sortie

so i've started a job.

new place. new home (well.. not quite yet, still looking.) same sky, same earth, but different faces, different voices, accents, hairstyles, clothes, ways and means.

it's all pretty overwhelming but i'm doing my utmost to keep my folks proud by trying to be cool and calm and taking things one day at a time. So far it's London Day 3, New Job Day 2. Still not found a place yet, so I'm staying in a hostel not too far from the tube station.

The company are really nice, elegantly efficient, communicative, hardworking, focused, and chilled. They are basically the complete reverse of my first experience in work placement which was as horrible as can be imagined. Intermediate jobs have been progressively better, although - perhaps understandibly - I have preferred the independent self managing roles. It is strange having a boss again, albeit a grouchy but so far very nice one.

The most difficult part of this struggle is to try and find my patch in the garden of the city. In more mundane terms this means finding a good place to live, decent places to relax, shop, exercise, and of course: pray. I am looking forward to meeting each of these needs and then find a stillpoint which I can grow into the peace at the heart of my life.

In real pragmatic cynical terms this means looking for a straightforward no-fuss solution to each of these problems. After which I can focus more on the Ph.D and the Job.

The struggle part is in staying away from temptation in the big city. I could easily go out and lose myself and no one except Allah and I would know, but I don't really want to break down my internal sense of self, I am happy that it is being fed, and I feel healthier than I have done in quite some time. I am making progress, albeit slowly and far away from the only home I've known. I have a friend who converted to islam and then went to another country to start his life, I guess I am beginning to see just how courageous he was.

Jaez