Streetlife Radio | The sound of waltham forest

Alright. We are entering the second week of January, the second week of the new year and I bet my last 50p a lot of you good-doers have fallen off of the bandwagon of hasty promises and unrealistic goals. No need to hang your head in shame, I see you!

Apologies for sounding unsupportive of your efforts, but I for one am exhausted by the consistent disregard for what this kind of disappointment can do to the psyche. That is why I didn’t make resolutions, at least that isn’t what I called them. I prefer the term ‘conscious decisions’. I will be making conscious decisions to not lie to myself for the sake of a new year.

The Banners have been rolled up, the stage taken down; the crowds have cleared and Walthamstow Central pavilion has reverted to normality once again. Even though there is no physical stain, Streetlife Radio has certainly left its mark.

It’s been one year since I walked down that velvet red carpet at the South Bank Centre, legs surprisingly stable, palms unusually dry, a smirk of proud accomplishment at successfully picking the perfect outfit to fill in the draughty gaps in my Hogwart’s cloak and cap. No invisibility needed here. Graduation Day marked the arrival of new opportunities, meetings with figures that would help build my career, shape my being, and firmly cement me on the way to success. The future was bright. However, the future seemed to remain orange- the epilepsy sensitive colour of my work clothes. The same work clothes I have been donning since the start of my university working life.

Just before graduating I got offered a job working for a business journal. I was overjoyed. The dream of every Arts student, the assurance of stability from a flaky industry. One minute you’re in, the next you’re out. Well my friends I was in. But just as quickly I was out, and after that, things just seemed to float where I found myself becoming a jack of all trades to keep my head afloat. Fully aware Rome wasn’t built in a day I thought foundations would have at least been laid down one year on. What is this, Transport for London?