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Reflections on the puddle of life

A change is as good as a rest...

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by
TheFifthElement
, 12-16-2009 at 05:49 PM (3403 Views)
or so they say

It's been a pretty chaotic time for me recently. There's been quite a bit of change in my life. Which is good; I'm okay with change. I've realised a few things too, which I often do. One, that work has swallowed a lot of my year this year and as a result my writing has suffered. Two, that I've become more placid, less easily stressed, or perhaps less concerned about getting things right. Next year I hope to build on that, build more balance into my life, put myself under less pressure. I think that's good for me, or I hope so anyway.

Work is pretty good at the moment. It's been a really hectic year; there's been a lot of change. My team was restructured and we lost a few people early on in the year, which was sad. On the other hand, I've been covering both my job and that of a colleague who has been on maternity leave, as well as supporting another manager with some more in depth, more technical strategy work which really interests me. I've been pulled in a lot of directions. Anyway, a couple of months ago I started planning for my colleagues return from maternity leave and I put in a request for a transfer which would put me directly into the team which does the technical/strategy work and my request has been accepted! So I am starting a new job in January, though there will be a cross over period whilst my colleague gets back into the swing of things. I'm really looking forward to it. This job is a sideways step, which is no big deal - in my company there's a really flat grading structure. There are only 6 job levels with level 1 being the Group Chief Executive, and level 6 being the entry level job. I'm a level 4, which is one step below Board Appointed Manager, which sounds impressive, but the step from level 4 to level 3 is a massive one I may never take. Though you never know, anything is possible. Anyway, I digress. This new job is probably as close as I could get to my perfect job. The work is more in depth, very technical and largely project based. It will call on all my experience and my skills in language, problem solving and legal interpretation. The best bit is that I won't have any people responsibilities - THANK GOODNESS!!! - I don't mind taking a leadership role, but it's the devil's own job, you can't ever get it right and it wears you down. Having a role in which I can focus is going to be a good thing. Aside from that I've been nominated for an award at work and I've reached the final. Only 100 people out of the 2,500 that work for the company make it that far. So I feel pretty honoured. I doubt I'll win anything in the final, but I've been invited to an all expenses paid 5 star event in Edinburgh and I'm pretty excited about that.

Aside from work I've been developing some other hobbies. I've taken up needlework, or rather counted cross-stitch. Sounds granny-ish and it probably is, but I've really enjoyed it. I started primarily because my daughter has shown an interest in sewing and we've bought her a kit for Christmas and I wanted to be able to help her. But it's so long since I've done any sewing I wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing. I forgot how nice it was. It's one of those things that is both relaxing, rewarding and non-intrusive. You can sew and still hold a conversation. And it is relaxing. If I've had a bad day I pick up my needle and thread and sew for a while and after that while I realise I've forgotten about what was bothering me. Brilliant. And at the end of it I've got something tangible that I've made and it may not be perfect, but it is mine and I've done it myself. I made my daughter a bookmark and it's lovely!

Speaking of grannies, my stepson's wife is expecting a baby imminently which means I'll have a grandchild soon. Okay, so it's not really my grandchild, but it's close enough for me

And on top of that I've started learning Japanese. I'm self teaching, so probably won't get that far, but it's absorbing and fascinating and I love it! I have a long term goal to get to Japan some day, and when I get there I want to be able to speak the language. So that's my challenge for next year, as well as getting back on track with my writing and doing a great job at work!

Onwards and upwards, as they say!
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Comments

  1. Virgil's Avatar
    Wow, sounds like all good news. Congratulations on the new job opportunity, and I can't picture a grandma Fifthelement. Sounds like it's going to be a good holiday for you.
  2. Buh4Bee's Avatar
    What exactly do you do? Are you a programmer or something like that?
  3. motherhubbard's Avatar
    Good for balance. I'm really happy for you. I love to cross stitch. my hands go dead now so I don't do it very often, but it is nice and relaxing. It's also beautiful.
  4. TheFifthElement's Avatar
    Thanks Virgil. I can't wait to be a granny!

    Jersea, I work in Marine Insurance...what was that? I heard you yawning

    Thanks Motherhubbard, cross-stitch is relaxing and beautiful. I'm so glad to have picked it up again. I remembered, when I was a child, how I used to visit my Grandma and stay for a week during summer, and we always used to make something - a hand puppet or a scented pillow or something. Some of my best memories from childhood involved sewing. I'd forgotten how nice it was.
  5. The Comedian's Avatar
    Sounds like things are going well -- I admire your learning a language on your own. I wish that I would take that up again -- or at least try to recover my lost Latin, which I used to be quite proficient with, but not any more. I digress. . .very enjoyable post.
  6. qimissung's Avatar
    A grandmother! You don't seem old enough to have a grandchild. But congratulations on your imminent grandchild and your new job!

    What, exactly, is marine insurance? Do you insure all things marine, or is it just a catchy name????
  7. TheFifthElement's Avatar
    Thanks Comedian
    Qimi, I'm not old enough to be a granny (not quite anyway ), but my husband is a little older than I and he has an older son from his previous marriage. It's his wife that is expecting. So I can be a genuinely youthful granny. I can't wait.
    Marine Insurance is the oldest form of insurance in existence and we're still a bit in the dark ages even now! It's there to cover everything to do with 'marine adventures' so we offer insurance for ships, all sizes, all types of cargoes, road haulage, rail transport, port authorities and the like; even space transportation! Some types of insurance, like hull (big ships) and yachts and the satellite risks are written out of London and specialist marine centres elsewhere (Singapore, for example, is really big in Marine insurance), but in my area we cover cargo of all descriptions. It's a pretty interesting line of work; we get to work with people around the world and learn about climate and how it impacts on the way cargoes are shipped, and the properties of different commodities, packaging materials and shipping methods, what's being shipped where, what's easily stolen and how to best protect it, piracy, the lengths people will go to to avoid the tax man and import quotas, those sorts of things. We still maintain files on the Titanic and the Lusitania amongst other well publicised shipping disasters.