I had an exceptionally boring day at the office on Thursday last week. I sat in front of my monitor like a zombie churning out line after line of bad code which does not do anything much except test the performance of the code which somebody else has written. So my job is to find other's mistakes and once a colleague joked that this would be any woman's dream job. It is not like this was my childhood dream come true, but I used to enjoy my work until some time back. But today, I found myself in a state of existential crisis and self pity.
I should find an alternate career, but what? I could be a chef, because I love food and experiment a lot with it, but what I really enjoy is baking. I could be a baker then, but I am constantly transforming all my cakes and cookies and brownies and everything else I bake, into healthier dishes by using whole grains or whole grain flour. My family has largely developed a tolerance or even taste for these, but sometimes even they ask me to not butcher the dish anymore. I could be a writer, but now-a-days, it is exteremely difficult to make a living out of writing as far as I know. Plus what would I write in my resume? - I have published in school and college magazines as a teenager and in some obscure children's magazine once when I was trying to get into NUS, Singapore. That would surely get everyone excited. I could probably turn to gardening, only if I didn't have this giant black thumb. I would love to spread awareness about leading a more environmentally friendly life, but how do I start. Hmmm.. software is just the right field for people who are not particularly creative or talented.
I had already fnished my hours for the week and had the Friday off, so I invited my friend Ms. Positive over for lunch. She is a very enterprising young lady and a mom whose son is around the same age as Sunshine. Sunshine and Ms. Positive's son are friends, but unlike other moms, she does not talk to me about children or for that matter any domestic matter except occasionally and when she does, it is brief. Infact, she is very vocal about her disapproval towards moms who get together and talk about these things. She always insists that one should spend that time exploring the world and learning new things. She practises what she preaches - in the last couple of years, she learned a new language, a new dance form, started jogging regularly, is part of various interest groups, goes to a craft class and is in the priliminary works for founding a voluntary group to help the local people lead a healthier life. Those are just her hobbies; she earns her bread and butter running a biotech company which she partly owns.
Ms. Positive was deeply concerned about my lethargy and unwillingness to explore when I told her about my career dilema. She fished out a one liner for me - 'Fake it until you make it'. She confided that she learned many a new thing this way - by pretending that you are already what you want be and working towards being as good as you pretend to be. This way you will always be faster than you will be if you expose yourself to the world only when you are convinced that you are really good. Her parting words of wisdom were - "We are already in our 30s and we have only a few more years when we will have enough speed and agility to learn and explore. So try whatever catches your fancy and with the unlimited power of internet at you fingertips, you are more likely to be a success than a failure." I think I am going to take her advice very seriously.
I should find an alternate career, but what? I could be a chef, because I love food and experiment a lot with it, but what I really enjoy is baking. I could be a baker then, but I am constantly transforming all my cakes and cookies and brownies and everything else I bake, into healthier dishes by using whole grains or whole grain flour. My family has largely developed a tolerance or even taste for these, but sometimes even they ask me to not butcher the dish anymore. I could be a writer, but now-a-days, it is exteremely difficult to make a living out of writing as far as I know. Plus what would I write in my resume? - I have published in school and college magazines as a teenager and in some obscure children's magazine once when I was trying to get into NUS, Singapore. That would surely get everyone excited. I could probably turn to gardening, only if I didn't have this giant black thumb. I would love to spread awareness about leading a more environmentally friendly life, but how do I start. Hmmm.. software is just the right field for people who are not particularly creative or talented.
I had already fnished my hours for the week and had the Friday off, so I invited my friend Ms. Positive over for lunch. She is a very enterprising young lady and a mom whose son is around the same age as Sunshine. Sunshine and Ms. Positive's son are friends, but unlike other moms, she does not talk to me about children or for that matter any domestic matter except occasionally and when she does, it is brief. Infact, she is very vocal about her disapproval towards moms who get together and talk about these things. She always insists that one should spend that time exploring the world and learning new things. She practises what she preaches - in the last couple of years, she learned a new language, a new dance form, started jogging regularly, is part of various interest groups, goes to a craft class and is in the priliminary works for founding a voluntary group to help the local people lead a healthier life. Those are just her hobbies; she earns her bread and butter running a biotech company which she partly owns.
Ms. Positive was deeply concerned about my lethargy and unwillingness to explore when I told her about my career dilema. She fished out a one liner for me - 'Fake it until you make it'. She confided that she learned many a new thing this way - by pretending that you are already what you want be and working towards being as good as you pretend to be. This way you will always be faster than you will be if you expose yourself to the world only when you are convinced that you are really good. Her parting words of wisdom were - "We are already in our 30s and we have only a few more years when we will have enough speed and agility to learn and explore. So try whatever catches your fancy and with the unlimited power of internet at you fingertips, you are more likely to be a success than a failure." I think I am going to take her advice very seriously.
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