TOPAZ HORIZON

Today marks my one month at my new job! I'm not announcing my job yet because I'm still on probationary status haha so I'll do a job reveal the second I get regularized. 

My job is very busy. Lots of writing! But I breathe writing so no biggie. Lots of meetings! Which badly drains introvert me. But since everyone is so nice, it's okay.

My biggest adjustment is working in a cold office. Yeah, surprisingly, I adjusted quickly to not being with my sons because the first three days of me at work saw me crying and saying I miss them. But my kids, bless their hearts, they said they don't miss me and, well, I suddenly didn't miss them that much, either 😅 Joking aside, I think they do miss me. They just didn't want to see me crying and so they did me some tough love. Those boys.

Anyway, I had asked HR at my initial online interview if the office is cold because that's, like, my dealbreaker. Cold pala is relative because she said it's not cold at all but here I am, freezing every day. But one month in and I'm better. I've decided to not be stylish and just bury myself in ugly but warm clothes. Plus, I commute. I go against the flow so it's an easy and super-fast commute, but ugly sneakers is the way to go. So no office OOTDs then!

I've also adjusted to my big neon, lime-green desk. I toned it down with a lot of industrial black and livened it up with a few touches of pink and a plant I named Chantelle. And since my youngest boy said he loves that shade of green, he helped me choose my desk stuff and so more of that green! I haven't put up photos of my husband and kids yet. Because seeing their beautiful faces makes me miss them and I don't want that.

The plan is to stay in this job till I retire - 14 years from now! Of course, plans change. I planned to be a magazine editor-in-chief till I die and look at what happened to that. Well, one month into this job and I'm optimistic. So let's see where this goes! 

I work in corporate communications. It's a big local company. We help Pinoys, Filipinas especially. I cry every time I watch videos of the women whose lives the company has changed ❤️

The team is cool. So capable. And hardworking. And terribly young. Today I told one of them when she was talking about her dad, "Gosh, I just realized I'm almost as old as your dad. You're young enough to be my kid." 

My husband told me to embrace being their mommy figure. So I will. I guess that says it all. I'm matronly 🥰

And yet, look at little old lady me. I have a new job. When you're 46, it's not easy to go job-hunting. It's so disheartening really, all the rejections. Then this came along because a former colleague referred me and now I'm doing what I do best and still learning more. My learning curve is slow in this industry that's so different from all my previous jobs. I'm always asking for explanations and clarifications (corporate lingo is a foreign language!). But everyone's been so patient because they know I've not worked for a corporation for a decade.

I didn't think I would get this job, to be honest. Those 10 years of being unemployed kept being mentioned during my interviews. I explained I wasn't jobless. I was working hard all that decade as a blogger, writer, editor, PR consultant, etc etc. I've never worked so hard in my life, these past 10 years. Then pregnant, breastfeeding, taking care of little ones pa! With no household help!!!

And that's why I went back to corporate. I got tired of the hustle. The endless prospecting. The chasing of checks. The working alone. 

The last 10 years was amazing. Best decade of my life! I learned a great many things and achieved what I never thought I would. 

Business owner. 

Influencer. 

Speaker. 

Newspaper columnist. 

Book editor. 

Co-founder. 

A frikkin' author!!! 

I still plan on continuing all I've done. I'm in the middle of writing a novel and a book of short stories. Yes, two books! We have big plans for Lean In Manila (yes, we'll be back with that, too!). I quietly started a Facebook group called Masayang Menopause. I'm now a bookstagrammer. And I'm also cooking up some stuff that's so exciting! 

So, yes, the last decade as a hustler will still continue but at a more relaxed pace now that I have a regular income. I can now focus on my passions! Oh, 2013 to 2022 was the best fun. But I'm old haha. I want to relax... by going back to being an employee in an industry I've never been in! What?! 

Life is full of surprises. 

I'm grateful. I've lived many lives. Here's to a new one!