Farewell to work certainty

So my last day of work yesterday came and went quickly. There were neither tears nor any major celebration, perhaps because I spent the prior eight days away from the office and far from any thought of the magazine.

I didn’t leave feeling happy or sad. I just felt extremely relieved to be out of there. Not that the past year was uneventful or that I didn’t like my work.

I love my work. I love being a writer. I delight in seeing how a simple thought gradually becomes a flowing essay published in a magazine read by tens of thousands of people in Singapore.

I enjoyed every moment I spent with my colleagues. Whether it was in the office, at some workshop at a community centre, promoting the magazine at road shows or just having lunch together, we always had happy light-hearted moments.

I relished every opportunity where I could meet new people and make more contacts while in the course of my work.

But it was time to leave, so I left. When I began this job, I told myself that the day I wake up to dread going to work is the beginning of my journey out of there. That journey took me four months to complete.

I stayed, thinking that perhaps I was too sensitive and wrong about the situation. But the longer I lingered, the unhappier I became. This experience has told me that my initial feelings and intuition about something, anything, is quite accurate.

Although I’m still completing a couple of stories for the March issue (they’ve yet to get a new writer in), I don’t feel as much pressure or stress as before, when I was working in the office.

Funnily though, I find myself slightly busier than before. Perhaps because the free time I get is spent on doing things that I’ve kept-in-view for the longest time.

However, the rain over the past few days has been a huge dampener. Going out is a chore because I’ve to lug an umbrella around, I avoid wearing jeans or the legs get soaked totally and it’s freezing cold everywhere no matter how thick is the sweater/cardigan/jacket you have on.

But there is one good thing about the intermittent rain/storm though. It has emphasised the fact that life is unpredictable. Things (like a huge storm) can happen really unexpectedly, especially when you least expect it. So for all the planning you may have, it’s always best to go with the flow and ride the waves as they come.