It's been a grand total of four months since I last updated this. A lot can happen in four months, and a braw lot has happened.
- I turned 25.
- I attended the Shetland Folk Festival, which was the year's highlight at that point so far, and still is.
- I lost my job, for reasons I won't go into, and from which I'm still recovering financially (although emotionally I think it's been a slight improvement).
- I eventually became so skint the Ethiopians were throwing a benefit concert for me (I know, not very PC but no less accurate for that), and that point, roughly at the beginning of July, I finally resolved to move back to Shetland. I kept this pretty quiet among the people I know, because as much as shit went wrong and the sheen had started to come off Glasgow for me, I've made a good number of pals in seven years there that I'd have been sad to say goodbye to - particularly since, at that point, it didn't look like I was coming back, and I really wanted to. But more on that later.
- Glusstonberry happened. The link shall reveal all.
- A week and a half later, my dad came down on the boat with his Berlingo (that's not his actual Berlingo by the way, but his isn't too dissimilar), helped me pack up all the worldly possessions I could fit in it, and after a last visit to his pal's shop for an overdue catch up and a last cheerio, we made the long drive to Aberdeen and the longer ferry to Shetland. Long journeys make for some good father-daughter bonding time, particularly when discussing the CDs currently rotating on the car stereo (such as Mudcrutch's album), taking the piss out of my sister's sat nav, for which she'd purchased the voice of Snoop Dogg (not even kidding, Dad told it to fuck off every time it said "turn right, nephew!"), and drinking a Crabbie's or three in the ferry's main bar before turning in to our cabin for the night. It was a good start to my indefinite time at home.
So I ended up ensconced at my Mam's, safe and sound and looking forward to not having to pay bills. That said, I was dreading being stuck miles from anywhere, unable to drive still, and being miles away from my nearest Job Centre. Back in Glasgow the Job Centre had been a mere mile and a half up the road, whereas in Shetland it was going to be 23 miles from my house. Since the bus services are quite crap up north, it was inevitable that any sign on time I was allocated was going to result in me being stuck in Lerwick for a couple of hours with fuck all to do.
Then this week happened.
I've had two job offers, which means I can sign off Jobseekers' (because let's face facts here people, no matter where you go in life, Job Centres are always, always hideous and soul destroying places). But best of all, I also discovered I had a place on the MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, a pretty prestigious course in its field (not to toot my own trumpet or anything). As much as I'm in utter disbelief that they let me have a place (I was sure I'd never get into a Masters after scraping a 2:2 for my Bachelors' following an academic year that went horribly wrong), I'm equally elated about it. While I'm loving being settled back in Shetland for the time being, because I think I've been needing it, I'm feeling good about the prospect of returning to Glasgow to do something I actually want to do, as opposed to being stuck in a dead end job or similar situation that I'd loathe. Plus, I miss my friends already.
I wouldn't say everything's perfect. I still have depression and beat myself up a lot over silly things. But I hope I'll eventually get it under control before too long, and that it won't still be affecting me in a year or so. For now, though, things have taken a turn for the better, and I can't wait to see how the coming years will progress.
