It's Ok Not to Know

The next few posts were written ages ago on Word. As a promise to revive this blog, I am posting them now :)

May 19, 2008

P had to go to the john and I ended talking to the girl next to me. She was really nice. It was a good thing I was in the mood to socialize. Let’s call her KV.

I believe I attracted her – not in the lesbian sort of way ok? I mean, we ended up next to each other for a reason. It’s as if she was sent to me to answer a question. It’s amazing how the answers start coming to you when you ask.

I was instantly interested when she told me she lived in Baguio. Her parents were doctors and her dad’s practice was based in Manila, while she and her mom moved to Baguio when she was about to go to college. Life is so much slower there, she said, and she realized after a stint in Manila, that she liked it that way.

Her story gets even more interesting. After four years of working in customer service for one of the leading telcos, she got so stressed out and ran away to Boracay for one New Year’s Eve – alone. Within a few weeks, she decided to resign and stay in the island. She walked in one of the resorts, applied for work, and was hired within the day as an HR Supervisor. She worked and lived in Boracay for six months.

Boracay life was – both literally and figuratively – a beach. She experienced the laid back lifestyle and the notorious non-stop parties. Work would end early (compared to Manila standards of course), and she would hit the beach right after. She had to leave though, because she felt the island would “get her”. Whatever that meant, apparently island lifestyle was not for her.

Then she was on to the next adventure – Singapore. She simply stated that she wanted a job at Sentosa – and that’s what she got. I barely remember the details though. All I remember was that her friends started coming over to Singapore when they found out she got the job she wanted. She didn’t say whether they got jobs or not. But she seemed to have all the fun. She left Sentosa for some reason and went back to the Philippines.

Her last job was with Generali Philippines, BDO’s insurance company. I don’t remember what her position there was, but apparently, that’s how she met her date for that night.

So right now she is taking a break to figure out what she really wants to do. Moving non-stop from one job to another exhausted her and she decided to just STOP and think. It’s been four months, and it didn’t seem like she was in a rush to find out.

When I told her I was 26 and was currently on “search mode” she began to give me advice. (I was SHOCKED to find out she was ten – T- E- N – years older than I was. I swear, I thought she was just my age – or younger!). She said I was going to be ok. And said it was ok not to know what you want at this point.

Of course I knew that. But hearing it from her – 36 and fabulous – made it truth. That night I didn’t see her as shallow or consider her an aimless drifter (usually I would with much condescendence), but wise and fearless. Her gung-ho disposition towards life got her jobs instantly, and her sense of adventure and independence made her unstoppable.

I never would have thought that way of her within the first few minutes of conversation that night. This time, first impressions totally flew out the window. We ended up talking for about an hour.