It has been exactly a month since I last post on this blog, and a little over a month now since I’ve quit my graphic design job in my dad’s massive family business. I have to admit, I had been quite distracted in the past month, but I’d like to think that the time had been well spent. Since I’m completely free, I have finally discovered waking up with a full doze of sleep every night and then never seem to find enough time during the day to do the things that I wanted to with my excess energy.
So in the past month I have been going to the gym a lot more regularly and enjoying it immensely. I have also taken that bridal floristry course that I always wanted. I pay my visits to the studio every second day on average. I played with flowers, hang out with the housewives, other artists and joke around with my teacher and his assistant. I think about planning my wedding every now and then. It’s still 5 months away, but most decorations are going to be handmade, so it’s fun to take the time to do some research, practice new techniques and hunt for treasures around Jakarta. I’ve discovered supply stores that are so incredible that even Jakarta’s signature chaos, smog, rubbish and crazy traffic doesn’t stop me from wanting to go there often.
So while enjoying the good life and happy for once, I have also been seeing a shrink. My dad asked me to and I obeyed him without much curiosity. So one morning I showed up to this guy's office, still only half awake I realized that I don’t even know the name of the person I’m seeing.
It turns out my sessions with the shrink had been very helpful and relevant than I expected. He was willing to talk to me through every important facet of my life that may threaten me to stumble if I wasn’t prepared, such as premarital counseling, realizing past family problems that affects me as a person now, and career.
Career happens to be my current primary concern. We discussed about my inability to focus on one subject long enough to make a career out of that subject. My fiancé told me that in average, a person would change their career 7 times in their lifetime. Well… I'm still 24 and in the past 3 years I’have finished a music degree, worked as a florist, worked in an office, worked as a part time graphic designer and of course maintaining my Etsy shop as a jewelry maker. 5 completely different career, done in 3 years! Clearly, isn’t that a proper recipe for trouble? I begin to wonder if I may have escaped from being diagnosed with ADD, hence my inability to focus on anything.
I brought up this issue to my florist mentor, Andy. He is open to a wide range of artformsother than just flowers. His knowledge, easy going personality and non-judgemental nature made him more than just my mentor. He could easily be my ‘other’ shrink. He told me before he chose flowers as his primary medium, he also did a wide range of other things. He was formally trained in interior design, he was also trained in piano, cake decorating, hair and make up artist. He chose flowers as his medium because he saw the need for more creative flowers arrangements in Jakarta. It is something new that hadn’t been done before, and also because flowers don’t last long. Once they are arranged, they are thrown away and his job is cleared.
I brought up to him my interest in jewelry amongst others. He was very supportive to that idea for various reasons. He encouraged me to leave everything and take formal training. I wasn't so sure how to tackle that idea, but then he started talking to me passionately in what he called his ‘broken english’,
“Make sure you stick to the jewelry for AT LEAST 5 years Ok?! Don’t look to left and to right and then cheat on other things like a person cheat on their boyfriend or girlfriend! Otherwise before you know it you think you like cooking, and then you like eating and then become the person who taste food and then the person who writes about food and then becomes a journalist and bla, bla, blaaa…!!!”
Yes my dear sir, point taken. I get it. No cheating.
Now we shall see what will happen...
