Hello there! I would like to share with you something about myself.

I am Unemployed.

After six months, what was just a general background fact has now gained a capital 'U' and is now a major part of my identity. Therefore I submit the sound of my lonely violin to the great orchestra of The Unemployed.

I actually don't know anyone else who is currently unemployed. I know PLENTY of people who are unhappy with their jobs and want to move on, but then, it's easier to get a different job when you're still working, isn't it? I also know that apparently, unemployment has dropped in the last financial year, even in my age group, which is 21-25 year olds. Well, woo. I am really thrilled to bits that it's getting better, I am. I just wish I could see it for myself. This leads on to my one big question:

Am I unemployable?

Oh, that's a tricky one. Technically no. I have a “good first degree” from a Russell Group University, albeit in the subject of English Literature, so I'm not automatically geared for a career away from teacher training. Never mind that though, a lot of people do and are just fine. I also have eighteen months of working as an EFL teacher in Vietnam. I should not be unemployable. Yet, it appears that I am.

I have discovered that living in the area that I do (not a city), actually means that I cannot get a job. I can't get a casual job as I'm competing with all the college students and part-time mum's in the area, and am seen as too much of a flight risk. I cannot get an admin job because I do not have any specific admin experience. I am unlikely to get a graduate job as there have been three batches of fresh graduates pop up since I left, and I am also struggling to get a teaching assistant job because there is so much competition and not that many roles.

The future feels a little bleak right now. But following this gloomy start, I have decided that I need a good kick up the ass to get moving again. Dealing with all these rejections, and just the sheer boredom of repetitive applications has got me down. I need a reason not to stay in bed all day.

To my bed I say: “No! I shall leave the warm, safe confines of your duvet mountains. I shall fight the omens of crows that hover expectantly outside my windows. I will shoo the sounds of buzzards circling ahead who whisper 'Your career is dead, your career is dead.'”

I am going to quote Edgar Allan Poe grossly out of context and cry: “Nevermore!”

Note: I may have the tendency towards the over-dramatic. You should know this about me now, before we proceed any further.

The Challenge

I am challenging myself to use this time allotted to me in a more productive manner. As fun as lounging on duvet mountains watching chirpy American sitcoms is, I need a little bit more from my life.

So many people seem to drudge through life, living for the weekend. My whole week is my weekend! It defies logic! So I'm going to have my first retirement and do all the things I like doing and that make me a better person (or are just fun).

Things you might expect to see:

–                 soliloquy (in the written form)

–                 cartoons

–                 accounts of achievements, like: “Oooh I made a really good cheese toastie!”

–                 short stories

–                 whining/ moaning/ whingeing/ weeping

–                 Crazy thoughts

–                 pictures and/or photographs

–                 doodles

–                 reflections about current events/ society

–                 descriptions of cycling trips

–                 philosophical questions about the number 42

–                 delvings into the sophisticated lexis of the English language

–                 historical facts

–                 wonderings about life

I will just say it here that I make no promises. I sign no contracts. This is not a job. I cannot pretend that it is a job. But it could be a way to cheer me up, and exercise my brain noodle.