Joecities

It just hit me. I’m back in school again. Yes, this is adult education so it’s different, but it’s not really.

Recently I’ve come across a few situations where ‘school-cool’ mentality prevailed over adult maturity, or perhaps it’s just because I’m immersed in a situation where I’m exposed to so many different cultures and personalities.

Specifically, I was hit by a double whammy of bluntness and power play, designed to increase one’s satisfaction at the expense of another.

Of course I could have responded with as much malice, but I chose to keep quiet, and reflect on the incident later to see how I could have responded best.

Talking to an ex-colleague yesterday, I was hit by a wave of reflection and suddenly, I miss home.

I guess it’s true that the grass is always greener on the other side. I kind of miss being in a working environment where actions are motivated by organizational objectives. I also miss having my friends around, with whom I can just be myself. Here, it’s a lot of ‘show’. Just playing roles which I’m expected to, and conforming to the ‘identity’ that the social circles define as ‘successful’

Ah well, I guess this is what I was looking for when I felt that I was getting too ‘comfortable’. This is part of my learning process – by subjecting myself to experiences which make me reflect on the past, and understand how to approach the future.