In the beginning
A Bo-Bo Gal in Paddington
I read a newspaper report which states that mid life is 50. Being a good decade and a half away from mid life, I encountered my mid life crisis last year. I've had twinges of mid life discontent over the years, but in 2005, the crisis came full-blown. My dentist was trying to convince me to wear braces, with many people making that life (or rather bite) changing decision at 40. If I had weathered my insecure teenage years with bunny teeth, at 36, I am pretty confident I don't need braces to make me feel better about myself. So I told her there were other solutions to a mid life crisis, one could get a red sports car, find a new boyfriend, or as she recommended, wear braces. She had to concede she preferred my first 2 suggestions.
Hence my solution to my mid life crisis was after quitting my high-paying, non-self-actualising job in a large US conglomerate (now that wrong job match contributed a lot to the mid life crisis), I took a self-declared 3.5 month sabbatical. Well, that wasn't really a solution, it was just a hiatus which led to a lot of number-crunching (can I afford my mortgage?), internet research (what universities, which country and the accompanying climate "I'll suffer winter depression" and how bad the exchange rates are "I'll have to sell myself to fund this education") and soul searching ("If I wait till I turn 45, who's going to hire me with no relevant experience?"). The 2nd-career-in-the-Arts-earning-$2,000-per-month-at-45-plan became the-go-back-to-Art-School-at-36-plan. So here I am, a 36 year old bohemian bourgeoisie (who can't completely embrace the poor, starving artist lifestyle) packing up the remnants of my old life (corporate and personal) into 2 suitcases and venturing into a new life in Sydney in 9 days' time.
As I sit and enjoy the familiar surroundings from my apartment for the last few times, I think about the new life that I am about to embark on. Back to college with a bunch of 19 year-olds (biologically, I could be a mother of a 19 year-old *aargh*), trying to find a suitable apartment (with security and air-conditioning), juggling school (only 12 hours of official lessons a week, "but you'll have to do your own research and study, you know.") and a part-time job (security blanket of the familiar corporate world and some much-welcomed extra income). With mixed feelings, I wait...
I read a newspaper report which states that mid life is 50. Being a good decade and a half away from mid life, I encountered my mid life crisis last year. I've had twinges of mid life discontent over the years, but in 2005, the crisis came full-blown. My dentist was trying to convince me to wear braces, with many people making that life (or rather bite) changing decision at 40. If I had weathered my insecure teenage years with bunny teeth, at 36, I am pretty confident I don't need braces to make me feel better about myself. So I told her there were other solutions to a mid life crisis, one could get a red sports car, find a new boyfriend, or as she recommended, wear braces. She had to concede she preferred my first 2 suggestions.
Hence my solution to my mid life crisis was after quitting my high-paying, non-self-actualising job in a large US conglomerate (now that wrong job match contributed a lot to the mid life crisis), I took a self-declared 3.5 month sabbatical. Well, that wasn't really a solution, it was just a hiatus which led to a lot of number-crunching (can I afford my mortgage?), internet research (what universities, which country and the accompanying climate "I'll suffer winter depression" and how bad the exchange rates are "I'll have to sell myself to fund this education") and soul searching ("If I wait till I turn 45, who's going to hire me with no relevant experience?"). The 2nd-career-in-the-Arts-earning-$2,000-per-month-at-45-plan became the-go-back-to-Art-School-at-36-plan. So here I am, a 36 year old bohemian bourgeoisie (who can't completely embrace the poor, starving artist lifestyle) packing up the remnants of my old life (corporate and personal) into 2 suitcases and venturing into a new life in Sydney in 9 days' time.
As I sit and enjoy the familiar surroundings from my apartment for the last few times, I think about the new life that I am about to embark on. Back to college with a bunch of 19 year-olds (biologically, I could be a mother of a 19 year-old *aargh*), trying to find a suitable apartment (with security and air-conditioning), juggling school (only 12 hours of official lessons a week, "but you'll have to do your own research and study, you know.") and a part-time job (security blanket of the familiar corporate world and some much-welcomed extra income). With mixed feelings, I wait...
posted by Bo-Bo Gal at 10:41 pm
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