That's right - from September I will officially be a School Librarian!

I had just about given up hope to be honest when a couple of weeks ago I finally received an invitation to attend an interview. I was so nervous when I got there, especially when I learned that I was competing against several other people, but once I got in there I was fine and, well to cut a long story short...I GOT THE JOB!!

I'm sooo excited - turns out the job is even more perfect than I had originally thought! The panel that interviewed me for the post were really positive and encouraging, apparantly I was just what they were looking for and they were really taken with my enthusiasm (which was nice to hear! ).

Come the beginning of the new school year I will be running the library and learning resource centre from lunchtime onwards and will be helping to set up an after-school homework club which I will supervise and organise to help kids who make not have access to a suitable study environment at home. Unfortunately the majority of the catchment area for the school is very deprived with very few kids having access to PC's or living in homes where learning is supported or encouraged - hopefully the after-school club will help fulfill this role.

There will be lots of opportunities for me to be creative with my role - the school were encouraging of ideas such as creative writing clubs, poetry competitions, reading groups and the like. Their hope in employing me is that I can really help to turn the library facilities into something fun and accessible - something that they've struggled to do up until now. They also were keen to mention that there will hopefully be plenty of scope to develop my role in the future and the possibility of more hours once I've settled and if my health permits.

It's going to be hard work but I think so rewarding. The more I think about it the more positive I feel about the whole thing - I really believe that this is the right move for me. What is lovely is that I had kind of thought that my first job after being off for so long would probably be a bit lame and boring and that I would have to wait to find something I really wanted to do, but I've managed to find a job that is not only managable but also has the potential to make a huge difference and a real positive impact.

i just can't wait to get started!

So many cool things have happend this last week that I thought I'd sit and tell you a bit about them all

The start of an exciting journey...

One thing I haven't told you about myself yet is that I am a Druid, well Druid-in-training is probably a more accurate description. By that I don't mean that I have a long beard and wear robes but that I follow a Druid spirituality - a pagan spirituality that is rooted in reverence for the natural world and that belives in the sanctity of all living things: that all things have spirit. Druidry is also firmly rooted in our celtic history and uses the old teachings and wisdom passed down to us from ancient times, reinterpreting them for the modern day. Being a Druid in a practical sense involves living according to a specific philosophy. For me this means many things and is something I incorperate into all aspects of my life - I 'live' my Druidry through ritual and meditation, celebrating the seasonal festivals and turning of the year, studying myth and Druid teaching, and most importantly, simply spending time in nature, getting to know her many aspects and attuning to her rhythms.

Druid philospohy is vast and complex and I haven't the room to go in to it in much detail at the moment, but if you are interested and would like to know about more about our beliefs then have a look at this website which should help you answer any questions you might have:  http://www.druidry.org/

I became interested in Druidry a few years ago in my late teens and up to now have always studied and practiced alone. However, recently I have felt ready to make a deeper commitment to Druidry and decided that I would join a Druid order to help further my learning and development. One of the biggest Druid orders is 'The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids' (OBOD), a world-wide community that provides support and teaching and opportunities for people of like-minds to make contact. OBOD famously offer a teaching programme for Druids wanting to develop their spirituality, a fantastic course of study that takes you through the three traditional 'grades' or areas of study passed down from celtic Druidry; those of Bard, Ovate and Druid.

Well, last week I made the decision to undertake Bardic study and join the OBOD community and my first lot of teaching material arrived on Monday morning! I got started right away - each week I will work through a different booklet that over the course of a year will guide me through Druid history, mythology, ritual, meditation and other teachings. The Bardic course specifically is also concerned with helping to foster our creativity, learning how to channel 'awen', or inspiration and express ourselves through the arts. I am a very creative person - I love art and music, so I'm really looking forward to this aspect of the course.

I'll keep you posted as to how I get on...!

Soul-food

One thing that is really difficult about being an apprentice Druid in the town where I live is that I live in a very urban area with little or no wildlife. We only have a very tiny garden and you really have to hunt for places where nature still has a place that hasn't been built over by a massive big housing estate. We are fortunate to be surrounded by some beautiful countryside but I can't drive so don't often manage to get there. This has been compounded by mobility problems that meant that up until recently I could barely walk at all. However, since my health has been so much better I've been exploring the area a bit more and Tuesday morning I came across a little slice of countryside just waiting to be discovered and right on our doorstep!

Just a couple of roads over is a big graveyard - I've driven past it probably a million times and thought it looked like it might have some potential so when I woke to find the sun was shining on Tuesday morning I decided to go and have an explore. It's quite difficult to see from the road because theres a high fence and lots of trees but once inside I discovered a little paradise! The graveyard is huge and filled with every tree you can imagine. There are beautiful hedgerows and the graveyard backs on to some marshland which is filled with geese, ducks and lots of other birds. Even though it was next to some main roads and had an industrial estate on one side it felt so peaceful and tranquil. Hearing the wind rustle through the beech trees, watching the squirrels play and the birds sing I felt so at peace, and living where we do didn't seem quite so awful anymore. I have a feeling I will be visiting my little haven often from now on! 

Nerina Pallot gig

Tuesday night my fiance Ant and I went to the Glee club in Birmingham to see Nerina Pallot play live. Nerina has been my absolute favourite artist for a long time, we first saw her about six years ago when she was touring with her first album. She has a single in the charts at the moment called 'Everyone goes to War' - check out her website at http://www.nerinapallot.com to hear the single and more tracks from her latest album 'Fires'.

Needless to say the gig was fantastic - Nerina has a flawless voice that really suits the folk/rock style of her music. She played tracks from both albums as well as a couple of new songs. The crowd were loving it and I sang the whole way through!

And last but not least...

Today I passed my car theory test! Hurray!

Practical test here I come...!

Thanks for listening

x

Something kind of exciting has happened and I wanted to tell you about: I've applied for a new job!

Ok, I hear you say, that's not very exciting BUT for me, I promise you, this is BIG news!

I have an illness called Fibromyalgia, diagnosed when I was a teenager. I never want to be one of those whiney people who's forever going on about their health but in order to get to know me and my life I better explain a bit about it...

Fibromyalgia causes severe pain and stiffness in the joints, similar to arthritis, and general fatigue both of which leave you pretty incapacitated. Fibro affects every person slightly differently : I seem to have a particularly severe form that has been difficult to treat and left me feeling really unwell for long periods of time. Most significantly for me, Fibromyalgia placed severe restrictions on my mobility and I ended up having to use a wheelchair most of the time and needing quite a lot of care. Obviously this has meant I haven't been able to work for a number of years although I've tried really hard to fill my time with other meaningful activities like studying for a degree at home and doing some voluntary work when I've been able to. You shouldn't feel too sorry for me - I still have a very happy, postive, interesting life: one benefit to having so much time on my hands is that I've been able to devote lots of time to creative persuits! The hardest thing I've found about Fibromyalgia, to be honest, has been dealing with the overwhelming frustration I've felt at not being able to do the things I've wanted. I'm a very detirmined, stubbon perfectionist with high ambitions who sets very high standards for myself - I'm not good at dealing with 'no' or 'not yet'! Luckily this sheer force of will, although causing me a lot of frustration, has always kept me driven, optomistic and motivated and helped to carry me through but I've really had to learn patience too, and to accept my limitations.

However, it's by no means all doom and gloom: over the last twelve months I have seen significant improvements in my health. I'm finally on a course of medications that better control my symptoms and really intensive phsyiotherapy, mainly lots of yoga and swimming, have improved my mobility to near 100%. Most importantly, I've finally learnt how to manage my illness day to day: learning my limitations but at the same time learning how to persevere and push through. I still get lots of pain and fatigue, but somehow they just don't prove so much of a barrier as they used to.

Anyway....I've been feeling that I've finally reached a point in my rehabilitation when I can start thinking about returning to work, just a few hours a week to begin with. So this week I took a really big step and applied for a job! I know that it probably doesn't sound like such a big deal, but my confidence has taken quite a hammering over the last few years. It's really quite daunting filling in an application form when you've been out of work for so long, and hard writing about my disability in a way that is honest but doesn't sell myself short - I really don't want someone to take one look at my health record and write me off.

The position I've applied for is Librarian Assistant at the library of a local High School. The post is so perfect for me, the hours are just right and I'll be working with two of my favourite things: books and kids! The post involves helping to run the school library and learning resource centre, providing staff support and helping young people at the school with research projects and using the computers. It's term time only, three hours a day, five days a week which would still allow me to carefully manage my activity level and leave room for rest and on going physio.

Ooooh I'm so excited! The closing date was today so please keep your fingers crossed that I get an interview! I promise I'll keep you posted.......!

xx

Well here we go I guess...

Thought it would be fun to join in the whole blog thing and to have an outlet for my thoughts and stuff. I really like the whole idea of an online journal - a chance to maybe share my perspective on things that are going on in my life and the world around me. Who knows - you might even find me interesting!

Over the next few days I'll try to write a bit about myself, who I am and where I'm at, and I guess we'll see where this whole thing goes from there. I'm kind of shy so bear with me while I get the hang of this!