When I was growing up, my earliest thoughts on my career path were to do with History and Archeology. I'd always wanted to be an archaeologist, and I think growing up watching Time Team and Indiana Jones probably helped push me in that direction. My parents would take me to historical places all the time, and in my odd little mind I'd try and come up with theories as to why things were the way they were, what the buildings were used for, etc.
I studied as hard as I could with History, and I thought I was doing pretty well up until the point where I started studying it for my A-Levels. All of a sudden I realised that I'm not very good at remembering important dates, or names; I can remember events, but rarely what order they took place in exactly.
So out the window that career plan went, forgotten were the dreams of the younger me; but it's ok, I had a back up plan.
I also happened to be studying Law, Philosophy, and Critical Thinking during my A-Levels. I figured I could become a Lawyer, work my way up the legal system and become a judge of some kind (not too high up, I liked the idea behind it all, but I didn't particularly want to weigh in on huge cases...I just wanted to make a difference).
I'd follow this plan, get into some money, have a nice home, and become a foster parent. I planned on making a difference to the world in my own way.
Turns out I wasn't very good at Law either. Same problem as before, remembering the names, dates, and events, which is surprisingly important for the first step into studying Law. I guess it also didn't help that it was around that time that I discovered drugs & alcohol, started hanging with the wrong crowd, and pretty much got into the mind frame of "Ah well, I'll do it later."
I failed College the first time round, and abandoned my hopes for both Archaeologist and Lawyer.
I came to realise that, although it wasn't what I wanted, there was something in my life that I was far better at. Writing.
I don't know if maybe this was an obvious thing to everybody else my life, but apparently I've always been fairly good at this writing malarkey. I'd never really considered it an option though, because it's up there with Art and Dance as one of those career options that can bring in money, but people still frown at. Add to that the fact that I'd still prefer to be doing something else, and you've got what I was thinking.
It took me 21 years of almost constant failure to realise that the only thing I was really good at, despite having huge interest in other unrelated subjects, was this; writing, journalism, blogging, reporting, ranting, arguing, etc.
Since then I've spent the past four years studying and training as hard as I could to perfect this apparently inherent skill, and this is where I am today.
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It's been about four weeks since I last updated this blog, and this is likely to be the most off-kilter one I've written so far, I mean...what does my past have anything to do with unemployment?
Not much to be honest, but does anyone remember one of my earlier entries about Ben? The guy that's been unemployed for so long that he's getting to the point of giving up?
Yeah, both myself and my wife have reached this point. Try as we might, hope as we do, and want like we want, we are officially trapped in a rut.
There are so many things that we both want, things that we want for each other, and things that we want for ourselves, but in this current climate we can't get them. We can't get the steady jobs, we can't get the help that we need, society won't reform to accept differences, etc, etc, etc.
We don't want anything big (but hey, winning the Lottery would be grand), we don't want any miracles (but I say again, perhaps some anonymous millionaire could give me £600,000?), all we really want is to be able to live free of the burden of the benefits system...to be able to support ourselves off of our own backs, to get where we want to go, to occasionally be able to treat ourselves with our own money, to not have to worry about the future, and generally just to live life properly...not just exist.
That's my piece for today.
Have a good one.
