Allemande

After looking forward yesterday, it's time to see what's actually going well. Things are really still in motion, not least because I'm on my foreign trip, and once I return I'll still need to pack up every last thing that I own in Truro and shift it the 1500 yards to my new abode. It'll take a good week to settle in altogether; thankfully that'll be the week before term, and (or perhaps but?) I'll be working at the Cathedral Office. It might force me to act more responsibly, especially as I'll be on very reduced funds to begin with. Character building. That's what it is. But let's talk about my Lay-vicarship.

What you really need to get hold of is the Lay part of this title. Not the Vicar part. Please. For God's sake I AM NOT ENTERING THE PRIESTHOOD. The amount of times I've had to explain this concept is ridiculous, and also hearing the answer “oh well that's silly isn't it, why isn't it called something else” which in all honesty I do wonder why we're not... Oh, I dunno, Songmen or something, but that's what the tradition is here. Possibly the only unbroken choral tradition in an Anglican Cathedral... But only because we're a Victorian Foundation.

There was no way I ever thought I was even remotely good enough to qualify as Lay-Vicar. It's always been the dream to once again be a Songman (of any other name!), and it's come very soon! I thought I'd at least need another year as scholar somewhere else and then look to somewhere else again for vacancies... Turns out, that might have worked in a way, with a vacancy at Guildford and also Carlisle coming up near the end of the year... But, in all honesty, I'm happy at Truro. I can't really imagine doing any less than evensong every day now, and to be perfectly honest I'd probably enjoy slightly more services (I told you I was ill), but here, I am happy. The Boss likes me (the best Boss in the world), and that's the biggest part in staying as far as I'm concerned. If the management likes me, and I like the management, that's half the battle. The other half is of course, the music. The standard at Truro is superb, and I'm proud and pleased to be a part of that. I like to think that the alto line is taken care of if I'm there, and with the “full team” of altoids, we make a mighty noise and can handle anything.

This is my vocation. This is the life that chose me, and I accepted it. There will be a way to make things work, and I will most probably just have to stop going out, and break the habits of the last two years in order to survive financially, even if I do get a job. I suppose I've made worse sacrifices before though.