These days, I find the lines are blurred between school and Real Life. Student life often means spending a cozy evening with your computer or heading to the boardroom for an on-site lesson.
Even traditional campus life has been redesigned for grown-ups. On September 5, 1999, the New York Times Magazine carried a story about life in the New Dorms that look like yuppie condominiums, complete with carpeting and what the Times calls "adult-sized refrigerators."
Meanwhile, a lot of grown-ups who are old enough to remember typing their term papers are still living like students. Books, magazines and loose stacks of paper are strewn everywhere. A Real Student secretly misses bricks and boards, although today they cost more than particle board shelves and are impossible to move.
When I lived in Alaska, I realized there was no point in buying Real Furniture. You could equip a ten-room house for the cost of shipping the contents of a studio apartment to the Lower 48.
I ended up buying a couch from a graduating student and adding an extra futon to the Bedroom Set. In my next job, I fully intended to do the same until a colleague observed, "Isn't there a time in your life when you stop buying used couches from students?"
A friend had a similar experience when she visited a Real Furniture Store seeking bookshelves. The salesperson showed her a nice unit for $450. Seeing that my friend was about to pass out, the salesperson explained, "This is a piece of furniture that you will be proud to display in your home."
My friend left the store in a daze. Somehow, she explained later, she had never thought of bookshelves as furniture.
Still, I see progress. A friend called to say he bought a house because he was tired of living like a student and was ready to grow up. He was forty-five at the time.
I myself have acquired some Real Furniture, including the Beautiful New Couch I bought twelve years ago. And I once had a grown-up lawn, thanks to my lawn service person, who was a student.
We will never succeed completely. My friend with the house just called to say that his two cats have shredded most of the trappings of his adult life.
I understand perfectly. My Beautiful New Couch has served as a place for me, my house-sitters and my guests to take naps, and the dog has carried out extensive performance tests on each cushion.
I haven't been a student but the Beautiful New Couch has gone through a reverse graduation: it looks far more exhausted than its predecessor -- the couch I bought fifteen ago, from a student.
For serious advice about moving, download Making the Big Move.
About The Author
Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com.
"Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com
Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
I write and talk a lot about dreams... Read More
INSPIRATION can be a powerful thing... Read More
For those people who lost friends and loved ones in the September 11th World Trade Center attacks, the anniversary will re-open the wounds and renew the pain of great loss... Read More
Copyright 2004 ... Read More
The rewards of life come to those who do, not to those whomerely read, talk or day dream... Read More
How strong are you? I'm not asking if you can carry 150 lbs... Read More
Not long after the beginning a being fell from the heavens to the earth... Read More