Free to Move, but Where?

So my Plan A isn't going to work out.  The powers that be don't want me to Teach for America, which is understandable, since I am lacking in an Ive-league degree and a Type A personality (not bad-mouthing anyone, just a little exhausted by the fact that wanting to help in underprivileged schools as much as I do isn't enough).  But I'm sick of feeling sorry for myself.

Naturally, my thoughts have turned to what I might be doing next year instead.  I made the mistake (and worse, I knowingly made the mistake, even though I told myself I wouldn't) of not having a Plan B before admissions decisions went out.  This of course means that the job search is on.

Here's the thing about all this that is proving to be both a blessing and a curse:  on one hand, it means that I have options-- I can and am willing to relocate to pretty much any city and to do just about any job I'm qualified for.  On the other hand, I'm now stuck with the enormous task of weeding through my options and trying to find something that works.  Oh, and that has to be done in the next 8 weeks.

I could take a risk and move to New York.  The pro is of course that I'd be in the publishing capital of the world, not to mention there are lots of places to work and people to serve.  The downside, of course, is that any job I get would have to have a pretty significant salary for me to be able to afford a place to live.  Other cities I'm looking at include the Boston area and DC-- I'm feeling drawn to the East Coast, probably because I haven't lived there yet.  I'm also open to going back to Chicago, but I need to be able to do so independently (i.e. not winding up sleeping on my mother's couch). 

I could stay in the Northwest, but for everything that I love about living here, I feel like it's time to move on.  I get antsy being in one place for too long, and four years is longer than I thought I'd ever stay anywhere.  My soul gets restless, wanting to explore a million different places and all too conscious of the fact that I'll never have enough time to see them all.  It's time for me to move on; I feel like I've learned everything Seattle has to teach me, and it's time to break into a new place.

One of the frustrations that comes with all of this, though, is that in many ways I feel like I'm exactly where I was five years ago.  I didn't want to go to college; I just wanted to get a job that was enough to keep a roof over my head, and make writing my real priority.  And here at the end of my education I find myself still wanting to do exactly that.  I guess the jobs I'm eligible for are marginally better (though not by much, given that I'll have a BA in English/Creative Writing), but despite this I'm wondering what exactly I've just spend four years (not to mention thousands of dollars) on. 

The coming weeks will be filled to the bursting with me applying to jobs, searching for places to live, saving as much money as possible, and tying up loose ends.  I can't really explain just how terrifying it is to face that prospect, paralyzed with the fear that 8 weeks will come and go and I'll still find myself without a path, a next step.  All I can do right now is be overwhelmed by the simultaneously wonderful and daunting way in which the whole world seems open to me.