Let’s Go To Work

I’m very excited about the onset of responsibility.

It’s been a long time.

The last time I had to hold down a regular job in order to pay regular monthly rent and bills and whatnot came to an end just over four years ago. Since then, I’ve allowed myself to drift rather, into things and out of things, like a moth-eaten leaf on a questioning breeze, or a noble hound, following scents, not caring too much about my destination but generally aiming to please.

I drifted into the festivals project like a puppy under a cloud. I was confused. I was half-cocked. I had a bash. It didn’t work out. Then I escaped to France. Aaaah, le shack. Thinking now of that lovely little housey hideaway there on the edge of the forest, the first 18 months have coalesced in my mind to a feeling of stretching out in the hot sun on a picnic blanket on the grass. Which is not to say there was not bone-snappingly hard work in amongst the enjoyment, but just the sheer luxury of actual free time stands out as a rare luxury. Just having the option to do with your days pretty much as you please. And I did. And it was good. And I know how rare that is in the world of the rent-beholden. And I know how lucky I was. But now it’s over. Now it’s time to get involved with things again.

In a little under five weeks’ time, I’ll be moving into a charming house, in a very respectable rural setting in Cambridgeshire, with a wildly exciting woman and two wildly excitable hounds. It’s going to be magnificent. What’s also exciting is that this time I’m actually looking forward to the challenges of finding work. Thankfully, I have no obligation to settle for some awful noxious grind of a job. I can pick and choose. A bit of teaching. A bit of translating. A bit of journalism. A bit of self-publishing. A bit of subbing. A bit of gardening. A bit of guiding. And sizeable chunks I’m sure, of whatever else pops up from nowhere in the everyday thrash, whisk and tumble of life in the proximity of peoplefolk.

Peoplefolk. That’s what I’ve missed. And I am genuinely looking forward to getting involved with them again.

But first I need to put this website to work.

Right.

Here I go.

 

Filed under: 400 Words