Most people on this planet know that the 31st of October is Halloween – Whilst it’s not really noted in Australia – I was quite interested to read about it online as to it’s origins etc and that it’s the 2nd largest holiday celebrated in the world. (I assume Christmas is the first!)
A bit of research today uncovered the following (I’m lazy so I’ve just copied and pasted the info!)
The history of Halloween goes back 2000 years. Many believe that Halloween’s origins are found in the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who were located in Ireland, the UK and the northern parts of France, celebrated their New Year on the first of November. Samhain was celebrated the night before the New Year.
The New Year, Celts believed, marked summer’s end, harvest time, and the start of dark, cold winter months. Those winter months were associated with death by these people. On October 31, the night before the New Year, the Celts celebrated Samhain. This day, they believed, was when the ghosts of the deceased returned to earth because the boundaries between the living world and the dead world blurred. Found on http://ezinearticles.com/
For me though the 31st of October has other meanings other than the American holiday of Halloween.
When I was young my Nan’s sister (My great aunt) died on the 31st of October. She had come over from South Australia to celebrate my Nan’s birthday for that year (From memory I think it was her 70th) I was only quite young. But I loved this particular Aunt as she was just so much fun, she was light hearted, loved to laugh and was never cross. The evening before they left to go back to SA (The 30th of October) I remember not wanting to go into her room to say goodbye. My nan asked me why? I told her it was because I was afraid if I said goodbye I’d never see her again. I consequently didn’t say goodbye to her. She was killed in a car accident the next day. (I know freaky shit – I’ve got a list of that kinda stuff happening to me!)
The other meaning that the 31st of October has for me is the day I finally said enough is enough and walked away from a three year tumultuous relationship. I’d been treated like shit for the very last time, so I packed my stuff and left her house and never returned again. That was in 2003. I’ve not seen her since and to be honest it took a long time to get over that relationship (I lived with her so it was quite serious!) But I always remember the date, as she was American and her parents had sent her out Halloween ‘candy’ so she could have a sense of home.
Today though the 31st of October 2009 I’m older, wise and in a better place. I’ve got new things to add to the list of things that happened on the 31st of October, such as a friend’s that I’ve just recently made Helen – It’s her birthday today. Happy birthday Helen.
It’s also the eve of November and my first attempt at NanoWriMo. Which brings me to the next 30 days of November. NanoWriMo is a competition to write 50,000 words in 30 days. You can’t start writing until the 1st of November and you have to stop on the 30th. 50,000 words is a shit load considering the most I’ve written for an assignment thus far at Uni is 6,000. With creative writing though the words just flow out, and the word count (for me) is never in the forefront of my thoughts. That section is reserved for my main protagonist going on whatever journey I chose to write for them. This fiction piece I’m writing will have a female protagonist. Her name is Zoey and she is going to be kick arse!
I plan to try and write a daily blog in November just as a record of how I managed to get 50,000 words out of my mind and onto a page. So when this blur of November is over I can look back and recall just how I felt, but most importantly how I managed to put all the pieces together. Some days will be short and sweet, others might be long and winded such as this post. But overall I hope YOU my readers enjoy the journey, and I’ll keep you updated on just how Zoe fares in my future sci-fi world.
To my readers who take part in Halloween – I hope you enjoy yourselves – to everyone else thanks for reading.
That’s all I’ve got.
*Nb Word count is: 788 words
Showing posts with label Nanna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nanna. Show all posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Forward or back?
I was watching flash forward on Monday night and it made me think. If you were given the opportunity to get a glimpse into your future would you? What if the flip side of the coin enabled you to go back and give advice to your younger self, would you take that option? Which one would you choose, forward or back?
The going back option comes after spending the weekend with my parents and helping my mum clean out some of the boxes we pulled down from their roof space (Americans would call it an attic) to allow the insulation people to do their thing this week (Install insulation!). In amongst this stuff in the ‘attic’ was old shit from my school days including a letter my mum had written in relation to a dispute I’d had with a teacher when I was 13. (I don’t have any real memory of this, however she filled in the blanks he was a very vindictive person, and basically had it in for me.) This lead my mum to tell me a story of how ‘happy’ I was as a young child (At primary school) and once I started high school and was unfortunately exposed to this ‘evil teacher’ who sucked out my soul and made me angry, bitter and suicidal. My life was altered.
I asked her if she had her time again what she would have done (with the knowledge she has now) she said she’d have either moved me schools or she would have requested I be placed in a different class away from this particular teacher.
Hindsight allows us 20/20 vision – someone smart came out with the description of the way we look at our past mistakes and if only we were given another chance at them how we’d handle them differently.
Would I go back and offer my younger self advice to perhaps steer me into a brighter future? My head says yes, but my heart says no. I’m the person I am today because of the life I have lived thus far. I’ve learnt plenty of life lessons from the path I’ve been on thus far. If I was to change one point, then others would fracture off and may never happen. My brother for instance may not have married the girl he did and I wouldn’t have the two beautiful nephews I have today if I was to change something from my past.
Which brings me to the future. If offered the chance to glimpse your life 10 years from now. Would you? My answer is yes. I’d love to know what the future holds for me, if anything to allow an ease to the pressure I feel in my life right now. Has my degree helped? Am I working in a job I’m happy in? Or am I miserable or maybe even dead?
We can’t change out past, nor can we change our future, even if we were granted the gift to see into it. I’m a firm believer that everything does happen for a reason, and once your number is up it’s up. Some of us live a long life, others short – but that’s just how it has to be. I’d be happy to make it to 50. I don’t however want to be old old (80+)
It breaks my heart each time I go to see my Nan in the old age home. She doesn’t know who I am anymore, she’s delirious in dementia. I have no idea what goes on her in mind, but she is aware she’s safe, and to her that’s was all that ever mattered. When she was living in her own home, she knew eventually the day would come where she would have to go into a care facility, and she always said she didn’t mind as long as she felt safe, that was all that mattered. Some days I’m the nurse who fetches her a drink, other days I’m someone who reminds her of her youth. I’m no longer Sal her granddaughter though, as for her, that moment, that experience, that memory of the event of being a Nanna is yet to happen.
Glimpse your future? Or advise your past? You decide
That’s all I’ve got.
The going back option comes after spending the weekend with my parents and helping my mum clean out some of the boxes we pulled down from their roof space (Americans would call it an attic) to allow the insulation people to do their thing this week (Install insulation!). In amongst this stuff in the ‘attic’ was old shit from my school days including a letter my mum had written in relation to a dispute I’d had with a teacher when I was 13. (I don’t have any real memory of this, however she filled in the blanks he was a very vindictive person, and basically had it in for me.) This lead my mum to tell me a story of how ‘happy’ I was as a young child (At primary school) and once I started high school and was unfortunately exposed to this ‘evil teacher’ who sucked out my soul and made me angry, bitter and suicidal. My life was altered.
I asked her if she had her time again what she would have done (with the knowledge she has now) she said she’d have either moved me schools or she would have requested I be placed in a different class away from this particular teacher.
Hindsight allows us 20/20 vision – someone smart came out with the description of the way we look at our past mistakes and if only we were given another chance at them how we’d handle them differently.
Would I go back and offer my younger self advice to perhaps steer me into a brighter future? My head says yes, but my heart says no. I’m the person I am today because of the life I have lived thus far. I’ve learnt plenty of life lessons from the path I’ve been on thus far. If I was to change one point, then others would fracture off and may never happen. My brother for instance may not have married the girl he did and I wouldn’t have the two beautiful nephews I have today if I was to change something from my past.
Which brings me to the future. If offered the chance to glimpse your life 10 years from now. Would you? My answer is yes. I’d love to know what the future holds for me, if anything to allow an ease to the pressure I feel in my life right now. Has my degree helped? Am I working in a job I’m happy in? Or am I miserable or maybe even dead?
We can’t change out past, nor can we change our future, even if we were granted the gift to see into it. I’m a firm believer that everything does happen for a reason, and once your number is up it’s up. Some of us live a long life, others short – but that’s just how it has to be. I’d be happy to make it to 50. I don’t however want to be old old (80+)
It breaks my heart each time I go to see my Nan in the old age home. She doesn’t know who I am anymore, she’s delirious in dementia. I have no idea what goes on her in mind, but she is aware she’s safe, and to her that’s was all that ever mattered. When she was living in her own home, she knew eventually the day would come where she would have to go into a care facility, and she always said she didn’t mind as long as she felt safe, that was all that mattered. Some days I’m the nurse who fetches her a drink, other days I’m someone who reminds her of her youth. I’m no longer Sal her granddaughter though, as for her, that moment, that experience, that memory of the event of being a Nanna is yet to happen.
Glimpse your future? Or advise your past? You decide
That’s all I’ve got.
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