Regrets. I’ve had a few

But stressing out about a broken laptop during my summer travels was not one of them

David Beckham being sent off, deservedly so, during the World Cup in 1998 for kicking an Argentinian player. Beckham certainly regretted that decision. Also, I forgot how tall that ref was. Image: GQ

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I’m back in Hong Kong after a few weeks travelling to see loved ones in the UK and US. 

My original plan had been to continue to post here during that time, if simply because I was looking forward to having more headspace for writing once the academic year drew to a close in late June. 

But best laid plans and all that because a week or so before I finished work, something began to shift. 

The phrase ‘crawling towards the holidays’ was something that came up time and time again among colleagues as the break drew closer. And while I am always one for a spot of drama, I can definitively say that this summed things up for me. I should add that this period coincided with a cold that evolved into an ear infection that left me partially deaf and generally crummy during the last few weeks of term, so, there was that, too. Plus, there were also some weird work dramas that mostly did not involve me, fortunately, but alas I couldn’t avoid, and a few things that seemed thrust upon me, which left me craving a time out from the school building and all things work-related. 

Anyway. Cold/ear infection + general fatigue + weird work dramas = loss of inspiration to write.

I know, I know, many established and usually famous writers say that you shouldn’t wait for inspiration to strike, you just have to put in the time. Things won’t write themselves. But this isn’t helpful when you just want to hit pause on life. Plus, I’m not an established or famous writer, so perhaps the same writing rules do not apply. Or, rather it’s healthier to meet your energy and so forth somewhere in the middle. When you need a break and are able to, take it. 

Typically, when I am feeling uninspired, creatively-speaking, reading and photography both help to channel my attention, provide perspective on my present mood, and calm my chattering mind, but even these didn’t help. Therefore, a factory reset was needed, and this came in the form of spending time with my nearest and dearest. So, for the past few weeks, I’ve been out and about most days, enjoyed watching many summer sporting events on the TV (e.g., Wimbledon and the World Cup), joined a BBQ with my besties in the Midlands, and even managed to celebrate Father’s Day with my family in-person, something that hasn’t been possible since I left the UK to live abroad 13 years ago. (That’s on me folks!)

And another thing! Less than a week into the trip, my laptop stopped functioning. I was in London at the time and in a mad panic, I booked an appointment at the nearest Apple Store. Genius bar genius Simon was fantastic, and not just because he was from Hong Kong (we ended up spending more time chatting about the various districts in the territory rather than about my laptop), but he helped to diagnose the problem/s.  

The great news was that he reminded me that everything was saved on the cloud (praise be!) and that my laptop wasn’t completely dead. The bad news was it needed a new fan and there was an issue with the screen, meaning that the laptop was going to be out of action until both things could be repaired. Naively, I thought that these could be fixed within a few days, to which Simon said: Nope! The parts would not be available for another week, by which point I would have left the UK for the US. 

What to do? 

Well, the only thing that I could do was to wait. And given that I had zero interest in writing posts for this newsletter using my phone while I was away, I have zero regrets about not posting apart from the odd photo and comment. I took the break when it was needed and now it’s nice to be back!

Sarah

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