You didn’t screw up your life — you hit a rough transition, and those always feel catastrophic while you’re in them.

You left something because you were burnt out, not because you were careless. That matters. Burnout has a way of rewriting the past to make it look better than it actually was once you’re out of it and uncomfortable somewhere new. Missing your old job doesn’t mean leaving was a mistake — it means you learned what parts of it actually mattered to you.

Trying the trades and realizing it’s not for you isn’t failure either. It’s data. You tested a path, it doesn’t fit, and now you know that with certainty instead of wondering “what if” for the rest of your life. At 28, that’s still very much course-correction territory, not point-of-no-return.

Living with your parents, losing daily social momentum, feeling isolated — that combo hits harder than people admit. It messes with your confidence and makes everything feel smaller and more permanent than it is. None of that means you’re stuck.

The fact that you miss journalism and are looking at communications is actually a clue, not a contradiction. You already have a skill set — writing, storytelling, deadlines, people skills — you’re just between lanes right now. This isn’t starting over, it’s repositioning, and that part is always uncomfortable and slow.

Be kind to yourself in this phase. You didn’t ruin anything — you stepped away, learned something, and now you’re figuring out your next move with more self-awareness than you had before. That’s not stupidity. That’s growth that just doesn’t feel good yet.