It is the 1st of January 2016 and I am newly equipped with the following knowledge.

1. I am not my mother and I am not my family
1. I am not defined by my mother's opinion of me. Nor do I need anything from her, in the shape of love, affection, approval, or friendship. This is the decision that I am making on the first day of the new year. As of today, the house I live in counts as a hotel. Which brings me to the next poin
2. I am on my way to independence
1. I am halfway through my PGCE degree. I was offered a job. A JOB. I will work for two years, I will become experienced, and collect references, and in two years time I will apply to schools in England. There I will have my own flat, make friends, go to work every morning, be alive and be away from all the negativity I have accrued over the last 24 years.
3. I AM MY OWN PERSON. I love who I am. I love who I have become. And I have become it without any help from my family, indeed, with a great deal of resistance from them.

So in 2016 I have decided, I have discovered this. I am my own person. An island, a tower alone. I am 24 and 2 days old and it is the first day of 2016 and I am my own person and I am ready to become that person. Alone. Today.