Today, 17 years ago, I met the man whom I am married to, and who is father to my three lovely (and at times little monster) kids. We have been engaged for exactly 12 years to the day, and are celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary this year. Being 34, we have known each other for exactly half a life.
If our life were a movie, it would be Before Sunrise, and its two sequels. I'm not quite Julie Delpy and he's not quite Ethan Hawke, but the story is similar. I wonder whether there will be a Part IV, and whether it will reflect our life in the same way. At least Julie and Ethan Hawke have aged very well, and continue to have witty conversations - and are still together, in the movie that is.
I talked to a friend on the phone today. She means a lot to me, and I've always felt that we connect on many levels. And such relationships always remind me how far back I go with many of my friends. Way beyond half a life, in some cases 10/11ths of a life. That's nearly all my life.
(Half a Life also reminds me of a VS Naipaul book with the same title. I remember liking it, but as with many books, have absolutely no idea what it was about anymore. Thankfully I save the best for a second reading - perhaps when I'm twice the age I am now, or for my friends or children.
Tomorrow we're at half a year, so Happy Midsummer everyone! Enjoy the longest day of the year in our hemisphere.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Outputs Outputs Everywhere
I've been awfully bad at writing regularly, which reflects how crazily busy I have been the past month or two. I'm juggling a lot of balls at the moment, and what's keeping me from writing here is the need to produce quite a few public "outputs" elsewhere. I have invested a lot of time into blogs, a website, and a mountain-load of emails. A couple of phone calls (as anyone who knows me: I don't do phone calls!). And coffees without end.
It's all been very productive and active, and I have met a whole bunch of interesting people through my new project. It again and again proves that housewife galore just isn't what works for me, when my radius tightens, my social meetings dwindle (mainly to other housewives), and that dustball behind the door just becomes too interesting.
I have no idea what I'll end up producing or attaining through this project. Do I have goals? Of course I do. But equally important is to enjoy the process. I'm in that wonderful honeymoon phase of learning, eagerly meeting new people, reading, and fascinated by a whole new world out there. I know from experience that this euphoric phase ends after a while, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can.
It's good to see that not only are my kids growing (my eldest turned 8 yesterday, and we are as of last night a diaper-free household - literally 8 years to the day - as my youngest slept his first night without a diaper). But I am still growing as well, and feel like life is not "moving on" without me.
It's a good feeling, and it's what makes me happy. I may be treading on the same spot, year in year out, with my career, but as long as I learn while I do so, so what?
It's all been very productive and active, and I have met a whole bunch of interesting people through my new project. It again and again proves that housewife galore just isn't what works for me, when my radius tightens, my social meetings dwindle (mainly to other housewives), and that dustball behind the door just becomes too interesting.
I have no idea what I'll end up producing or attaining through this project. Do I have goals? Of course I do. But equally important is to enjoy the process. I'm in that wonderful honeymoon phase of learning, eagerly meeting new people, reading, and fascinated by a whole new world out there. I know from experience that this euphoric phase ends after a while, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can.
It's good to see that not only are my kids growing (my eldest turned 8 yesterday, and we are as of last night a diaper-free household - literally 8 years to the day - as my youngest slept his first night without a diaper). But I am still growing as well, and feel like life is not "moving on" without me.
It's a good feeling, and it's what makes me happy. I may be treading on the same spot, year in year out, with my career, but as long as I learn while I do so, so what?
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