I apologise for yesterday’s lack of a post. I was distracted for two reasons, firstly because I agreed to take in a second cat for Christmas, and I was very much engrossed in the process of acclimatising him to a new environment, and to my own cat. It’s been two days now, and as of this morning they are kind of doing their own thing in different areas of the house, and warily edging around each other when they coincide. The sun spot in the living-room has obviously been designated a neutral zone.

The second distraction I want to share with you because although it’s embarrassing, it’s a good example of how unexpected factors can pile up in your life, especially when you have a health thing going on.

Between the 19th of November and the 6th of December I spent all of two nights in my own bed. Over that time I wrote daily blog posts, traveled between two continents and five states and sent off eight different job applications, as well as all my usual university responsibilities… so maybe it’s not that unsurprising that I forgot to check the due dates on my library books.

Eep.

I’m writing a dissertation and I have about 50 library books out.

EEP.

By the time I got around to checking the dates my fines were through the roof. So far, in fact, that I couldn’t renew the books, but nor – because of my carrying restrictions – could I get them into the university. So yesterday I took myself down to campus and spent more than three hours talking to various library staff and offices, traipsing round different buildings, and generally feeling rather stupid and pathetic. My dressings were in a really painful and irritated place (they’re better today), so walking hurt, and it was very cold, and I was terrified about what would happen if the librarians decided to hold me accountable for my errors.

Luckily everyone I encountered was extremely kind, and quite willing to accept that in some circumstances there are more important things in the world than late books. There was still a chunk I had to pay, but let me put things in perspective by saying that it was an incredible relief to have the fines waived down to only $70. No, that’s not a mis-type. Things got out of control. I will do better in future.

But it struck me how much this kind of thing must happen to people with more long-term health issues. How little things spiral, and then get so big that they’re overwhelming. I see the evidence of it in my students, and in my friends, and I really hope that people are being as kind to them as the library staff were to me… although I know that that’s not happening. I knew from an external perspective that we need more forgiving systems for people with various health needs, and while I know that even this little experience can’t give me enough perspective to understand it, I hope it can show others how easily a problem like this can happen. I hope it encourages us to be more forgiving of each other.