Image from Flickr, by Ned Raggett.

Like many students who have suffered the transition from cosy halls to the harsh reality of student houses this winter, I had my first encounter with the horror that is a mouse infestation.

First, it was phantom scratches coming from the kitchen cupboards. Then came and final straw; the flicker of a tail sweeping along my bedroom floor.

After a long period of sleepless nights, where my imagination conjured images of giant mice with piercing yellow fangs materialising from behind my desk and nibbling me to death, I decided something had to be done.

I had developed an irrational fear of my own bedroom based on that one experience, so I took brutal action and gave my overgrown, cavernous room a complete make over.

Only by revamping my entire bedroom could I settle my thoughts and convince myself that there wasn’t a mouse colony living amongst my furniture.

As I rearranged my wardrobe, promoting the summer dresses and flip flops from the back shelf into my new carefully designed window display, I thought about the endless amount of limp poetry that highlights the significance of growth in spring.

Perhaps this had been my inspiration, other than the horrific mouse nightmares. Perhaps subconsciously the season of new birth and growth was encouraging me to reboot. Admittedly, the spring clean was slightly overdue, as some of the items I found lurking under my bed had practically become fossilised with dust.

However, my obsessive compulsive half an hour seemed to have positive repercussions amongst my female friends. Over a rushed lunch last week we had began discussing spring cleaning and soon the conversation steered away from polishing and dusting and we began discussing new beginnings.

It seemed that two of my dearest friends found themselves in relationship limbo: that lengthy period after the end of a relationship where you are unable to progress out of a state of mourning. They both felt incomplete, as if their lives were lacking that other person to lean on.

So, I took out my metaphorical Mr. Muscle and rubber gloves and hoped that I could help.

I remember my time spent in limbo very well. I had been in a seven month relationship where every aspect of my life was controlled by another person. So when this phase comes to an abrupt end, there is little to do but reassess your life. My first step, after the obligatory crying to my mum, was to go shopping.

As vain and shallow as it seems, the death of the relationship had encouraged an intense desire to create a brand new identity for myself. The second step was to take a visit to my hairdresser and order a brighter, more frivolous look, and those extra blonde highlights made me feel empowered. 

Not only did this award me great self confidence in this hard time, but feeling good about myself also allowed me to stick a finger up at the idiot who had repressed these desires in the first place.

My girlfriends were not satisfied with this advice, as if they had expected me to spout out a fool proof formula for getting over a relationship. Well, to their disappointment, I had to admit that no such strategy exists.

However, I did divulge the key advice I had been given during my two rebellious years of being single after my makeover failed to replace what was missing in my life. No matter how many boys I kissed, shots I downed, or false lashes I applied, I would never be happy until I stopped trying.

The key to being single and enjoying yourself is not about going out and pulling and embarking on a trashy lifestyle, but to be able to say that you are content in being alone with yourself.

Perhaps my preaching hadn’t imposed any life changing ideas upon them, but I could see from their responses that perhaps my words had run a duster through their minds, and eradicated some negative thoughts. Although, they both then went out ‘on the pull’ that night, so what do I know?

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Cool use of my photo there, thanks! Living with yourself is indeed always key and cleaning does help. And you gotta watch out for those giant mice...

Ned Raggett - Sun, 09 Mar 2008