The stuff dreams are made of

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're back at school or an old job, somewhere really familiar from your the past, but everything is a little strange. Your next-door neighbour is your maths teacher, your kids are studying the HSC with you and you keep thinking to yourself 'Didn't I finish school already?' . Yes? No? Maybe it's just my warped mind...

Anyway, I had a real-life experience similar to that today. I'm doing some freelance work on a title I used to work on a few years ago. The magazine is exactly the same, it's like I never left. The staff are all new though, the offices are in a different location and the magazine is owned by a completely different company. So there was a weird feeling of deja vu, but in place I'd never been before. To make things just that bit more odd, there were a couple of people I had worked with before but on different magazines. So while it was nice to catch up with old faces, it felt like it was in the wrong context.

The one thing that stood out was that none of it felt comfortable, it wasn't like slipping back into comfy old slippers. More like the dream: 'Haven't I done this already, I don't think I belong here anymore.' I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

So I managed to quickly answer some questions that I thought I would be churning over for quite a while. That odd feeling has given me the kick I need to move forward. Now's the time for challenge, not to go backwards or even round in circles.

Funny how life works that way and sometimes the answers that you think will be hard to find are served up to you on a platter.