Working Girl

Five years ago, I started university.

This year has been an interesting one. It's been so far removed from the preceding four that I've almost forgotten what it's like to be a student! Do I miss university? I'm not quite sure how to answer that question; it already feels forever ago and perhaps I do miss it in wistful moments of reminiscence. But it's not university itself, really, more the individual people and specific experiences that I remember and there's been many aspects I've been grateful to get rid of, or at least not felt that affected by their absence.

This year has been tough. It wasn't easy adjusting to the changes that had been thrust upon me, but I got used to it. I managed to go to many places, see many faces that simply wouldn't have been possible if I had been thrown straight into a permanent job. In some respects, I had the best of both worlds - some money coming in, but flexibility with hours and freedom to roam as I desired. After eighteen years of education, it was kind of nice to have a break. To wake up and know I don't have much to do; to be a lady of leisure; to bake cakes and make soup and walk the dog. Of course, there was the relentless stress of trying to find a suitable position in the current economic climate and that brought me to hysteria and sunk me to depression, at times. Additionally there was the distress caused by my living situation and the conflict between the proximity of people from whom I'd prefer to be further away and the aching distance of people to whom I'd rather be closer. Overall, it's been okay.

Life is okay. Social interaction is limited, but not altogether dried-up. The Fear that bubbles to the surface every now and again can be a wave strong enough to wind me completely, but usually passes in time. It'll be okay. Full-time employment retains some of that rosy I-am-not-a-waste-of-space glow and it hasn't been long enough for me to grow tired of the routine, yet.

I'm okay.

How are you?

Flitterbox: Noah and The Whale ~  L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N