Rhi Axtell – Writer

Image: Me eating far too much sushi and having no regrets.

WELCOME TO SEPTEMBER. THE MOST SEPT OF THE MONTHS.

There is a LOT going on this month. I seem to have planned everything for September with barely room for a breath in between.

This month starts with…

CAMPING

I have a tent which seems to be going a bit mouldy. I have a sleeping bag from a stranger (now freshly washed). I have two cans of gas and a stove attachement. I have a backpack which seems far too large. I have a ‘self inflating’ bed which does not self inflate*.

*Unless the self in this equation is me and my mouth – so MYself inflate not ITself inflate. I think I was caught in a trick by some sneaky marketing.

This Friday, I jump on a train and try to survive in a tent in North Wales (where it never rains… right?) while also going to a weekend retreat as the final step of my Death Educator course. It’s the end of a long summer journey. I have been told there will be cake. And then right as I get home from that…

COUNSELLING

My new counselling course begins! Level 2 is complete so it is onto Level 3!

I have yet to get a student card, or do any of the other little admin-y things that I need to do to get my head back into the right space to start this course*.

*which basically means buying ALL THE STATIONARY.

I barely feel ready, but on the other hand I am SO READY to get back to studying counselling. I have missed it and look forward to my weekly deep-dive into the mind and the self. The Death Educator course felt less like studying, and more like a deep philosophical exploration. Bring back classrooms and whiteboards and practical triads! And then once I have survived the first class of that, I need to prepare for…

CONFERENCING

I am going to be presenting at a conference! I will be speaking on Gender – a topic which I suspect some people find more challenging than death. I guess that makes it all the more fun to talk and write about? Right? Fun? Yeah?

I also made a super awkward video in my living room to advertise it. That went up on the conference’s social media today and, yes, it is just as awkward as I remember. Fantastic. I knew I should have worn cool sunglasses.

And then once that is done…

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY…ING

In the final week of September, the play arrives! I have been rehearsing since July and it feels like it has whizzed by.

We are getting to those final rehearsals now where everything gets really picky and we try to straighten our i’s and dot our t’s.

Weirdly for me, this involves learning how to bow properly (I keep lunging instead of bowing), trying to act as a dog in the most realistic way possible (and less like a monkey from Planet of the Apes), and also trying to get my long Aaaaaaas in the right place. Laaaaaahst, not last. Graaaaaahss not grass. That sort of thing.

One must act appropriately in an Austen play, or one might cause such a scandal, one will never be allowed to return to the amateur theatre circuit.

And also…

Writing-ing

Somewhere amongst all of that, I need to get some writing done. I need solidify my plans for a writing workshop in October.

I was planning on doing Blogtober again in October too… hopefully I will still have enough energy left to do that!

***

I also need to… slow down? That’s what my therapist told me to do*. Still trying to figure out what that means.

*oops.