#because I feel like my fellow millenials and younger have a more realistic understanding of how the world is now

[culmaer-sideblog]

so searching for a new job is about as much fun as you can imagine.

the main issue I'm running into is that most positions are offering substantially less than I currently earn, which I feel is already too low for a decent life in this city so less is unacceptable. and other positions I find intriguing require at least a masters degree. and fair enough, they're looking for specialists, and at least on paper, I am not

I never did a masters because my degree in International Relations was depressing and disillusioning and I didn't want to continue in that field. instead I started over and did a second bachelors in French, which was fun. And so the thing is, if I go back to uni now (besides the enormous expense that would be) I'm not going to do an MA in IR, that would be insane. and I feel like French was fun but....not what I see myself doing for the rest of my life. So I will have to pivot again !!! although, I could *in theory* start again at honours level (i.e. 1 year before entry to masters) rather than starting a whole new BA from scratch. and then proceed into a masters in curating and archival studies from there. in theory.

I was kind of panicking when I started writing this post. but the above now seems like a fairly reasonable plan. the only thing is the cost of studying (South Africa is like the US in this sense. education is expensive) and the fact that while studying I could only work part-time at best,, and I've become so accustomed to having an income so that might not be fun

but like, what are my other options realistically ? do I just keep looking for work and hope something decent turns up ? I mean, i don't technically need to enjoy my work, I just need to be good at it and use the income to fund hobbies and joy in my private life. so I could just take any position. or should I actually start over from scratch, academically, to ensure I really do have a solid theoretical basis ? but then I could pick any field, not just one I can easily pivot to. although that will be a financial risk, so maybe not that. and part of me just wants to make art, like, should I keep taking short-courses and workshops, rather than investing in another formal degree ? practical experience is valuable too right ?