Dust and the Exhausted Body, the Injured Body

— This past week I have once again become obsessed with the line by Jane Austen (surprise!) from Northanger Abbey: “Let us not desert one another; we are an injured body.” — Jane Austen — I try and stop myself from going down the rabbit hole of the last 6 years, having dug myself out of whatever hole to whatever degree has been possible. I mean, I wrote a whole book which will be published all the way into the future of 2029 titled Repair Manual for the Soul. And it’s really stupid of me but I had in mind when writing it that when it was finally published that would be the closure. The repair of my soul would then be complete. lol. Of course that will be an ever ongoing thing. Of course it will be. But I didn’t anticipate the far off pub date. Which is the price you pay for being a late career writer with a body of work, and a successful publisher who is booked in advance, (in a world where AI is fucking up the world and writers and publishing etc). And it’s a price worth paying, it…