The Writing and Photography Blog of Kevin J Sabo

It has been a minute since I’ve had the opportunity to write.

First off, let me apologize for my absence. It’s been over two weeks since my last blog post, and that is not right. That said, life has been busy.

Secondly, October 2021 can suck it. It has been a brutal month, with many people close in my circle and in the periphery ending up ill or passing. This month has been brutal on my rural community, and I feel for all the families who are mourning right now.

With everything that has been happening this month, the fact that I’m not self-harming, self-medicating, or on my way to a padded room speaks volumes about how far I have come. I’m not going to lie, this month has sucked, and I have taken a bit of a step back from things in order to focus on my mental health, but overall, I am doing really well. If a fraction of the stuff happening this month had happened four or five years ago, I would not have been as stable as I currently am. Honestly, I feel like I am doing well. Even with everything going on, I’ve been able to keep busy with work and school.

I’ve been making some steady progress in my university courses over the last couple of weeks, finishing the first read through of my current novel study as well as finishing the fifth module of my Communications course. It’s nice to be making some forward progress again, after feeling like I’d stalled for a little while.

Work has kept me busy with the aftermath of the federal and municipal elections held recently. In addition to those, I’ve had a few other projects pop. October has been a slower month, by design, but it has still been fairly productive none the less. The fact I’ve been as productive as I have with everything that has gone on…is mind blowing. It just continues to show me how far ahead I have come over the last few years.

As for work, I’m in for a couple major changes ahead. My editor is leaving in November after two years at the paper. That will be an adjustment. Another adjustment will be no longer working as a freelancer for the company I write for. I was offered a permanent part-time position with the organization, starting November first. I applied for a full-time position within the company, however after some discussion with the region’s manager, it was noted that as far as I have come in the last four years, I still have considerable gaps in my knowledge and throwing me into a full-time position right would be setting me up to fail.

They proposed this permanent part-time position as a “bridge” position within the company, so I can one, continue working on my studies, and two, start training within the organization to fill in some of those knowledge gaps. Honestly, it seemed like a reasoned and well thought out offer, which recognizes the work I’ve been doing for them over the last four years. I definitely appreciate the way management is approaching this, and I look for to expanding my role within the company, as well as learning the new skills.

After the train wreck that has been October 2021, the good news is much appreciated. The position may not be the one I was initially after, but, upon reflection, I think it is the position that I need in order to continue my upward growth trajectory that I have been experiencing over the last few years.

I’m hoping, and planning, to get back into more regular uploads here, as my schedule allows.

Also keeping me busy, for the next couple days, are an online Adobe creators conference which I registered for. It’s a free conference as part of my Adobe package, and it has been very informative so far.

With the new position starting Monday, I am grateful that the new month is starting off on the right foot. After how rough October has been, how many people I’ve worried over and had to say goodbye to, November needs to come in, sit down, and not move or touch anything…

Kevin