There are definitely some challenges this year! 1. Save the planet, 2. Protect ourselves and others from the right wing leaders that people vote for because (fill in long list of reasons here), and 3. Stay sane (despite 1 & 2). Living in Scotland I don't feel too despairing in terms of politics (yet) but, in terms of people I know, I do feel for both some of my friends and family in England (Tory Hell Forever) and for my brother and sister in law in Australia (where it is simply Burning Like Hell). And that's just my pretty small circle (never mind the wider world). It's hard not to hear words like 'doomed' rattling around.
Speaking of words, not much poetry business from me just now but partly because of this I am contributing to an on- and offline project called Funaday Dundee. Anyone can take part and you just have to make something every day for the whole of January (or as often as you can manage) and post a picture of your work (mainly on Instagram). It is Dundee-based but you don't need to be in Dundee to do it. There is painting, knitting, and all sorts of things going on but I am drawing a word every day, illustrating it (to a point... I'm not an artist) and adding in connections with songs and lyrics (because that just happened once I began with 'Start' - see image above). 'Start' was always one of my favourite songs by The Jam (and if this page on the internet is correct Paul Weller wrote it after reading Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia'). At the end of the month my 31 words will all add up to make a (fairly simple) poem (and it will rhyme). I may or may not show them all in the exhibition that takes place later in the year (each word is on a 15 cm paper square - no computers involved) but so far I have 1st Jan 'Start', 2nd Jan 'with' and 3rd Jan 'FUN'. You can follow my contributions here if you so desire. I haven't bought any fancy stuff to do this and am just using up things that are already in the house.
So let's see how much of 2020 we can cope with, shall we?
