Cue a drumroll as I’ve finally finished booking the accommodation for my Italian holiday. Which is – after all – now just over three weeks away!
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The next big thing
I was just going to call this post, What Comes Next, but a vague sense of deja-vu niggled at me and sure enough, I’d written a post called exactly that in November 2011.
It wasn’t – as this post is – about work, my professional life and the ‘direction’ I take, rather it was written almost a month after my father passed away so instead pondered on the melancholy enveloping me at the time.
But, here I’m talking less traumatic events. Like my impending unemployment and life on the streets.
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Shedding identities
I’ve talked before about the fact I sometimes have a million browser screens open on my phone at any one time as I click on Facebook links to read articles of interest. If they require further pondering they’ll usually remain open for days. Or weeks… as I try to wrap my mind around concepts or understand my own weird and random reactions.
Interestingly I read two such articles on the weekend. Well, they were about the same thing. One (via Tiny Buddha) was a lighter take on the subject… of changing our identity – the author talking about going from the workplace to become a wife / partner, to mother and potentially an empty-nester – and so forth. The other (via No Sidebar), was the one that caught my attention and more about the fact we often ‘need’ to shed old identities in order to move forward with our lives.
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Men writing as women. Women writing as men.
Once upon a time female writers had to write under male pseudonyms as it wasn’t appropriate for women to pen… well anything really, under their own names. Think: Emily Bronte writing as Ellis Bell; Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson as Henry Handel Richardson.
Thankfully much has changed since then.
At least I think it has.
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Curating a life I love
I have a gazillion browser tabs open on my iPhone. It’s because I tend to click on items of interest when I’m on Facebook or similar. At the moment, there are articles open called: “5 Things People With Tidy Homes Don’t Do”; “The Beauty of Being Single”; “How to Reframe Your Skills When It Feels Like You’re Going Nowhere”; “A Message For The Ones Who Feel Defeated”… and others. Many have remained open for months. I’ve read them (via sites like No Sidebar, Tiny Buddha; Collective Hub etc and kept them open to revisit or ponder further.
One such article is a No Sidebar article called, The Secret to Curating a Life You Love.
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Avoidance vs apathy
I often comment on my apathy.
The fact I haven’t booked accommodation for my overseas holiday; talking endlessly about replacing my broken dishwasher but still hand washing dishes 2mths later; regularly bemoaning the fact I should be writing book reviews on weekends, when really I just want to sleep.
It’s been about 18mths since I started thinking I needed to do something about my verandah bannisters which are either rotting or just need sanding.
And then there’s the oft-mention draft novels. I’ve had a couple of drafts ‘open’ on my laptop/s since March. I’ve been carrying around print-outs of two first drafts for at least 2mths: taking them in my overnight bag to my mother’s. To work in case I take a lunch break. Back home. They’re particularly well-travelled documents.
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The perfect time: how soon is too soon?
I’ve been on a one-year work contract since early October 2017, which means it’s nearing its end. Unfortunately I had to resign from the part-time position I held before so potential unemployment looms with smug menace over me in coming months.
Which is what brings me to the age-old problem contract workers face:
What is the perfect time to start looking for the next gig?
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Sentence a day – June 2018 (part two)
I’ve always meant to participate in one of these things and started this early in the month so I’ve actually been able to remember what I’ve done…. or at least the highlights / lowlights.
However…. I published a mid-way post cos it go sooooo long. I’ll try to be more succinct for this second half of the month. (Famous last words!)
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Changing holiday plans and being a grown-up
Last week I discovered a project I’m involved with will be delayed. It’s something to do with Communications’ equipment. Or similar.
The month delay means it is due to finish just days before I’m due to leave on my overseas holiday. You will recall the 4.5wk jaunt to England (for 1.5wks) then Italy for 2.5wks.
Naturally I started stressing about the irresponsibility of heading off at such a time, so… yesterday I finally decided I should do the grown-up thing and change my holiday plans.