Starting with a Word

I’ve just poured myself a very small glass of sherry to celebrate the end of another very long day. My day begins at 6am and I try to squeeze everything I can into it: exercise, reading, writing, piano, a full work day, etc.

There are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to achieve. I would love to do another advanced degree or at least an honours degree in history, take more self-development courses, do crafts courses, book clubs, start a serious writing project, hike, exercise more, etc.

I’ve been thinking more and more about my next work role. Although I’ve learned a lot from my current role, the plain truth is that the job is too easy for me. I need something that mentally challenges and stimulates me. I came here because I wanted something easy so I could stop working so hard and have more time for hobbies. What I found is that an easy job is that very fulfilling.

I also hugely dislike being in a big cattle-call of an office floor with no privacy. I feel like a robot. I need space to be creative and privacy to do deep thinking. I know this is not that type of situation.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that I need to start thinking about moving on. In all honestly, I would like to be a full-time writer and work independently. I need human contact (I learned that from my depressing experience researching for eight months in the British Library), but I also thrive on alone time.

I have always wanted to do an honours degree in history, specially in social history of architecture in this part of the world. The question is when? How will I find the time? It would be impossible if I was working full time!

Apart from all this, it is simply time that I begin documenting my experiences of being a migrant in another country. In another blog post, I will discuss the back-story to how I ended up back here. I forget in my day-to-day. I’ve realised that I’ve been living months without documenting my experiences. This year has definitely been a mixed bag of really interesting and very hard experiences.

I will say right off that I would not recommend coming to another country without a job lined up first. The plain truth is that migrants (unless they are in high-demand fields such as medicine or engineering) have to take entry-level positions. I have a Ph.D., have written four books and articles,  taught for years, and I am writing basic newsletters and editing general writing. Without a doubt, I am very grateful for this role, but it does not fulfill or mentally challenge me. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that I need to rethink my game plan here and be realistic about my abilities and need for stimulation.

I thought it would be a welcome break doing an easier job, What I found is that there are pros and cons to each situation.