The Occasional Misgivings of A Former Career Glamazon

Last night, wondering about a recipe that just wouldn’t come out right, I texted a friend for clarification. Inevitably, as she was also a former officemate, we got to talking about my new life as a homemaker.

When I tendered my resignation everybody was flabbergasted. All of them, upon knowing I was moving to Indonesia and becoming a housewife, couldn’t stop from asking an incredulous “But what are you gonna do there?!!”. My boss especially (I miss that smart guy!), would ask a team-mate long after I left if I was really, absolutely sure of my decision. Apparently, they just hadn’t pegged me for someone who would drop a lucrative career path to become a housewife.

So anyways last night my friend asked me what sort of things I was into nowadays and I enthusiastically replied “crochet!” with a big smiley face. And to quench any further inquiry from her – a reflex reaction – I immediately texted: “How about you guys? What’re you up to?”

Within a few seconds my phone was frantic with beautiful pictures of them having a team building activity at some plush beach resort. They were doing paddleboard yoga, and they looked fantastic! I wished I were there with them. And then I didn’t.

But that evening I slept with an unsettled feeling.

This morning I realized why, I was feeling defensive about people in my past life thinking I must be bored outta my wits. Choosing the domestic life over the excitement of cross-functional projects, tight timelines and business travels? And then moving to unfamiliar shores? I must be cray, right?

Okay, truth be told, it’s this move to Indonesia that’s really testing my mettle. But thankfully I can also say that to a great degree I have already mastered my mind where boredom is concerned.

You can be bored living in the most exciting place on earth. Conversely, you can also be un-bored in the most uneventful, even confined place you can imagine. It is all in your mind.

Granted, if there’s one thing I truly miss and crave, it’s social interaction. I miss my friends. And more than that I miss the ability to make coffee dates, even being able to wander off on my own is for now but a fond memory. I miss that feeling of independence where entertaining myself socially is concerned.

But as I see it, I can either continue to feel sporadically defensive (and a host of other, unappealing and certainly un-constructive emotions) about my new life , or I can take the time to understand it, adapt to it, become enriched because of it, and definitely look good while at it 😉

The choice gets clearer to me every day.