Money, Money, Money

Have some relevant illustration.

Aside from having a Facebook account with the odd status, I tend not to go into personal life happenings in public, especially on the internet ... but when I did this illustration a few weeks ago I had no idea how relevant it'd actually become to my own life.

University - especially if you go into an art-related course - is a very expensive deal. I've always known this, of course, but it particularly hit this year when my loan turned out to be a lot less than I'd hoped. Due to the workload from uni I'm currently unable to look for a new job 'til 2013 (when my dissertation is out of the way) and after a bad day in the studio or just a generally shitty mood hanging over my head, I'd come back to an empty room. Sometimes, some of my belongings or food would be missing from the kitchen, too. It doesn't do anything to help the atmosphere or my general temper.

When I get to a certain low point - which I've been at since the start of the month, at least - I shut myself away and it's hard for anybody to get much out of me. Florence was amazing but even then I rarely socialised. On the whole I really like my university coursemates and I'm very glad to know them, but I won't deny that sometimes I feel like a bit of an odd duck. Doing work and throwing myself into the course is great, but all the other parts of my mind are pre-occupied with brooding on my situation. Brooding drains a person of all their energy, especially when it's about money. I keep it all to myself. It's a mixture of pride (out of all the sins it's easily the one I am most guilty of), and not wanting to burden or worry anyone.

So, this weekend, I've made the decision to move out of my accommodation and back into the family home. It's where my parents and fiance are, my favourite people in the world. Chances are I will have to find a new tenant for the flat if there isn't a waiting list, and I won't have moved back in fully until December, but I already feel that a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It's not going to get rid of all the stress that university causes but this way, I can be with the people that I love most.