well, going to the bar tonight and listening to my friends band (and drinking a couple of beers and having a couple of smokes) sure didn't help to get me outta this mood (I knew it wouldn't work but I did it anyway because the longer I am a practicing hermit, the worse it gets...). I just feel so stuck. Thanks for your post Steve, it makes me feel less alone that people take the time out of their busy lives to read and respond. I have wracked my brain for years about why I have been stuck in various retail positions my entire working life and what I would like to do instead...I really have no idea at this point, other than I have always wanted to be an artist and not to have to worry about being at a regular full-time job. I just don't know HOW to make enough money to live on while being an artist so I just end up in jobs that start sucking the soul out of me after a few years...my head is swirling with despair right now (fueled by the few beers, I guess) so I think the best thing for me to do is go to bed and start fresh tomorrow and try to get in a place of peace and hopefully gain some more motivation to work on sending out resumes.
PS: I did send my old job counselor an e-mail earlier this evening to see if I could meet with her again to help me work on my resumes and on-line applications. I'm not getting any responses so far and that is discouraging...