Summertime is a time for a change

Hello world.

I’m back with my monthly update and many many many things have happened during the past 4 to 5 weeks which so happens to be the mid-year mark. Sadly, Singapore does not have 4 seasons so we are kind of experiencing the summer heat and humidity all year round but it has been really really really hot these days; not just in Singapore but in many parts of the world as well :/ Global warming is a real big issue but the older I grow, the less hopeful I feel that global warming can be slowed down. It’s a morbid thought but I guess the only way for earth to rejuvenate itself is for the human race to go into extinction or something. It’s simply too difficult to collaborate among the world leaders or for everyone to wake up in the morning and feel that sense of social responsibility. At the end of the day, I still try to make effort to do my part as an individual (whenever it is not too out of the way for me) and move on with life. Ukraine war has been ongoing for months and the battle against covid is onwards to its 3rd year. I don’t know anything anymore.

Sorry for the very unenthusiastic introduction but I guess that’s somewhat a representation of my slightly jaded outlook. Hopefully, this is a psychological side effect of covid and that I will get over it in the months ahead. So.. why is summertime a time for a change? Usually for me, I tend to snip my hair short whenever the weather gets too hot. This feeling usually comes as an impulse rather than a planned decision. I remember there would be many days (across years) when I get so sweaty in the afternoon and decided that I need a haircut. This hasn’t happened in recent years as my ex-hairdresser (who went back to Malaysia) told me I looked better in long hair and he just wasn’t too keen on snipping the length off (to short) for me. Being someone of little opinion with regards to physical appearance and aesthetics, I accepted the advice and haven’t had short hair (which couldn’t be tied up) since. So.. if it’s not the hair, what is the change I’m talking about?

Well, if we throwback to a time 23 months ago, I published a post questioning what was my life goal and I end up settling for a really vague answer which was to be needed, useful and relevant. In that post, I also talked about ‘personal growth’ on how I wanted to always seek to be a better version of myself. Anyway, let’s cut the chase – I’m moving on to a new role, in an industry I do not have much experience or relevance in. Then again, my current role was also a leap of faith which I knew I would be uncomfortable in but somehow happened to stay on for almost 2 years. The thing is, I don’t dislike my current role but it somehow doesn’t satisfy some checkboxes I have and I didn’t feel like I was in the right stage of life to feel ‘comfortable’ yet. It’s such an oxymoron as my fear before I joined was that the environment would make me uncomfortable but two years later I’m deciding to move on cause I don’t feel comfortable with being ‘comfortable’. It’s kind of like an ‘if you know, you know’ emotion but I don’t really want to spell it out cause it’s hard to understand unless you’re in the same situation as me.

On a side note, what are your thoughts on job-hopping in today’s day and age? I actually don’t like the way my resume looks like (if I’m an employer) but as an employee, I do have a good reason as to why I left my previous jobs/roles. I’m thankful to all the interviewers who passed my ‘on paper’ resume check, allowing me to share more about my past experiences and how they have shaped me into the way I am today. Fun fact, I actually did a few interviews during the week when I was covid-positive. Anyway, so I’m going to move into my 5th employment since graduating 10 years ago and this count excludes my 6 employers in my 9-month New Zealand sabbatical. I don’t know how much longer I’ll have to hop around before finding the right ‘one’ that can align with the goals and growth I have for myself. To be honest, I’m feeling very jittery about the switch cause I am not confident that my past experiences would be useful (unlike my previous roles) but having been through it many times and having the assurance from many past bosses that I am creative/resilient/hardworking enough to get through with anything. I’m just having the pre-new environment jitters and I guess this shall pass. Hopefully, I won’t be too busy to not do my monthly update.

On a side note, the happy news is that my nieces are back for the summer break! As much as I display my annoyance for kids, I still find myself enjoying spending time with them. It has been two weeks and I’ve done swimming, played Cluedo, made her do the national day dance, made her read for me, watch her favourite gabby dollhouse cartoon in mandarin and introduced her to a logic game on my iPad – cut the rope. I don’t envision myself having my own kids in the future so I guess this is the closest I’ll ever get to nurturing the next generation.

Another happy thing to share is that I’m going on a solo vacation to down under! Contrary to many, I have never set foot in Melbourne and Sydney before so this is gonna be a first for me. Don’t have many concrete plans except that I’m heading up to a snow mountain to do some skiing. I hope I still remember how to ski and that my fitness ain’t that bad for a green run. Hopefully, I’ll also be more disciplined in blogging about post-covid travel. I’ve been very lazy in my travel blogging and I think I should be doing more. I have been resisting from the tiktok and insta-reels trend as I don’t feel like rushing into things just because it is viral. Furthermore, I’m not good at video editing and I haven’t thought of any original ideas to make my video be worth watching.

Hope the first half of 2022 had been nice to you and that the second half of 2022 would be better. Remember to always focus on the little joys and small wins and whatever happens, happens. The skies ain’t blue every day but life goes on~ Cheer Up wherever you are and I’ll be back!