Freshman (minus) 10

The South East for me conjures up a comfort and a fear at one and the same time. Down here, it's a duplicate world. Houses, jobs, cars, roads even have multiplied to create a culture of similarity and a culture of unspoken community. When I first moved to this area, I thought everyone was a recruitment consultant with a VW polo in the drive and plastic-handled Matalan cutlery. No joke, that's the way it seems sometimes.

This is comforting. It tells me that I'll never be short of what I need; everything is always at hand. The sheer number of people here mean I will never feel alone (oddly, I did manage to feel very alone living in the city, but not here) and the physical closeness of the housing - like a toy town, where the lawns look like astro-turf - mean I'm never far away from the hope that someone else close by feels the same as me.

The fear that this provokes is odd. Although I rarely feel alone here, I do feel like everyone else knows what they're doing. The 26 year old engaged recruitment consultant with her Polo in the drive and plastic-handled Matalan cutlery, she knows where she's come from and where she's going. I...don't.

Here are the lines of work I would like to pursue - well, pursue one of them - for the next five years:
1. Addiction counselling
2. Library work
3. TEFL teaching
4. Publishing

And here is what I'd really like to do, indefinitely and as the end of the "Hello, my name is Princess and I am ..." sentence:
1. Writing.


I need to make a decision regarding the former list in the next few weeks.
Please, and this is a genuine plea, if you have any advice at all about career guidance, please get in touch (Mike...I'd appreciate your input!).

****IN OTHER NEWS****

In my final bid for control, I am liquid dieting until 25th May. It's my modification of the 'bikini panic diet' and it must end on 25th May. Results as they happen (so far none, but I only started yesterday).

I've been signed off work for the week with laryngitis. Although I am feeling a lot better, talking is quite a challenge. Looking forward to getting back to 'normality' (like I know what that is!) on Monday.