To anyone reading this, I apologise for the negativity in this post. I do try to blog about happy things, to remind myself appreciate the small things in life and to stay positive. However, I also see blogging as a tool of self discovery and that means I'll be writing about how I feel, and trying to sort out why. Lately I have been feeling quite sad, lost and unmotivated.
I also have a confession to make… I am incredibly clucky. Every
time I see a photo of a baby I melt, and I really want one of my own. It
doesn’t help that many of my friends are popping out kids at the moment and seem blissfully
happy in the process. Every time I see a baby photo on facebook I am so
incredibly jealous!
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan on trying to get
pregnant tomorrow. I don’t think my relationship with the boy is solid or
developed enough. The next step for me is living with him, as we still live
apart… and I have a lot of work to do to let him fully into my life.
Work is another story altogether. My choices are as follows:
1)
Go back to a job like my previous one that is
intense but will accelerate my development. Work my ass off for at least 2
years there, and then transfer to a firm or company with a more manageable workload and
accommodating environment. Work at this more relaxed firm/company for at least 2 more
years before taking maternity leave. At this point I will probably be valuable
enough to retain my job and be able to return part time if I choose to do so,
on a good salary and with prospects for advancement if I am inclined to pursue them. This
would give me options, and the prospect of having it all would not be totally
out of reach. Whether or not that optimism is misplaced is another question.
2)
Stay in my current job (if I can tolerate the
boredom) or move to a similarly relaxed (albeit less boring) job. Work for
however long before having kids, but have no chance of solidifying my value to
the extent necessary before taking maternity leave. I will no doubt have a job
to come back to or be able to get another job, but it will be on a
disappointing wage and I’ll be stuck doing grunt work and not really having any
real responsibility or respectability. Once I have kids, it will be very
difficult to put in the hours and effort required to work my way up the ladder
from where I will have been at pre-kids. I will not shine.
Option (1) is depressing because it means having kids is so
far out of reach, and I don’t know if I can survive 2+ years of hell to get
where I want to. In my previous chaotic job, I could see myself changing as a person (for the worse...) and I was physically and mentally unhealthy due to the constant stress, exhaustion and struggle to have any sort of work-life balance.
Option (2) is equally depressing because it would be a waste
of my potential, and I know I would be frustrated at the situation and
disappointed at myself. I have always been competitive and wanted to achieve
great things, I know that I am intelligent, robust, a natural leader and have great potential... but on the other hand my maternal instincts are tugging at my
insides.
This situation epitomises what I believe to be THE
question of my generation – can women really have it all? We were brought up
being taught that unlike our predecessors in the pre-feminist era, we can now have
both a stellar career and idyllic family life. The reality is, depressingly,
quite different.
I just have to look around the legal profession and there are
no examples of women having it all. You have a small number of female partners,
but they are either childless or have children who were or are being brought up
by nannies. You have female senior associates but many are part time once they
have kids, and then their career progression halts or goes backwards. Hell,
even I would invest in their male competition – he’s there more often, more
likely to stick around without prolonged maternity leave absences or to give up
his career altogether, he can put in the long hours, he can without any notice
work until midnight and all weekend… and over time, when he is there and she is
not, he gains experience, he accumulates knowledge, he networks, he gains
clients… and he becomes partner material. It makes commercial sense to favour
him, regardless of whether she is a better lawyer NOW or whether she has greater
potential due to her intellect, interpersonal skills or acumen for the law.
Law is a crappy profession for women, but I don’t know if
anything else would be much better. Medicine gives women a better earning
potential from the get go (this is presumably why my Grandfather pressured me to study medicine
rather than law) but the potential to specialise and climb to great heights
seems similarly limited. If a women is not satisfied by money (and most human
beings are not), but wants the satisfaction derived from challenging herself
and leading others, or maybe even commanding widespread respect or admiration, she is
setting herself up for disappointment unless she gives up the idea of being
involved in her kids’ lives too. I know
that not everyone wants these things, but unfortunately I think they're the things that drive me. I need to be intellectually stimulated but that is not enough, I also like having responsibility, control and being respected. I have always admired and practiced efficiency, and that means I am more suited to a fast paced environment.
There are women who may be an exception to the rule. I won’t
name one who comes to mind, because I don’t know or care enough about her private
life, nor do I think it is appropriate or respectful to speculate on it. What I
do know is that we all have different conceptions of how much is enough time to
spend with our children and families, and how much we want to be involved in our children's upbringing. I don’t think that heavy involvement with the kids and a
stellar career are compatible. They just don’t add up, as a matter of logic.
There are only 24 hours in a day.
Where you have a really successful career woman whose
children aren’t brought up by nannies, the only other option in my eyes is that
they have a super-supportive like-a-stay-at-home partner. I wouldn’t want this either… and therein lays the dilemma. I
want it all, I have been told that I can have it all, and suddenly the reality is
hitting me. What I believed and what I have worked towards was all a crock of
shit.
It’s a very depressing revelation. It makes me want to throw
in the towel on one level, have kids and just hope that my priorities change
and I find another reason to live and find meaning through motherhood. My Mum
says this is a copout, but what is it a copout from? There’s nothing to copout
from if I am not able to achieve what I perceive to be worthwhile anyway.
There is a small difference in my eyes between giving up, and working for a few
more years, finding my work unsatisfying (because my expectations of myself are
unrealistic, and I want to be stellar) and gaining a meagre few thousand on my
salary every year.
I want to be able to change what satisfies and drives me, but I
don’t know how. I think that a large part of it is in my personality - I have always been stubborn, driven, bossy and intense. Another part
of it is a result of what my generation has been taught and what I have until
now believed. Every endeavour I have participated in has fostered that belief –
even where I wasn’t the best, I was solid at academics and sports and there was
always the potential for me to work hard, improve and shine. In sport my
physique and injuries were self-limiting, but on the academic and leadership
front I always had the option of reaching for great heights. School and university studies came easily to me, and I wasn't the best not because I wasn't capable, but because I was more focused on an efficient use of my time and what I wanted to do other than study. Now, the rational
view seems to be that the option of succeeding is no longer there, unless I am willing to
sacrifice something that my genetic instincts are guiding me towards.
Either
option seems hopeless, and I don't know what to do or how to change my hopes, dreams and expectations.
After 3 years of uni to become a nurse there were several moments of doubt last year while working full time in a hospital setting. I often thought that this job wasn't for me and that i'd wasted years of studying to have a job that was stressful, full-on and at times i felt not appreciated and unsupported.
ReplyDeletethen this year after a couple of failed job applications more doubt set in.
But starting my new job, part-time and in a doctors practice i am really enjoying nursing.
I still can't picture myself nursing forever though.
i would love to do something creative to make a living. my list of possibilities goes on and on- a farmstay, giftware shop, market stall selling homemade crafts and fresh produce, hosting cooking and permaculture classes, floristry, shop window design.
Where does your passion lie? a business venture? something creative? i know these ideas often dont mean lots of money but if it was something you were passionate and determined about it would be worth it.
x
Hi Zara,
DeleteYou are definitely more creative than me! LOL. I think I would like to start my own business, and I really enjoy working with kids. It's a big step though and will probably be financially stressful at first, which is something I can't contemplate right now with a new mortgage and all. I really hope I have the guts to carve my own path, perhaps a unique one as you suggest.
Hi Lisa, your post resonated with me a lot! I have just been offered a new job which could for all intentions and purposes turn out to be my dream job, and unless my potential new employer is willing to give me some flexibility on starting and finishing times so my husband and I can manage home commitments then I will probably have to knock it back.
ReplyDeleteYour situation is a tough one to be in. And coming from someone who's been there done that, I can tell you that trying to change what satisfies and drives you can be almost impossible because they're things that are very much ingrained into every fibre of your being. When I had my first son, I was fortunate enough to be able to choose to not work, so I naively agreed to become a SAHM, I lasted 8 months before I had to return to work for my own sanity and for me to be able to be a good mother, because it is true what they say about a good mother being a happy mother. Like you I need to be challenged, I crave the mental stimulus that my job provides me and unfortunately for me, my industry (engineering building and construction) can be just as bad as law when it comes to work-home balance. Personally, I think the whole "you can have it all" is a load of crock, and in the end it comes down to what our priorities are, what you are willing to sacrifice and/or where you are willing to compromise and how strong your support network is. For me I've given up my dreams of being in upper management, middle works just fine for me if it means I get to spend more time with my boys. I have just about removed myself from a lot of the field work, my husband shares the household duties 50/50 (when he isn't traveling, the same applies to me), and of course my Mum looks after our kids when we are working. There is still a fair bit of struggling to get everything to balance but this is what works for us.
I wish you luck in trying to find a way to make things work for you.
xx
BB
Thanks for your reply, it makes me feel better to know that others feel the same or similar. I don't think I could be a SAHM either for a long period, I can only hope that working parttime in the legal industry will satisfy me or that I find something else to do.
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