Hello, blog land!

My name is Maria. I have come here today to let you in on a secret: Life. Is. Hard. Work. And it throws you for a curveball more often than you'd like and it can really, really suck butt.

But I have also come here to find the highs in this thing called life. More often than not, I find myself focusing on the bad. As we all do. It's just easier that way, isn't it? There's also this weird pleasure in badmouthing everything. Why is that?

So, blog land. Hello. This is me. Trying to find the positive, where there used to be negative.

A little bit about myself (WHO IS THIS STRANGER?!):

As I said, the name's Maria. I am 31 years old and live in the quaint little country known as Denmark. Home of The Little Mermaid, Lego and a government, that's reeeeally not trying to get us to like it.

My 20s were a hot mess. The beginning of my 30s haven't been all that great either. (See, I'm doing it again! But this is why this blog was created after all.)

I might as well give you a slight (I say slight, but what I really mean is MASSIVE) overview of my 20s and why it's become my plan to make my 30s KICK ASS!

I graduated Danish high school when I was 20. I was still living at home and so ready to get on with my life. I stayed home for another year, while working at an insurance company as a sort of office help. I did this to save enough money up to go away to acting school for 4 months, because all I wanted was to A. Become an actress and B. Get the hell away from home.

So I did that. Check. Acting school both rocked and shocked my world and I was left crumbling in a corner, never wanting to act ever again. (Oh, how little did I know.)

22 year old Maria thought the next obvious step was to start university. And hey, I liked English, so why not study that?

Fast forward a semester and one month and goodbye university. It was just not for me at all.

But then what? I was already feeling like life's biggest failure. All my friends were studying or doing stuff they were really into. I was working at H&M and didn't have a clue as to what I was going to do.

Hello, Seattle!

I decided, on a whim, to go to the United States as an au pair. I found a great family on an au pair website and it was quickly decided, that I was a perfect fit for them. I then spent a year (which I still look back on as the best year in my life) in Seattle, caring for the sweetest baby boy ever, making friends and enjoying the States.

While in the States, I couldn't help starting to miss acting. I know, I know. Crumbling in a corner and all that, but I couldn't help it! So I signed up for an acting class and absolutely loved it. Crap. I was supposed to have left that behind. But nope, that's not how my brain works. If only. So, I was thrown back into acting.

After my year was up I came back home, all determined to audition for the national theater schools here in Denmark. I studied with an actor and all, but it was all very rushed and I didn't go through to the second round of auditions.

Another set back. Yay. I was now 24 and still with no idea what to do with my life. People around me were finishing up university, getting real jobs, some were even starting families (whaaat). And here I was. 24 and no idea what to do.

So, I got a job at a sort of after school club for kids. Because, kids I know. Kids I like.

But life doesn't stop. It goes on and I felt I was stalling. At 25 I was still working, but somewhere in my brain there was a part that said: EDUCATION. GET ONE!

Because that's what you do, right? You get an education, otherwise you perish and die and will never, ever live a good and meaningful life. That's what the wise people say, isn't it?

So I started studying multimedia design. I figured, I was decent at Photoshop plus the school worked together with a film school and I had always been fascinated by movies and secretly always wanted to work on movies. SO, that convinced me to start.

In the middle of all of this, I moved to Copenhagen to share an apartment with a friend.

The end. All was happy and well.

Yeah, no.

I was 27, in my last year at school and I found myself with a really horrible depression plus a bit of social anxiety mixed in there. Life, kids.

So, I dropped out of school. I basically went into hibernation for about six months. (I did see a therapist for a while there. No worries.)

I was 28, no education and no job. The summer came around and I basically kicked myself out of bed and got a job. No money = no life.
So I started working. Again. This time at a toy store. And things were okay. I had started a theater group with some friends a couple of years earlier, so I still got to act. Which was basically the only thing I did that actually made me happy.

But EDUCATION! EVERYONE NEEDS ONE!

So, I started studying again. This time to become a preschool teacher.

But 1) I started way, way sooner than I should have. (I was still battling with a tiny bit of depression and anxiety) And 2) Even though everyone says I should work with kids, I really shouldn't. I love kids. But not as a job. At least not that way.

So, I quit that too after one semester. Go me!

Back to work with me. I worked at the toy store and ended up with a job in a daycare. Which was what I really didn't want. How did I end up there? Don't ask. I don't even know. I worked there for a little over a year. But then I couldn't get enough hours (yay subbing!) and I was kind of forced to quit.

The highlight of my 31st year? No job and getting money from the State to survive. Oh, and no place to live too! (I might tell you that story another time. Might not.) That was great.

So, what now? Well, now I am living at home. Again. At 31 years old. Which, you know, is a challenge. And not exactly where I pictured myself at 31.

But this is how this blog was born! I've decided that enough is enough. I am going to make my 30s great. Even if I have no idea how. This is going to happen.

I am going to share with you the trials of living with my mom again. (And there will be trials. Oh, yes.) I am even thinking about starting a Twitter account just for my exchanges with my mom. Which could be funny or just really, really depressing.

But this blog is going to be used to document, chronicle, whatever fancy word you want to use, my days and life. And I promise most of the posts won't be as long as this one. Probably.

So, here's to you, blog land! I am excited to get to know you.

BYE!