It's finally happened. (On waiting 5 years for a 'proper' job)

Well it's happened.  I had got to thinking that perhaps it never would.

It's only taken five years.

Five years since graduating with a fairly good degree;

consisting of one year of volunteering at 5 different projects;

AND  3 cleaning , 1 waitressing, 1 having-fun-with-international-students, 1 bar, 1 jewellery-maker's-assistant, 2 care, 1 note-taker, 2 english teacher, 2 admin/communications and 2 pre-school jobs (breath) - oh my days that's 16 jobs in five years - no wonder my CV is a mess!;

1 internship, 2 writing projects, courses in movement, photography, TEFL and note-taking;

various months on job seekers allowance, housing benefits, job offers turned down, late nights filling out job applications;

one marriage (!), 3 churches and 6 house moves.

(Pause)

So what happened?  Oh yes -

For the first time in my life I have gotten a full time 'proper' job.  And, very soon, it will be the only paid job that I am doing - also a first.

That's not to say that my entire focus the past few years has been around jobs/career.  I took a 'year out' volunteering in Brighton after University so that I could a more-rounded perspective of life, Brighton, work, wealth, people, etc.  After that, I admit I assumed that I would go on to get a job in something vaguely anthropology-social-science-type-related, move into a house with friends, be able to afford some of those things I never had before - you know like being able to pay for someone else to wax my legs instead of having to inflict slow-drawn-out pain on myself with the epilator - those kind of crazy luxuries. haha.

But it wasn't to be.  I had to be 'rescued' by friends who let me lodge with them for next to nothing, until I got married a year later and then ended up on benefits for a while.  The epilator remains in use, or the legs are covered up.  I did a LOT of jobs that I didn't really want to do, and that I definitely could have done without a degree.  It took a long time to get over the disappointment I felt in myself, and in the pre-crisis 'system' that had told us we could do anything we wanted, and that getting high grades really mattered.

It took a long time to get over myself and stop dreading being asked 'what I do' because I was ashamed to answer.  Which was a bit silly because all of the jobs I have done have mattered in some way, they've made a difference - even if it's that the public get to sit on clean toilet seats, or that the lonely man in the pub knows the lady behind the bar knows his name and what he drinks.  A lot of my problem was pride, and a niggling thought that I was made to do 'more' - which sounds so up myself when I 'write it out loud'.  So perhaps I should say, made for something different. Not better, just more suited to me and my strengths.  I have felt frustrated because I really don't care that much about cleaning, I am bored by admin, my body was too weak for a lot of the care work, I was terrified by the English teaching, exhausted by the pre-school work.  I think I did an OK job at them, and I definitely learned a lot about people - which is at the end of the day one of the most important lessons, I believe.  I have a huge respect for the people who do all those jobs and pour themselves into them, because as I said, they do matter.

For the past year or two, I've stopped seeing my job(s) as what defines me.  Coming to Cornwall wasn't exactly a career move, and I knew that I'd have to carry on doing whatever came my way to pay the bills.  Amazingly, we've been blessed by just enough work to get us through, and jobs that we've enjoyed, more-or-less.  And we've continued to prioritize relationships - meaning time with people and each other - over work.  Which I hope will continue.

So I wasn't particularly looking for a change in job situation, although I had noticed some restlessness creeping in and a sense that some more things, aside from moving house, were going to change. Which in a way made it all the more exciting when I was offered a full-time, permanent contract with the company I've been working for at home, part-time for the past year.

Woo hoo!!

For the first time I can actually imagine just doing one job and not getting bored. I get to be creative and also a bit geeky (A-level maths gets a look-in!), I learn every day and I feel like my brain is being challenged and stretched all the time.  They work with charities, non-profits and NGOs who do stuff I can believe in and get behind.  I get to work at home (which I'm sure will also be a challenge) and make trips to London.  I'm never quite sure how to describe it but it's doing Digital marketing/media stuff. Vaguely.

So why such a long blog post about it?  Well I want to celebrate!  And for you to celebrate with me.  Friends who know me well will be saying, 'at last!'.  I know that a job isn't everything, but I am very happy that this one has come along, at this time.

I don't think this means I can say with confidence, 'everything will work out in the end', or 'just be patient, something great will come along', because I know it doesn't always happen like that.  But this is one side of my story that I'm telling, today, and saying I'm thankful.