In 2015 I changed my job. I was unhappy for a while and I needed a change. The demands of an online editor are immense. There is no such thing as not on deadline. You have work social media accounts linked to your personal accounts.
On top of that, since the beginning of 2014, I have been the head of PR and a director for the UK Roller Derby Association, the national governing body for roller derby in Britain. So I've had those social accounts and websites to maintain.
However, I have chosen to not restand for those positions. So come the UKRDA AGM on February 7, I will be done. Aside from doing some handovers, my time as a director will be over. I won't have monthly board meetings, I won't be getting emails from the organisation, I won't be "on" all the time.
Am I sad? No, I'm really not. I have an element of guilt at how relieved and happy I am about it. But it's been a hard slog. The problem with a volunteer organisation is that you can't make anyone do anything. So people flake out or life takes over and the "optional" stuff falls by the wayside. And the ones left have to bear the load. It becomes too much, and I burned out.
I want 2016 to be a year that I work on myself, not on others. The change in job has already helped with this - I have time to knit and chill with the cats and read. My head isn't mince when I get home from the office. But, quite often I'm coming home and doing hours of roller derby work. It will be nice when that's over.
Some of my plans for the year include starting my own podcast, doing some more freelance writing and FINALLY dusting off the partially written novel and reviving it. I will get a book published at some point, dammit!!
In roller derby, I'm also going to try and become a referee, so I will have that to work on. That means going back to the gym regularly and working on my skills.
A quiet life? Probably not. But certainly a much quieter one.
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