Weekend Update
Happy Tuesday!
I hope you had a great weekend.
It was a long weekend here in Melbourne, although it’s kind of weird to have that extra day off and nowhere to go. I have no doubt that if it weren’t for COVID-19, Tj and I would be off on an adventure somewhere. While some restrictions have been lifted and we are able to do some traveling within Australia now, we didn’t have anything planned and the weather wasn’t very nice so we didn’t want to rent a car. Instead, we decided to explore Melbourne.
On Saturday we went to a part of town we really like but we never really spend a lot of time there. We walked around and bought the most delicious croissants from a famous bakery. At some point, with all our walking around, Tj, unfortunately, lost his AirPods. They must’ve fallen out of his pocket. We retraced our steps and I even found part of the case, but that just confirmed to us that someone must’ve found them. We didn’t let it ruin our day though. We kept exploring and for the first time in months, we had brunch, sitting down in a cafe. It was a little weird but mostly it just felt nice to be out again.
Sunday and Monday were pretty lazy days. The last few weeks have been very busy at work, and Tj and I both needed to catch up on sleep. The weather was cold and grey so that also deterred us from doing more exploring. We have been watching a new show on Netflix that we were supposed to be watching together, but Tj kept binging after I went to bed and now he’s so far ahead there’s no way I’ll catch up lol.
Aside from work, this past week was also very emotionally draining. The murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement have really weighed on me. It’s sparked some important conversations and I’ve had some really deep discussions with family and friends about racism. We’ve had these talks before, but l feel like everyone has been very open lately. Everyone is just very sad and upset and we all want to do better. George Floyd’s murder was absolutely senseless and it broke my heart that he called out for his mother. Enough is enough. Everything is blowing up on social media, and there are protests all over the world. I just hope the momentum stays up and we all continue to question our conscious and unconscious biases and our behaviours and we try and be better humans.
It’s an interesting time for me because jokes on tv shows and movies that were funny twenty years ago when I was growing up aren’t acceptable anymore. Not just about race, but even about weight, or sexual orientation, or women. And it has me thinking that maybe they were never funny at all and we were just so conditioned to think that it was ok and laugh along.
There’s still a lot I am learning. I find a bit of comfort in doing what I always do when I want to educate myself on something - I read about it. I spent the weekend updating my books to-read list and requesting books from the library. I want to be a better ally in any way that I can.
There are so many good resources out there - I’ve seen so many lists of informative articles, documentaries, podcasts, and books. I’ve shared a quote below that I saw on Instagram. I encourage you to get uncomfortable and find something that speaks to you and discover how you can support Black Lives Matter.
Have a great week :)
P.S. I didn’t have any photos today so I used on my cousin Taylor sent me of her latest DIY project.
“What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?
What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw —
that it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change. Work for change. Become the change.
A year we finally band together, instead of
pushing each other further apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather
the most important year of them all. ”
