drawing to a close

My time at Varuna is rapidly running out. I feel like I have got so much done and yet there's so much more to do! This is a good thing, though, as gaining the momentum and refiring the inspiration has been the most valuable thing I could have gotten out of this past fortnight.

Julie advised not to hang around in Katoomba too long after leaving, as "you feel like you've been shut out of Paradise."

I am planning to go and have one last hot chocolate after I pack up here on Monday, and then return to the Land of Reality. Kate, having been at home for a week, says that "modern life is rubbish", and I think I know what she means. Just thinking about having to buy groceries, and feeding myself and getting back into a good sleep routine and going to the doctor's and thinking about money and work and...

Well I don't have to do that yet. I still have a day and a half before all that comes back.

I will miss:

• the quiet
• the night sky bursting with stars
• sitting in my warm little room, writing while it's cold and rainy outside (it has been cold and rainy on occasion!)
• having a Room of One's Own (not overrated, I'll tell you that)
  
• feeling part of a creative community that understands what I'm doing and supports me in it
  
• chats in the kitchen over cups of tea with the other housemates
• learning about how other people write and how they've gotten to this point in their lives
  
• Sheila's magnificent cooking and not having to worry about food

I am looking forward to:

• my bed
• my shower
• having all my things around me
• catching up with friends
  
• getting people to read what I've written so far
• finding out what happens next