the final countdown

My second and final year of my Masters started this week - if last year flew by, I sense that this one will go just as quick, and I'm determined to savour it this time around. Looking back, the first year seemed like a blurry dream and I really want to feel like I've sunk my teeth into everything possible while I have the privileged (and globally, relatively rare) experience of higher education. I love learning and am looking forward to learning more about my chosen elective in mental health. We'll see how my 'takes one to know one' philosophy works out... :)

Also, today I met with an agency who have agreed to take me on for my second year practice placement, to start in January; they're called the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and they work with asylum seekers who have experienced torture, assisting with everything from clinical and legal documents needed for their asylum claim through to case work and long term counseling to help them deal with their torture experience. I'm REALLY excited about this placement - they do such vital work with a client group that the government offers virtually no assistance to. If you get a chance, have a look at their website. I'm really impressed with their ethos and holistic approach to helping people who have come through such horrors to navigate their way to healing and a new life.

In other news: the life drawing is going well - I'm still churning out fairly bizarre interpretations of limbs, but am enjoying every last scribbly minute of it. It also gives me a funny new way of seeing bodies - suddenly I'm grateful for that sagging boob or find myself longing that the model would only have a few more rolls of chub to work with!

Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary! Perhaps I'll do a separate post on that..I also realised/remembered after my last post that this blog is somehow linked with facebook (no doubt something to do with Andy's clever computer hijinks), but I think I'll try to take it off if I can - that way hopefully only the people who really know me and want to hear about the random ins and out of life will read it and I won't clog up people's feed with my ramblings. So, in future if you want to read this find it at www.andyandmillay.com !

seasonal advice

I can't believe the summer is drawing to a close; I was so sure this one would stretch on forever...Regardless, I'm actually really looking forward to the challenge that this coming year will bring. I'll be diving into the final year of my Masters in Social Work, focusing on mental health and potentially getting my second placement with refugees and asylum seekers (watch this space).

Speaking of mental health, I'm currently trying to lay down some groundwork for my own mental health survival for the coming months. Last winter was long, and cold, and (deep breath) hard. There, I said it. I spent a lot of time over last winter and beyond feeling really rather cold a lot of the time (thanks Manchester), pretty tired and generally not on my A game. None of which is great for maintaining sanity during the final year of my MA, so I'm trying to put some things in place to keep my cool over the next year!

Here's my plan so far:
1. Actually get out of bed/off the couch and go to the gym. Exercising gives you energy. And endorphins. And better circulation, which will in turn hopefully help me combat the cold. Please feel free to pester me about this.
2. Keep going to the life drawing class I started last week. Two blissful hours of focusing intently on putting pencil to paper and forgetting absolutely everything else that happened that day/week/year. Nevermind that I end up with something resembling a missing evolutionary stage...it's escapism and that's what counts.
3. Good music, good books. I have some recommendations for you on both counts: Go take a listen to Susan Enan's brand spanking new album 'Plainsong'; I promise that you will not regret it. Beautiful, haunting, poetic, uplifting. Once you've done that, go read Ali Shaw's debut novel 'The Girl With Glass Feet'; he is an incredibly talented story-teller and this story is deeply creative and does a fantastic job of transporting you to another world - more great escapism.
4. Even if it means playing truant, take every available sunny day, cold or not, and get out into some scenery. Sun on face+green things= happy heart.
5. Drink good coffee, take deep breaths and hot baths, and never underestimate the power of a good nap.

Here's to a new season...

cold tents, warm hearts

We just got back from the Greenbelt Festival and have the feeling of well-earned exhaustion. It was my first Greenbelt experience and I wasn't disappointed - much, much mellower than my last big festival experience at Glastonbury, Greenbelt had a huge variety of stuff going on that really catered for any age and any walk of life. I drank lots of tea in hippified tea tents, saw some great comedy, music, engaging speakers, and ran into a great deal of old friends.

Particular highlights were sneakily getting the best seats in the house (up on the sound desk with Andy's mate) for Ockham's Razor, an 'aerial theatre' group who put on a heart-stopping and beautiful performance (pictured above). Other memorable shows were Foy Vance, Susan Enan, (buy her new album, you won't be disappointed) and an incredible performance by Duke Special, complete with 7-piece band, costumes, lights, wine, the works. Stunning.

I also got to meet several of Andy's old friend who I'd not yet crossed paths with - it's cool to continue to piece together the past of the person who you're sharing your present and future with. During one of these encounters I was alerted to the fact that some people actually read this blog (!), which I have to say I was vaguely surprised about...as a response to a direct request I shall endeavour to be little better at updating it. You better be reading this, John! :) Incidentally, even though this page has really just turned into my sporadic injections of events and tidbits, if you want to get a feel for some of the stuff that Andy has going on, check out his microcosm at indielab .