The end drawers near

Change in endings and beginnings

I’ve been listening to Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor series

Hello dear friend,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones doing well. Here in Melbourne we are experiencing lovely spring weather - we're having sunshine mixed with rain showers, but the icy cold of winter has finally left us. There is something about warmer days that warms the spirit as well as the body, although daylight savings starting last Sunday has thrown out my internal clock. The school term starting back last Monday has also been a mixed experience from what I've heard - if your kiddos are back to school, I hope the transition went well for everyone.

As my final day at my retail job creeps quietly closer, I've been thinking about what writing for a career looks like for me. I love telling stories! I have ADHD and have lived by the saying 'don't let the facts get in the way of a good story'. I enjoy telling my stories, hence feeling Substack was a great place for me to write, and I love telling other people's stories. And I was wondering to myself, which day is best for my letter to arrive to you? Monday mornings are usually a bit hectic being the start of a new week for many people, especially if you're getting kiddos off to school. Any weekday morning seems to be a bit busy if you're working in the traditional sense of 9-5 Mon-Fri. Weekends still seem to me to be slower and slightly more leisurely. There is a bit more time available to peruse media at your own pace. So I've decided to change letter drop to Saturday mornings around 9am, which feels like the right time to be reading stories. Just like our parents, or grandparents, reading the morning newspaper with a cuppa and vegemite toast. Of course, this is Melbourne time so only really suited to the Saturday morning crowd of the east coast of Australia.*

I am curious to know who, if anyone, is receiving this letter at a different time in a different place around the world? Where have we wandered to, and how are things in your neck of the (cyber) woods? Leave a comment below!

Part of my challenge with daylight savings is change - this year specifically because there is so much change going on for me right now. All change, positive and negative, affects me in the same way. It's exhausting, and it's difficult to process all the moving parts. This is common in people with autism and/or ADHD**; a change means we need to process what has changed, how it will affect us and those around us, how we are expected to respond to the change, and how we are actually responding to the change. In the last month alone I have launched a new business and started working from home part-time, stopped teaching dance and going to social dance nights, reduced my hours at my retail job, worked less hours at my ‘home’ store but picked up a few extra hours at other stores within the company, and changed up my diet to try and minimise nutritional gaps that may be playing a part in my health challenges. That's a lot changing in the space of 30 days, and I'm still working out what the impacts of this are, and how I'm going to fit into the new spaces I'm making for myself.

Change can be exciting, and I am excited for the next adventure I'm beginning. Terrified, definitely, but also excited. And sometimes change is need. I have been in my retail job for 8 years, and I have been very comfortable there and made wonderful friends, and I have learnt heaps about that industry as well as heaps about myself. However, sometimes being comfortable means you stop finding opportunities to grow. Or the available opportunities are no longer the right ones for you. There are so many opportunities available to us, and to be in a position where I have the support to follow this path is a privilege I'm not taking for granted. And, I'm really glad to have you along for the ride. Thanks for being here!

Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to writing again soon.

Love, Robyn.

* I know Tasmania isn't technically on the coast, but I still count them as if they are. Queensland, you'll get it a little earlier 6 months of the year and know I'm currently envious of your lack of daylight savings

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** Also possibly other neurodivergence, but I can only speak from my experience and deep-dives into the autism/ADHD communities.