Bec - that's what I thought when I read the original post, but was too chicken to say it.

Hodge - sorry, but I don't think you're going to get your old self back. But, perhaps if you could write down what you used to be that you feel you aren't anymore you could work on gaining more of the traits that you liked about yourself. Faith and confidence in yourself will come back with time, and with pushing yourself gently to do the things you used to do, until it becomes 'normal' again. And actually, once you start listing things you'll find that the absolute core of you has not changed too much. You're still probably honest (most of the time :) ), try to be good to your friends and family, try to work hard when given a task, are still caring for plants and maybe a pet or children...sorry, don't know much of your background....

This is going to sound corny - but my best thinking (and healing) always came after I volunteered somewhere. My choice was a nursing home - because who's going to attack you there?! Not only that, but the folks there gave me some good advice on jobs that I might be suited for, because my job in the military didn't easily translate to the 'real' world. And best of all, someone still needed me, so I really enjoyed my time there. Maybe you could think about doing something like that for a half hour, and see if it improves your overall state of mind.

If books are your passion, have you thought about writing a book, or editing? Newspaper/advice column? You could work for a bigger city and just fax in your work. Or, there's working at a library. I'm not sure what your other interests are, but if you like plants there's tons of work in landscaping, but you may have to travel during the day.

I understand not wanting to tackle the huge life changes of a new career, but if you could imagine your 20 year old self being told she couldn't be in publishing....then what would she have done instead?