Wednesday 17 October 2018

Being a Woman

It has actually been 4 months since I blogged. Which is not good as I told myself to blog consistently but life got into the way and promises are meant to be broken. I know, excuses, excuses.

But I have been getting my fair share of writing done in other platforms so I wouldn't exactly say that I have been out of touch.

What would like I to comment today? Well, my son turns 9 months old today and he has been in Melaka with his grandma for a few days. As much I miss his gummy smiles, I am enjoying my uninterrupted sleep. Something mothers of young children could relate to. Having adequate sleep has helped me to be more efficient in dealing with the myriad of things I do on daily basis and I feel so productive. But then again, I do miss him a lot. He is my happy pill.

I had the opportunity to meet a bunch of inspiring ladies at Coca Cola Bottlers (M) Sdn Bhd last Friday in an initiative mooted by TalentCorp for their Career Comeback Programme. The ladies were inspiring. I could just listen or talk to them all day long. It is evident from what was shared that they are able to climb the corporate ladder because of the support system they have. I often worry about the children when I have meetings or events as we do not have a helper at home and we rely on the babysitter. She is incredibly nice. Nice to the extend that she stitched a skirt from her old curtain when Pebbles peed in her pants and had nothing to wear for the bottom. My sister commented that it was very like Scarlett O'Hara.

But yeah, she is nice and adores the kids but she is also elderly and it is unfair for us to leave the kids with her till really late. So that is always my concern. But that interaction I had or rather the 15 of us had with these ladies opened up my eyes on the possibility of doing work or even pursuing my dreams inspite of my children. Having children should not be an obstacle. Instead it should encourage you to be a better woman.

But it is not easy. Many a times I have rocked Baba (That's my son's nickname by the way) on my lap while I navigated slides on the laptop for clients. Personally, I don't think it is professional but thankfully client was an understanding person and that was when the babysitter was not free so I had no choice.

On a serious note, it would be wonderful if the kids can be taken care of from 9am to 6pm while I get some productive work done. Since I am an entrepreneur, timing is not fixed therefore I sincerely believe I would thrive in a different environment hence me looking out for a full time job.

That task alone has posed so much of problems for me. Back in June when I decided to go back to the corporate world, I naturally sought out my former employers but there were no encouraging feedback. Although I felt dejected I soldiered on but it is not easy. Nobody wants to hire a woman who has been out of the corporate world for 3 years although she has tried to stay relevant by doing freelance work. Nobody! Zilch! it is very upsetting. To date, I have sent out so many copies of my resume. Spoken to many people. Met strangers to obtain advice on 'how to massage my resume' to appear more marketable. So yeah, it has been frustrating but I try to be positive by telling myself that everything happens for a reason and that I am learning something from this whole experience. What exactly? that I am not sure yet :P

Many times I have told myself that I should not have quit my job but I wouldn't trade the 3 years I am out of the Corporate World for anything else as I have learned a lot. The experience opened up new vistas for me. Although I did not gain any monetary value but I gained many more friends and learnings from the interactions I had from them. And I learned a lot more about myself. About the kind of person I am and the kind of person I want to be.

So if you ask me if it is difficult being a woman in this Era, I would say Hell Yeah! But I would also say 'So What?' all these difficulities are only going to toughen us up and isn't that a good thing? So stop lamenting and start living. I am a daughter, I am a wife, I am a Mother and most importantly I am a Woman and I am so darn proud of being one. It is a badge I would wear with pride.

Who run the world? Girls! 








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