Goodbye, Hello
Bonjour! Long time, no talk.
We’re saying goodbye to 2022. I haven’t spent as much time on here as I would like, and when I have been here it’s been just film reviews. Obviously that suits me fine (given that film is part of my world so strongly) but one of the reasons I have this space is to do some more general work. I’ve been writing creatively since I could hold a pencil and blogging my thoughts (on various platforms) since I was 15. I have this section of this site to continue my long-form writing because as we all know, that makes it perfect. I certainly hope to publish a book one day before I die, but I don’t yet know what it would be on - so let’s practice with every topic, why not.
Looking back to 2022, there was much food for thought.
I found myself back at film school, writing screenplays and directing again (twice). One film, Knowing Colour, was my original screenplay, about an abstract painter with terminal cancer who is trying to find a way to ‘explain’ the rainbow spectrum to her blind daughter by describing each colour with no visual references. Yellow as “the warm smile of the sun” for example. I collaborated with class comrade Kynou on the production design, let’s just say I had paint under my fingernails for a good few weeks of testing.
Film school was also a lot of trying to keep up with the information and new skills of Premiere Pro editing (your girl is only Final Cut Pro literate), BlackMagic cameras, sound recording and design, and the various tasks of film producing, which did make me cry at one point… logistics and financial issues kill my creative soul. Our class made so many pitch-dark jokes and inappropriate comments (LACHLAN, BEHAVE) that if our classes were professional jobs/sets we would have been fired on the first day. Trust me.
In between all of that, I was tutoring my English students but also crafting and creating to let the stress out. Made some things that brought me immense joy.
Dedication piece to my word of the year (TRUST), my ‘fool’s faberge’ styrofoam egg, upcycling a plain mini turntable into a ‘70s fangirl’ one
A notable theme this year has been my magickal journey. Yes, I’m a witch. Let me know if you want a full-length post about why, but the elevator pitch reason is that this is the most correct way for me to interact with the incredible poetry of this world which we will never understand all of. I’m an art witch mostly; I do possess more traditional things (iron cauldron, crystals, jar of graveyard dirt…) but being a lifelong CREATRIX, as soon as I realised art witchery existed I knew it was right for me. It felt like having the correct name for things I’ve been doing for years.
I resolved to level up my altar game this year for the Sabbats, which are traditional pagan festivals that are often the root of modern ones. For example, Ostara became Easter and Yule became Christmas. I had done elaborate ones for certain celebrations in past years, but I wanted to really GO for ones that I hadn’t really made much of before. Below we have Beltane (a spring festival that loves luuuuurve), Litha (midsummer) and Lughnasadh (a harvest festival of abundance).
The most insane part of my practice this year was Samhain, probably the most famous Sabbat and the root of Halloween. After feeling underwhelmed last year, I wanted to go big. I beckoned that energy in with my huge altar, which occupied our entire antique side table.
I drew an oracle card each day and got an insane number of repeated ones, carving their meanings into my brain. It was a lot to interpret and understand but I feel more seen and guided than ever. I sometimes feel isolated in my creative endeavours, but not anymore. I plan to talk about this more on my Youtube channel, so head over there if you’re interested in that content. I hope the power I felt at Samhain can imbue itself on all my creativity this year, including any writing I may do.
So, hello, 2023. Looking to the future: one of my 2023 resolutions is to be around here a whole lot more. I have cinema-centric content planned, of course, but also some other cultural writing to do this year, because films are but one type of that inspires me. I’m also planning some more experimental work as well as personal essays.
My word for 2023 is SEEK. I seek art, I seek strength, I seek progress, I seek health, I seek wonder. Onward, friends!
