Blog mania!

Okay, so I obviously blog when I am thinking things through... lol- it's my version of mulling it over, and I often choose to do it in this blog because my POTS condition affects a lot of the decisions I make and I know my fellow POTSy/chronically ill followers understand what that's like!

It's funny that Michele should have mentioned online courses in my post below because it just occurred to me that this would probably be the best way to go about it.

That way, I can TAKE AS LONG AS I WANT/NEED. I don't have to worry about travelling time/fatigue/expenses. (I don't travel well- so travelling to learn when also working is just about the worst for me!).

Also, it's NOT AS EXPENSIVE.

And I'd still get a qualification that would allow me to join some sort of 'body' for the ethical practice of herbalism.

For instance, doing the 5 year course would cost a scary few thousand pounds each YEAR.

I could buy the online course for half that price and that would be the whole course plus materials, everything! Then I could do it at my own pace with tutor support.

So, with this option now in mind, my plan is...

Apply for the graduate teacher program. I still want to work with children and can see myself enjoying this role.

Think more on this herbalism stuff, and if I do decide to go ahead, I can send off for an online course and progress at my own pace. That way, if at any time I'm 'under pressure' either in my role as a teacher or in my training, I can put the herbalism stuff to one side, to pick up later when I have the time/energy.

I've got to be practical as well as follow my dreams, and after all these years of not working, I do need a sustainable income doing SOMETHING and preferably something I enjoy- so for this reason, I am making the teaching course my priority, and the herbalism idea something I COULD do if the dream is still with me in the coming months. So I'm not jumping into any sudden decisions. There's a lot to consider, like- with the state of the economy as it is, I can't really justify forking out thousands of pounds for lengthy training when in the future, people might not be wanting to consult a herbalist! There's no guarantee of a good income, so I might never earn back the money spent, not to mention the time it takes and the ENERGY!

I want to live a happy, comfortable life enjoying what I do. I don't want to take on too much and be overworked for the next 5 years, so I've decided 99% against doing the original course I saw and am going to take my time and look into distance learning courses. But that said, the teaching course is the priority.

Another advantage I can see to this is I can either: wait until I've qualified as a teacher and got a feel for how much spare time/energy I have realistically before doing the course, OR I can start it as soon as I've applied for the GTP and be doing it in those 'empty months' January-September before I can actually start. Then, if I haven't completed it by then (not sure how long realistically it would take to do 9 modules) I could put it on a back burner if needs be whilst doing the teacher training.

After completion, I could then work as a herbalist on Saturday mornings in a clinic near our new home (these are just ideas) and build up a practice. Then if that works out good, could potentially move to working part time in teaching, and doing herbalism/holistic therapy the rest of the time (maybe 2 days per week).

If I didn't do it that way, I could always save the herbalism and the hypnosis (and any other holistic therapy qualifications I might acquire) for when I'm retired (I like to think of long term plans as well as short term goals and living for the moment). Basically, I just want to ensure I have options and don't get 'stuck in a rut' doing any one thing.