New name?

Well I won't say things are looking up, but it's only Tuesday. I am only 2 days into my evaluation* and I feel pretty good.

Right now many friends and potential friends (including the nice guy from Portland I sold my ticket to) are setting up for the week on the Playa at Black Rock City. They are unrolling their dusty tents, pounding in 10-inch tent stakes in 40-mile an hour winds. They are covered in playa powder, wearing tutus and sharing food with strangers. They are planning what mind altering drugs they will be taking and what trancendental workshops they'll be attending all while hypnotized by pounding trance music from 20 ft. tall speakers.

I am typing away on my computer, cat on lap, from overcast Portland.
I'm not bummed. It's my life and I get to play it how I want. Burning Man comes every year, and right now there are more important things to plan.

I am seriously considering going back to school. I have a job interview (for a job actually in my field) today at 3 p.m. But, even if I get, it's unlikely that I will be making as much money doing this in 2 years as I would if I went back to school for just 12 to 18 short months. Nursing, yes. I was so close just a few years ago, and ditched the whole thing because I didn't want to be confined to working in a hospital for the rest of my life. I wanted something bigger. Travel... new experiences... the unknown. Nursing seemed so... normal. So unexciting. So safe.

I majored in journalism. Got a job that put me at a desk. I gave it up and traveled. Now I am back. Broke. Looking at doing the same thing over again.

First step: get a job. Only this time it's taken nearly 5 months. I didn't think this would be the hard part, and it scares me. Will I ever want to uproot again? Will I be forced to keep my job forever, taking tiny 2 week vacations for the next few years? I'll go crazy!

Like my dad said all along... you can find a nursing job anywhere, at any time. There are travel nurses, who do three months stints all over the country. You can work three 12-hour shifts, and take mini trips. And have the money to do it.
The nursing-to-journalism job ratio even on CL is overwhelming. It's an easy choice:
Journalism: Three 9-5 jobs for $40,000 or less**.
Nursing: 20 jobs with varied hours,$55,000 or more***.

(** Waaaay less, and ***probably more.)

So, I've spent the past 24 hours trying to remember what it was that I hated about nursing, what drove me away at the last minute, after having 5 years of hospital experience as a nurses aid. I didn't mind the guts and blood. Sure, I fainted when I watched my nurse dad start an IV... but I didn't flinch when I had to give enemas or disimpact a quadriplegic. (Ok, so maybe I flinched at that one.) But I remember clearly what I hated: The shotgun feeling at the beginning of a shift, you're running for 8 hours. You are following protocol, precicely, there's no time to create and daydream.

In journalism and writing, you get a lot of that. But, the flexibility and money are scarce, especially at the beginning of a career. Going back to school I wouldn't be giving up on one thing, I'd be adding to my toolbox. I could even combine my careers and go into communications for a hospital or freelance on health related topics. We'll see.

Did I mention there's an accelerated program in Hawaii?


*Ten pseudo-unplanned days off from crappy job while broke and in debt=total reevaluation of life goals.