Meh. Woo! And meh.

13 Feb 2008 at 10:45
9 comments

So, I've been feeling rather low recently, as a result of there being no acting on the horizon and my being stuck in a boring day-job that I've been doing for far too long. Blah blah blah. I am plagued with the nagging sense that I am somehow wasting my life. What to do? Answer: drink wine, eat pizza, go to an Elbow gig, and ignore the problem for a while. Worked like a charm.

The gig was at Porchester Hall, which was opulent in a caryatid-and-red-velvet-curtains sort of way. It's been filed away in my mental folder of "potential places for a wedding reception in London, assuming that I actually get married one day". The bar also served wine by the bottle, which was good, but would only serve it in plastic cups, which was less good. I requested that the barman divide the contents of a bottle between two pint glasses. Ooh, a pint of wine. Sheer class.

Elbow were great, as usual. At one point, Guy Garvey dedicated a song to the late actor and shark-wrangler Roy Schneider. "It's strange," he mused, "we got a copy of 'Jaws' for the tour bus only a few days ago, so we were probably watching it when he died."

"We're going to need a bigger bus!" yelled a wag in the audience, to general hilarity.

My feet were killing me by the end of the night (going to a gig in three-inch heels? Am I insane? At least I got a good view of ol' Loaf-face). On the journey home, all I could think of was getting home and tearing my boots off.

Me: Darling, will you massage my feet when we get home?

Trilby: Will you wash your feet first?

Me: Um, okay. You know, you used to massage my feet all the time. You never do it any more.

Trilby: Sic transit gloria mundi, dear.

I laughed a lot at that.

So today I am feeling a little perkier. But the problem remains: what should I DO with my life? I have the vaguest of vague ideas about training as some sort of art therapist. I like the idea of spending my days covered in glitter and glue and poster paint. However, I haven't got the faintest idea whether this would be practical or achievable or even if I really want to do it at all. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws. But I do know that my life needs to change dramatically, and soon, before I have some sort of catastrophic psychotic episode involving a semi-automatic and a tall building.

9 comments

Comments

you could start here

Can you get away for a bit? I had a veritable epiphany spending some time away from London; I realised that I did still want to live here and I'm en route for a new career (albeit in a few years).

Good luck and put some glitter on yourself anyway because that's always very uplifting.

I also need dramatic life change before I go postal. I just caught myself idly daydreaming about setting fire to the office. Lawks.

I grow increasingly jaded with the thought of making money for someone else with every passing day....

Porkette - Thanks for the link. It appears that I would need some sort of proper qualification in art and design (rather than just general enthusiasm for Pritt Stick and coloured card). Bugger. Another idea bites the dust.

Kate - I would SO love to get away for a bit of thinking time. Maybe I should try and contract 'flu or something. Let me know what your new career is so I can steal your idea (as all my ideas are useless).

Foxy - Follow your instinct and burn the place to the ground. We can roast marshmallows on the flames.

RG - I hear you. Though I wouldn't mind making money for someone else as long as I enjoyed myself while I was doing it.

perhaps not be so quick to write it off - it does include other people who they will consider - it's worth thinking about whether or not it's the therapeutic element or the art element that interests you the most and see if there's some way that you can fashion some of the experience and knowledge you have. Maybe it would be worthwhile talking to some of the course leaders and asking them if there is any way they would consider you or what would they want you to have to be considered. Perhaps looking at doing some therapeutic training and/or voluntary work within this area.....perhaps doing stuff with people/children with learning disabilities (lots of art therapy used in this area). Quite often people use art therapy as an adjunct to their role - rather than being art therapists - they may be therapists/teachers with a special interest. It may be worth pursuing.

Ooh, I recognise this one. Current bright ideas for a career change include: doing a course at Leiths and following my mother into the catering trade; saying sod it all and disappearing off to do a ski season; becoming a National Trust Housekeeper/Gardener.