Waiting For My Real Life to Begin

I’ve been in a weird mood lately.

For the most part, I’m very happy with my life right now. I love my job. I love my apartment. As much as I bitch about the T, I love not having a car most of the time. And while I can’t deny that I’d love to have a boyfriend, I enjoy the freedom that comes with being single.

But do I want my life to stay like this forever? Can I imagine myself in twenty years, living in an apartment in Somerville, still trying to get a date, childless, dependent on public transportation, working for the same low salary? Could you tell the answer to that question before you got halfway through the previous sentence?

I have moments when I wonder if I’m stuck here—if anything in my life is ever going to change. The funny thing is that I’ve never been good with change. When I was a kid, my mom would always be asking me if I wanted a new comforter or a new jacket or something, and my answer was always, “No, I like the one I have.” And I’ve always dreaded changes like starting college or graduating from college or friends moving away. I guess that’s a good thing—it must mean I’m fairly content with my life.

But now, I find myself fearing things staying the same. I’ve written enough about wanting a relationship, so I won’t go into it again. But one reason I haven’t discussed is that even though I have great roommates and a great apartment, I’d also like to live alone for a little while, and I don’t think that I could live alone if I wasn’t in a relationship. It relates back to this—I think I’d feel cut off from the world otherwise. So I guess I simultaneously crave aloneness and companionship. Man, am I that hard to please?

I’ve mentioned before how hard I find it to imagine owning a house. I’m still years and years away from that goal. But I’ve been finding myself thinking lately about where I want to live when I am ready to buy…which towns are fairly close to Boston? Have a commuter rail station in town? Have a good public school system for my nonexistent children? Recently, I bought the issue of Boston magazine about the best places to live, and then I wondered why. It’s not as if I’m about to get married and buy a house in the suburbs with my husband. But I still like to think about the possibilities for where I might live.

I’ve written extensively about my love-hate relationship with the T, but the truth is that I usually enjoy saving a lot of money by not paying for gas or parking or insurance or repairs if anything goes wrong. Still, there are a lot of times that I just wish I could get in the damn car and drive somewhere. Market Basket, the blissfully cheap local supermarket, is two miles away from me, which is close enough that I can walk…but far enough away that I can’t carry more than a couple of bags back with me. I wish I didn’t always have to ask my dad to come pick me up if I’m visiting my parents, and that I didn’t have to take the commuter rail to visit Christina.

If I eventually take a certain job, though, I’d get a company car, which would be awesome, but scary in its own way. The thing is, I love what I’m doing for work, and I know that I definitely want to stay in publishing, but there’s a large part of me that wants to move on to the next step, scary and unfamiliar as it may be. I’ve been trying to do as much as I can to prepare myself for it, and I’m lucky to have an incredibly supportive boss who’s been helping me a lot with career development. It would be a challenge for me if it does happen, but I also feel like if I prove that I can do it, I can do anything.

And then there’s my stalled writing career, which is no one’s fault but my own. I just need to glue my butt to the chair and get the writing done. I don’t even want to think about how much I could have accomplished if I spent as much time writing as I do sitting around watching reruns of 1990s sitcoms.

So…I don’t have any answers. All I know is that where I am isn’t bad, but where I could be looks even better. I’ll be twenty-five in July, and I think a lot of people feel this way as they near the quarter-century mark. At least I know what I want, I guess. Stay tuned.

8 thoughts on “Waiting For My Real Life to Begin

  1. MediaMaven

    God, I feel the same way. Loved your entry. I think you should live on your own at some point if you can swing it. It’s an experience all your own, something you can be proud of. And it will make living with a husband that much sweeter later.

    Reply
  2. MediaMaven

    God, I feel the same way. Loved your entry. I think you should live on your own at some point if you can swing it. It’s an experience all your own, something you can be proud of. And it will make living with a husband that much sweeter later.

    Reply
  3. Christina

    living on your own is a good thing. i also think though, that while i know what you mean by the title, you are living your real life. i kinda think you can’t wait for your real life to begin. you need to grab it and hold on for the ride. i dunno if that makes sense to you.

    Reply
  4. Christina

    living on your own is a good thing. i also think though, that while i know what you mean by the title, you are living your real life. i kinda think you can’t wait for your real life to begin. you need to grab it and hold on for the ride. i dunno if that makes sense to you.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    Emancipation Our Cloudy Prices at http://www.Pharmashack.com, The Unequalled [b][url=http://www.pharmashack.com]Online Posologist's [/url][/b] To [url=http://www.pharmashack.com]Buy Viagra[/url] Online ! You Can also Espy Extraordinary Deals When You [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/cialis.html]Buy Cialis[/url] and When You You [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/levitra.html]Buy Levitra[/url] Online. We Also Comrades a Mammoth Generic [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/phentermine.html]Phentermine[/url] Because of the duration of Your Nutriment ! We Exchange Industrialist mark [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/viagra.html]Viagra[/url] and Also [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/generic_viagra.html]Generic Viagra[/url] !

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    Emancipation Our Cloudy Prices at http://www.Pharmashack.com, The Unequalled [b][url=http://www.pharmashack.com]Online Posologist's [/url][/b] To [url=http://www.pharmashack.com]Buy Viagra[/url] Online ! You Can also Espy Extraordinary Deals When You [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/cialis.html]Buy Cialis[/url] and When You You [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/levitra.html]Buy Levitra[/url] Online. We Also Comrades a Mammoth Generic [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/phentermine.html]Phentermine[/url] Because of the duration of Your Nutriment ! We Exchange Industrialist mark [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/viagra.html]Viagra[/url] and Also [url=http://www.pharmashack.com/en/item/generic_viagra.html]Generic Viagra[/url] !

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    Predilection casinos? vouch to save this advanced [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] president and discourse on a buddy up online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at http://www.realcazinoz.com .
    you can also stop our untrained [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] beat it at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and exulting to textile spondulix !
    another contributory [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] locality is http://www.ttittancasino.com , rather than of german gamblers, construction unrestrained online casino bonus.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    Predilection casinos? vouch to save this advanced [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] president and discourse on a buddy up online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at http://www.realcazinoz.com .
    you can also stop our untrained [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] beat it at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and exulting to textile spondulix !
    another contributory [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] locality is http://www.ttittancasino.com , rather than of german gamblers, construction unrestrained online casino bonus.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *