Saturday, June 9, 2012

I Never Thought I Would...

The inspiration for this post comes from the song that I've had in my head for the past couple of days - not the lyrics or melody of the song but the fact that it is a country song. I don't have anything against country music but its not the type of music that I actively search out. To me (and I have to admit to being very ignorant about country music), it sounds like a very 'country' sounding country song. If you must have a listen, go Google 'Ready to Roll' by Blake Shelton.

So this strange new favourite song got me thinking of some of the other things that I never thought I would do/like/eat, etc. I'm picking 21 as my baseline - my final year in university.

I never thought I would ...

... enjoy crafts. I never had any interest in working with my hands on small fiddly things. I might have actually secretly thought it was too old fashioned for me to get into that sort of thing. Since then, I've had an intense period of beading but that had to give way to something a little more useful to my every day life - sewing. There is so much satisfaction to be derived from making something instead of buying it.

... eat celery. Absolutely hated this vegetable back then and now, my fridge is never without a big bunch of it. I started liking just the stems but now I like the leaves too.

... enjoy taking public transport. I found it a chore when I was in school and university. I didn't enjoy rushing for the next available train. The other thing I hated was pushing my way to the doors to get out. My stop was one that very few people got out at so the exits always remained clogged. These days, I look for opportunities to take either the train, bus (my favourite) or ferry. I do this here in Brisbane and try to do it in any place I visit. When we were in Palembang and had a driver, I used to get him to be our guide on the public buses instead of driving the car. From the everyday ferries, buses and trains to tuk tuks, jeepneys, angkots, rickshaws, monorails, bullet trains and trams, I enjoy the sights and smells that they all bring!

... choose not to be sociable. I don't understand this one at all. At 21, I was rarely seen without a group of at least five people and regularly organised large get togethers. At work, I also had many friends and action packed weekends. These days, I seem to avoid contacting friends (the few that I have left) and arranging to meet up. I'm awkward in all social situations and I prefer to hang out with my family instead.

... be a wife and mother. Yes, its not just the 'mother' bit that I never thought of. I also never really wanted to be a wife. I remember thinking that I wanted to 'live in sin'. Ironically, I got married at 24, just 3 years later. As for children, I definitely did not want to have any of my own. I thought that even if I came around to the idea of being a parent, I wasn't going to let the child come out of my body - I would adopt. I love my two boys to bits but I should have stuck to that adoption plan because their exits from my body were not exactly the most beautiful moments in my life. And to think I did it twice! Well, I've learned now.

And there you have it, five 'never though I would have-s' from my life. What about you?

5 comments:

Bilbo said...

... be a ballroom dancer. If you knew how naturally clumsy and uncoordinated I am, you'd understand.

... be a world traveler. If you're from Pittsburgh, you tend to not travel much beyond the tri-state area, but a military career will fix that.

...like spinach. I hated spinach the way my mother used to make it, but Agnes's creamed spinach is to die for.

There's more, but I'll share those when we finally meet.

bARE-eYED sUN said...

. . . be bald, long shoulder-length hair was the norm between the
ages of 15 and fifty. (i'm sixty now and am used to being the old man in the room).

. . . get used to being the old man in the room. i remember how i bristled the first time i was referred to as sir by a younger man. for rhe first half of my life the refrain was "don't trust anyone over thirty.

. . . trust anyone over thirty. it seems that now-a-days i don't personally know anyone younger than thirty. so, i'm guessing that if i ever trust anyone agin it would have to be someone older than thirty, and that includes trusting myself.

. . . trust myself to do all the right things. i spent most of my youth being the bad boy, and most of the time since then learning how to be a man. now that i've almost got it, i'm nearing the end of my life, something that seemed so remote at one point, something i couldn't accept.

. . . accept that my life will end, sooner, rather than later. i'm in no rush mind you. its sort of like being on stand-by at an airport. it just is. and not such a bad thing after all.



thank you very much for your post, it gave me food for thought.

:-)

..
.ero
.

NomadicExpat said...

... never thought that our friendship would last all these years, being separated most of the time. Ok, time to bring out those tissues!

... never thought you'd get married before me, but then, if you were to wait for me to get married first, you would probably be a spinster for the rest of your life.

... never thought to see you married and with kids, and be the kind of wife and mom that you now are. I used to tease you all the time about your lack of cooking skills, remember?

... never thought how things have turned out especially the last couple years (wrt my family) and to have you as my emotional anchor. Ok, more tissues needed!

... never thought I like boys (as in kids; I've always like boys if you know what I mean here.. I think your brother kinda scarred me for awhile) until I met your sons. But, if I ever do end up having a child, I still hope that it's going to be a girl. One of your sons can marry my daughter, and my daughter can come complain to me what a horrible MIL you are. Then, I will tell you all about it!

Amanda said...

Bilbo - I hope you do make that trip to NZ so that you can drop by Australia too! I'm going to have to investigate creamed spinach as I have no idea what it is.

b-ARE e-YED s-UN - Thanks for stopping by and leaving an interesting comment. I like that analogy of being on stand by at the airport.

NE - What if becoming in-laws finally broke up our friendship? Regarding the cooking, I did think of lumping it under craft because its something else fiddly and done with hands!

Mike said...

'in my head'

Did I mention before that the way to get a song out of your head is to sing it or hum a few bars out loud?