Everything's a bit wibbly: the leap into the (un)known

Hello everyone and greetings from the north (under the del-/il-lusion that my blog receives a regular readership).I've been back in Cheshire (reality)/Manchester (sounds funkier) for 2 weeks so I've decided to add an update in my blog. Partly because I have landed a few volunteering gigs and work; partly because if you type 'Career Shifters' in a Google search this blog is the second hit. How this came to be without linking my blog to a billion other websites I don't know.So, I've been back for two weeks. Settled at home and not finding it too bad getting on with my parents. Working on a 3-pronged attack I have thus far managed:a) One day a week volunteering at the Olive Cooperative (http://www.olivecoop.com/index.html) on tasks yet to be confirmed. Currently working on a stall pack for festivals, fairs etc which will inform the public what we do and where the goods they are buying have been made and who their purchase will benefit. Also want to get involved in their newsletter plus helping out organising tours in Palestine which might lead neatly into volunteering abroad.

b) 1-2 days a week at a Arkadash in Chorlton - a shop that sells ethically traded products such as clothes, make-up etc. I've spent the past two days helping with their refurb, getting to know their dog Munch and spending nigh on 4 hours cutting carpet to size. However, the aim is to have a 2-week trial period in the shop to see how we all get on and then for me to be more of a permanent fixture working in the shop and on some sort of project (yet to be determined).

c) Actual paid work for 2-3 days a week in a branch of an organic supermarket chain. On the surface, this kind of ties in with the rest of my work but unfortunately it's organic in name only. The wastage is atrocious - in both the quantity and for the fact that very soon it will ALL be going in the bin - there's no recycling of any packaging and no-one has a clue about where any of the produce comes from or its benefits over conventional farming methods. They're simply doing it to cash in on the sector. Disappointed, yes, but ultimately I'll observe and learn how not to do things.

Given it's only been two weeks you'd think I'd be fairly positive about my move. The problem is I'm still a bit 'wibbly' [techincal term] about the whole thing. I don't regret the move from London, not at all. I suppose it's just that I'm at the beginning of my journey and I'm just simultaneously worried and hoping that it will not all be in vain. That at the end of it, I will end up finding my calling in life and not fail, returning to a mundane 5-day week.

The long-sighted out there will wonder why I'm griping after 2 weeks. It's only been 2 WEEKS. I know it's very, very early days but I've always been a glass-half-empty kind of person and I'm trying to fight against my historiclally cynical self to keep positive. It's a process, which is slow and not necessarily uniformly progressive. Some days you feel like a million dollars, other days you wonder why the hell you do it.

It would be easy to solely write about the good days and positive aspects, however I don't want to mislead anyone. It would appear that some people actually do read my blog so I want to give them an accurate blow-by-blow account of my journey. The odd thing is that when you overcome the tough days you're actually better for it - like you're experiencing that this is not a walkover but you're still coping and you can carry on.