Everyone keeps asking me how it feels to be back in the UK and there's just no simple way to explain. I think my most common response has been "It's weird", because there's no way to really say how I'm feeling, not without launching into an in-depth conversation, and lets face it, politeness dictates that's not gonna happen! If I'm honest I now feel like I have a foot in two different worlds, existences that are so separate and I feel equally tied to, I can't let go of either and so I belong in neither.
I can't help but feel that even though I'm torn in two right now I am so lucky. This time last year I was looking at mortgages and therefore tying myself to a future grounded and a job I wasn't meant for. I was clipping my own wings simply because I saw those around me settling down and figured I should 'grow up' and do the same. I am so priveleged to have had my life turned around and my horizons broadened - even now as I'm terrified by what lies ahead I feel so blessed just because I have options and possibilities that simply hadn't occured to me before, I was too short-sighted to see my own potential.
And then the simple facts stand, even if I dont go into the details of how I feel I've been given a new path in life, I'm so blessed simply because I have a (relatively sane!) family to support me, I have a roof over my head and food in my belly, and even if I can't find work, like the millions of people out of a job at the moment, I live in a country where systems are in place to ensure I will never die of a curable disease, I can claim money to help me survive, and where everyone is entitled to an education. It is now election year in the UK, so politicians are everywhere hurling insults at their rivals, putting forward their 'amazing' initiatives to fix the country. There's no denying that the global economy is in a sorry state, but I can't help but feel that whoever wins in May, whether they are focusing on the NHS or education, people in the UK will survive and thrive, which is more than can be said for a lot of people out there.
