Ramblings on libraries and life upon the wicked stage

Well, that’s it.  Just a few more hours of this year left to go, so it must be time to sum it all up, take a look back and prepare for 2007, whatever it may bring. This has been quite a year for the Singing Librarian, so I thought I’d share ten of the things that have made the last twelve months so interesting for me.

Changing the library.  During the year, the Library of Doom has gone through a number of changes in the way we work, meaning changes of responsibility, working hours and working relationships.  Some of it has been good, some of it bad, but it has been most interesting.  The changes will continue as we look towards a new building in 2009 with many further challenges to offer, not least moving several hundred thousand books to a new place.

Being Gerald in Me and My Girl.  2006 brought me my first principal role in a show since I left school in 1997, and it was a corker.  I achieved more with my performance than I believed I could.  I pushed myself in acting, singing, dancing and general stagecraft.  I made some friends.  I lost a lot of weight.  I showed everyone how to panic, and I covered up my extreme nerves every second I was up there on the stage.  I felt anxious, excited, nervous, elated and numb in no particular order.  And I finally managed to enjoy a performance just in time for it to come to an end.

Getting a headache.  Over the Easter weekend, I managed to walk into a lamppost, giving me a headache which lasted for a month or so.  A very embarrassing experience at the time, and jolly painful, but I can look back and laugh at myself now.  Having not long completed Me and My Girl, I ought to have known that lampposts are for leaning in, not colliding with.  The extreme headache even led to me taking my first sick days from my job at the Library of Doom – five years and seven months is not a bad length of time to go without needing sick leave.

Starting a blog.  Inspired by Reed‘s example, I entered the world of blogging this year.  I can’t claim to have made much of a splash, but I have written some posts that I’m rather proud of, I’ve flexed various creative muscles and I’ve found a forum to reminisce.  I’m not sure whether I expected to have continued this venture by the end of the year, but I’m glad I have, and I’m glad to have ‘met’ some new people through this medium.

Saying goodbye.  In June, I lost my granddad to a combination of strokes and a heart attack.  He was a wonderful man, and his loss is still felt keenly, not least by Nanna, who has had to adjust to life without him after over 60 years of marriage.  The funeral was for the family only.  It was only the third funeral I’ve ever attended.  Such things are always very strange.

Bursting with pride.  My sister’s wedding took place over the summer, and I couldn’t have been more proud of her.  She positively beamed all day long, and her evident delight made me a very happy older brother.  I read 1 Corinthians 13 during the ceremony, which was an absolute joy.  And I got completely soaked afterwards when I helped the ushers clear up.  The rain had held off all day, waiting until the happy couple had left to make its presence felt. 

Looking back.  Anniversaries abounded during the year, as various organisations celebrated decades or centuries of their existence, all at the same time.  For a couple of weeks, I bounced between several reunions, celebrations, concerts and parties, meeting old friends and discovering more about new friends.  The most personal was my home church celebrating ten years of its current youth group, which I was a member of during its first meeting.  That group taught me many lessons for life, and it was good to get together with people to look back and reaffirm old ties.

Saying no.  Having rediscovered the joy of performing this year, I also found that there are some things that are more important to me than the theatre.  I said ‘no’, much to some people’s surprise, and found that sometimes, just sometimes, I can do the right thing instead of the thing I want to do.

Saying yes.  On the other hand, the year has brought me more opportunities to sing than I’ve ever had, and I took hold of as many of these as I could.  Concerts at a garden party, in a church, at a theatre and in a school each held their own pleasures and difficulties, while I continued to sing with my own church, somehow allowing myself to get pulled into the Sunday School’s Christmas play.  Learning the music for several things at once can be a trial, but it’s also a great thrill.

Being alive.  This is a year when I’ve stretched myself in numerous different ways, when I’ve had to learn new skills, when I’ve had to get to know many new people, when I’ve discovered things about myself and others.  It has been a year when I have most definitely known that I am alive and that I’m growing.  My main hope for 2007 is that I can find some more things to do for the first time and can stretch myself further in some ways, whether academically, personally or in performance.

Farewell, 2006.  You are definitely a year that the Singing Librarian will remember.