Renewal (Writers Island 2)

The prompt for Writers Island this week, is "Renewal". Here is what I have to say on it.

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Renewal


They say you have to reinvent yourself every seven years, in order to not stagnate, and in order to grow—emotionally and psychologically.

Whether we like it or not, we all grow older, as each second ticks by. As children, we are constantly discovering things. We are growing –both physically and mentally. There is so much to learn and so much to do.

As adults, we seem to have seen it all and done it all. Very often, we define ourselves by our work identities. “I am John and I am a senior Vice president at Microsoft” or “I am Lina, and I head HR at Glaxo.” Somehow I feel, this work identity seems hollow—simply because you do not get to know the person underneath. Also, if your identity is your job, it is frightening to think what happens if you get laid off or retire.

I know of many mothers who gave up corporate jobs to be stay-at-home-moms and then sank into depression, as they felt they were ‘doing nothing’. The present day society places so much of emphasis on being productive—and ‘Being productive’ here, is equated to whether or not the activity generates income. I have met many women, especially in my country, who apologetically confess to being ‘just a housewife’. Their identities seem to be “Wife of so and so, and mother of so and so.” I cannot understand why they feel apologetic. The work they are doing cannot be measured in terms of money. They are running a home and raising a child. What an enormous responsibility, that by itself is! Hats off to these women who have the courage to be what they are and do not juggle a career, home and kids , just to ‘prove’ that they are not ‘mere housewives.’ (Somehow I hate the word ‘housewife’. “Home maker” would be more appropriate.”)

Why should we reinvent ourselves if we are content to be who we are? I say, it is because you do not know what lies on the other side, till you spread your wings and look. We have to shake ourselves out of our comfort zones and push ourselves, to discover what we are capable of.

They don’t have to be big things. You could make a start, by renewing a hobby that you gave up when you started working. You could renew old friendships that somehow took a back seat when you got busy or moved to a different town.

I would say even something like completely changing the way you dress,(try wearing fiery red, if you have always worn pastel shades) or getting a new hairstyle (if you have had the same one for years) would be a good start.

Have you reinvented yourself in the last few years? Have you done something completely different? I would love to hear what you have done.

As for me, I was completely different 10 years back, from what I am today.(and I am happy about the change). I’ll tell you about myself, but after I hear yours!

And if you haven’t done anything what are YOU going to renew? (and please don't tell me you are going to renew that library book or your club membership! You know that's not what I mean!!) :-)