LEAVING HOME....

Feels so strange blogging from the Mac. But of course, I don't have my little PC anymore. The reason being..... after a wonderful decade at ST, I have finally decided to move on and try something different. Finally wound things up in the newsroom (wait for it....) on 20.08.2008 (nice ring to it, no?), and am enjoying a temporary state of unemployment (while desperately how to figure out how to do this full time - and get paid for it... ideas, anyone?).  Anyway, from Monday, I begin writing a whole new chapter to my life. I join a new company (stay tuned for details), and it will mark the beginning of a brand new adventure. It's quite a leap of faith, and to be honest, I am still coming to terms with the fact that this is actually real, especially since news of me having left has invariably been met with incredulous "no way!!" looks. It has taken me a long while to come to this decision, not least because journalism is something I am so clearly passionate about and love. And it's been an amazing ride - from subbing to Life!, to Streats, to STTV, and then, especially, to the Newsdesk. I have made so many friends, some of whom have become more akin to family. There have also been those who have been instrumental in making the journalist - and the person - that I have become. Plus, it's very odd indeed, some might think, to leave a job you still love madly. Most people usually wait till they are sick and tired, or angry, or burnt out. But that was the one thing I didn't want to happen, because journalism will always be a part of me, and I hardly think the way to maintain that love for it is to wait for love to fizzle out. There are things that make ST incredibly hard to leave though - my bosses, the team I work most closely with, others I have worked with through the years, the prospect of being able to run to work from home in 15 minutes... It feels like moving out of Mum's for the first time (actually, I think that might have been a little easier, coz I can still pop by whenever I want and help myself from her fridge, or put my legs up on her sofa, and she knows I will always be hers). This .... is somewhat different, especially since the new job puts me on the other end of the news spectrum. Still, I guess this big move is about getting my butt out of my comfort zone and learning something new while I still have the energy to want to, and am not being tied down with things that would make such career experimentation impossible. The new joint also, evidently, has great coffee.  Pete's been great about the whole thing, though. And extremely patient. Not easy, since I am still yoyo-ing between being excited about moving on and wondering out loud if I have well and truly lost my marbles (not least when I think about 1) the commute 2) having to look remotely together at 9 in the morning, something that being a news hound doesn't quite prepare you for). But its done, and dusted. A lot of people have been very encouraging, and have reassured me that I can always go back to being a scribe if this does not quite suit me. I'm trying not to go into it with that mentality, though, so that I don't fall back on it as a handy out clause.  I've still got a couple of days of freedom, though. And Gwen & gang have been in town, which helps, coz it means I'm not dwelling on whether or not I have made the right decision. They've just left for Hoi An, which is why I've been able to get around to blogging. We're likely gonna sneak off for a little weekend escapade as well, before D-day comes around, so the next update you'll get is probably gonna be when I have well and truly begun.  Okay, so, wish me well. Should be fun. We'll all soon find out. Exciting things are happening in the world of Pete too, but I'll wait till he gives me the go ahead to enter it into blogosphere. XXX Art