Why I’ve Started My Blog

Yesterday, I went shopping my friend Jayne. I spent far, far too much money and I’m now nursing a financial hangover. However amongst reckless shopping and a visit to the crispy creme drive through there were discussions of a rather fundamental nature. Not of the ‘why are we here’ variety but those of a more personal theme. We were discussing what else we would do if we weren’t in our current occupation (we are both Scientists). Jayne suggested creating a matrix of things you love doing and things you get paid a lot for. I said I love music but I’m not good enough to get paid a lot for it. I also said I always wanted to write. ‘Well why not start a blog?’. I thought this was a good idea so googled how to write a blog. Hence why I am writing to you this morning with a now cold cup of tea and Friends on continuous repeat in the background. I thought about what I would write about. What could I offer to the people of the world in terms of useful information or advice. Well, could write about heartbreak but I think that’s largely covered. I could write about love. Again covered. Then I thought about what could I help people with that I think I’ve made a success of. Well, 8 years ago I moved from London on my own to a completely new part of the country. 5 hours further north in fact. Why did I do this? Because I found a job that I really wanted to do. How easy was it? It wasn’t easy and for most people it’s an incredibly daunting prospect. Despite this, I like to think I’ve made a rather good job of it. Not by chance but by experience; I’ve previously moved to another part of the UK on my own on 3 separate occasions. When people find out that I’ve done this I always get a mixture of the following reactions: 1. ‘But why would you leave London?’ 2. ‘But aren’t you lonely?’ 3. ‘But why did you move here?’ (I live in Teesside). I will answer these 3 questions in due course, but my point is this is something that a lot of people don’t understand. But people are more now than ever having to move away from their friends and family for work reasons. It it isn’t an easy thing to do. But after 8 years I can say I now call this new place home. I have my own home, a job I enjoy and some fantastic friends and hobbies. I recently had a friend who has had to move away for work and she’s now experiencing similar feelings that I had when I first moved away by myself and it got me thinking I might be helpful to share how it coped with doing this and all the things I’ve learnt along the way about myself, other people and the new place in which I love living. I hope you enjoy reading my blog.