Wild Weather

Here in Queensland, we're once again having some pretty wild weather, but January is definitely the month for it, so it's at least not entirely unexpected. Two years ago, the majority of the state was under water -- including our capital, Brisbane -- due to extreme flooding, and although the pollies are assuring us all that we are not facing that situation again this year, things aren't looking good.

We've an ex-tropical cyclone heading down Queensland and into NSW, and in addition to the usual havok that causes, we're actually having mini tornados appear along the coast. Yesterday, several mini tornados hit the Bundaberg area, and really that's why I'm writing my post today.

You see, when I was a kid, my dad took us kids camping on Mon Repos beach in Bundaberg (before they closed it off as a turtle sanctuary). Shortly after that, he bought a block of land in a small town known as Burnett Heads, which is about half an hour north of Bundaberg. At first he just had a tin shed on the land, but eventually he and his wife had a house built so we could all stay there on holidays, which we did so often that I have a lot of nice childhood memories of the area.

Yesterday, 2 of the 5 (or it might even have been 6) mini tornados to hit the region occured in Burnett Heads. Since I don't have contact with my father, I haven't heard whethr his holiday home was one of those destroyed/damaged or whether he was up there and is one of the injured people.

And part of me hopes so. Part of me thinks, that's karma!

It's a pretty small part, to be fair, and there's a much larger part of me that feels guilty for even thinking that way, let alone how unfair that would be for karma -- after all, what about all the other Bundy citizens who didn't deserve it? But I'd be lying by omission if I didn't admit to those thoughts.


I'm shaken by the idea that only two years after the massive destruction the floods caused, Queenslanders are in for another rough time. I'm shaken that places I know and love are suffering such damage, and that this extreme weather is so close to 'home'. In all, I think there have been 6 or 7 confirmed mini tornados over the past 24 hours, and one of them was only about half an hour away, though we were lucky not to see any damage from it here.


Mostly, I'm stirred up about my own past and my thoughts, and I feel pretty alone in it.

2013: "Connect" - goal breakdown.

This started out as a response to a blogging friend, Tracie at From Tracie, on her One Word post for 2013. I was probably halfway through my comment when I realised that I may as well take part in One Word this year myself.

But, since I'm me and can't ever seem to manage to do things quite exactly as intended ;) (you'd think I'm a trend-setting, boundary-breaking, rule-bucker or something, if I did it on purpose), I'm going to actually detail what I see my word as meaning for me and my goals this year. Don't misunderstand though -- these aren't resolutions by any means, merely goals and 'directions' for 2013.


My word for 2013, based on the goals I've been setting in place with my support worker and other personal goals I've decided on lately, will be "connect". Pretty much all of my goals fit with the word "connect" in some form, even if not in the most obvious way.

Not only do I want to grow by making connections between past experiences and current behaviours/thoughts/reactions (and then working to change them), but I want to build friendships and connections with people as much as I can this year (especially building up a local friendship base). I also want to strengthen my connection with myself, by doing things that I enjoy and that are good for me.


So, because pinning goals down makes them more achievable (for me), let's look in more concrete terms about what that all will mean for the next year, and what my goals actually are. (Plus, this way I'll be able to revisit them more easily and keep myself on track for following them!)

Social Connections:

• Build friendships in my local area. This is one my support worker and I are working on together, and we're still ironing out the details, because it seems that meeting people isn't the problem - it's moving beyond "you're a 'stranger' I chat to" into "you're a friend".
• Build/maintain social connections outside of the local area. This one's got several parts to it: making sure I'm using my energy wisely and connecting with the 'right' people (those who add to my life); committing more fully to blogging again (posting and replying); and building social networks in some of the places I frequent online (more on this one further down).
• Connect with my chosen family. I would hope I strive to do this anyway, but an extra reminder to myself can't hurt. I want to get back into regular "date" activities with Bumface, exploring the local/semi-local area, and as our family grows & changes, so will the ways in which we connect.

Emotional & Health Connections:

• Connect with the positive things in life. Not only do my blogs (and my general nature) help me do this, but Bumface and I are keeping a "2013 Positive Experiences" Jar (thanks Pinterest!). I already added my first entry. :D
• Deal with the past, the present, the future. We're working towards getting me into DBT again, and perhaps after that maybe back into some specific sexual assault counselling.
• Work towards sorting out my teeth.
• Work on being able to eat in public/around people. (For those who don't know, I have a bit of a weird thing about eating in that I'm fine with complete strangers or those I know extremely well, but am usually otherwise uncomfortable to the point of avoidance.)

Creative & Self Connections:

• Read more. I intend to read at least 110 books in 2013.
• Add to my DeviantArt collection with works both new and old. Get back to posting to both my Photography and Creativity blogs. (Photography blog was updated yesterday, in fact.)
• Be more creative: make more cards and experiment with old and new artforms that I enjoy.
• Spend more time exploring things and places that inspire and uplift me.

The first two categories are the main part of my focus this year, but I certainly don't intend to neglect my "for fun" group either!

How about you, do you have any goals or resolutions for your 2013? Are you trying the One Word idea, or something totally different, or nothing at all?