And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day

 I need to start being a little more frequent with my blog posts because so much has changed AGAIN since last time I wrote. One thing, however, remains exactly the same.....here we are in a pandemic which rages on! 

Don't get me wrong, we have back most freedoms but if I'm honest I am pretty conditioned to isolation now and fairly happy to stay in my four walls with "the bearded one". We had to move  because our landlord sold our flat. We now live in the flat next door, which was both convenient and a huge pain in the backside! It costs more and is smaller but it is decorated more nicely and has built in wardrobes so that's a thing. 

I took a huge paycut and took a job in the NHS as an Admin for Mental Health, I get to leave the flat everyday and interact with people daily which is why I don't think the restrictions on social activities bother me any more. It has been a real struggle for us financially, but "the bearded one" insists its better for my brain and that matters more than fun money.  I also feel a LOT better about what I do. The people using our services really need them and in a small way I am helping them, which makes even the tough days much more worthwhile than my old job. 

Lockdown taught me a LOT about myself and the main take away is that I am a good deal more introverted than I ever thought and that it takes me a lot of energy to socialise.  I recently went out for a few hours in a largish group and came home both exhausted and with a huge migraine.  I have spent a good deal of my life being pigeonholed or having assumptions made about who I really am and I am not ok with that any more. I have always been a bit of a square peg in a round hole but that's kind of ok. People are complex creatures with many layers and I am enjoying finding the new layers of me! 

The other thing I have learned is that it's ok to evolve, change, refocus and regroup. I have spent more time with my family this year, I have spent time catching up with old friends and I have really enjoyed that. I want to make 2022 the year I find a new hobby or challenge myself.....maybe the pandemic has been more of a blessing than I thought, even if it's left me worse off financially and a little emotionally battered! 

Its going to be an interesting journey