulous experience and I hope we can all meet again with Ross online sometime.

In July I met with other writers for the Hunter Writers inaugural online writers group. Again, a great experience via Zoom and all from the comfort and warmth of my dining room on a cold winter’s evening. I will look forward to our group meeting on a monthly basis which for me is so much easier than having to travel to Newcastle after work to group gatherings.

In July sadly I attended a live stream service for a favourite Aunt’s funeral held in Geelong Victoria with the maximum number in attendance as per current guidelines. It was a sad occasion but I felt blessed that I could at least be there in spirit and hear her eulogy read by her son, and ‘attend the funeral service’ and say farewell.

I have regularly attended Facetime groups with my quilters group and others during lockdown. It has been a great way of keeping in touch personally. Last night the husband and I ‘went to’ a Trivia night held by friends in Melbourne. I’m not sure why we haven’t done this before because it was a terrific social night of fun and trivia. It was so good to see old friends in my home town of Melbourne. Definitely have to keep it on the Zoom list of things to do for future!

In August I have enrolled in a 12 month course of study all via Zoom. I was to do the same course last year and it was going to be 5 x 3 day intensives in Newcastle so again, I feel fortunate that I can study from home.

From last night’s trivia….. The group of flamingos? A flamboyance of flamingos! Who knew?