Here I am again...

Dear friends.

I'm back,

It's been well over two years since I have posted anything here. Why? Life simply got in the way, I guess. I don't remember making the active decision to stop writing down and sharing my thoughts, but still suddenly I stopped posting. Due to circumstances I suddenly have a giant gap in my daily live, which made me open this blog again. At the moment that I'm writing this, I feel like I'm mostly writing this for myself, instead of for others to read, and honestly I think that will be the plan from now on. Not that I had a plan when I started writing this. 

So, what has changed in the meantime? Well, last year in January I successfully finished my Bachelor's Degree in History. It took some time — covid and some realizations about my future were at cause here — but I did it, and I was incredibly proud when I got the good news that I had graduated. My plan after this was to start my Master's in Social History in February, which I proceeded to do. I had in mind to finish this degree within one year, since I was also feeling ready to start my first full-time job and wanted to move out. In order to achieve this, I quit my job of the previous six (almost seven!) years, and I put in a tremendous amount of effort into my first semester. Honestly, this semester went better than I had expected. I even felt like this was easier compared to getting my Bachelor's — which feels very weird, to be fair. 

Following the end of the semester, it was time to spend a glorious summer reading books; both at home and on the gorgeous beaches of Greece. Meeting up with friends, reading, and just the summer in general, aquired new energy to fill my battery. My battery was filled up to the brim, and I was ready to take on the new semester. I was especially looking forward to working on my new thesis; and to take on this challenge and two courses to finish my degree. But then everything changed, unfortunately not for the better... I started dealing with health issues quite soon after the start of the semester. At first I thought that I could manage this throughout the semester, or I would finish my thesis in the next semester; making it one and a half year to finish my Master's. Well, I was wrong, and pretty soon I could no longer go to my lectures. Not being able to go to lectures, meant I could not finish the courses; a delay in my graduation was inevitable. But to be fair, that wasn't the worst. In reality, I could not leave the house; supermarket visits or meeting up with friends were an absolute no-go. 

The health issues are not live threathening, and with some time I'll get to the right dosage of the medication I need, making me able to live my life again like before. Until then, my life is on hold. I'm currently feeling better compared to a few months ago, but I'm not where I'm supposed to be — or better said, want to be. I could not finish last semester, and the new semester started to early for me. The only things keeping me afloat the past few months have been my friends and family, reading, and the ability to still do some work for my thesis (which makes me feel a little useful). I've had to sell tickets to events I had been looking forward to for ages; one dream that was coming true, but it is what it is. I'm going to work towards better health, and I'll be moving university to the backburner for now.

At this time I'll have enough time to tell you regularly what's on my mind, what books I'm reading, and other things that have made their way into my life. To whoever is reading this, I hope I can make you happy with the things I'll be posting for the upcoming future. You'll probably see some changes on the blog somewhere soon too, I hope you'll like it!

Lots of love,

Kirsten