The last 15 days were a daze. Spiritual crisis and loggerheads with God. Repeated emo + heated arguments with two people close to me, out of which one described me as 'dropping nukes'. 20 ++ Christmas cards jammed up the office printer, and each Season's Greeting card greeted me with the typical idiotic blinking red light. A fever + flu + cough epidemic swept across the cubicles at work before hitting my table. My grandma's now in JB and staying with the mom - who for some reason is being difficult by ignoring my messages and attempts to arrange visits to grandma. An outing with four ex-classmates cancelled for the second? third? time, and it's been delayed more than a month already.

Life ain't rosy for those around me either; the bff's mother drives her up the wall almost every damn day, the hubby went deaf in one ear, and my aunty underwent an eye operation to fix some black spots in her visual field. 

And today, I had my period. The painful, agonizing, bleed-till-you-black-out sort. FML. 

To numb the emotional roller coaster, today, after a long, long, day at work, I gave up on the gym and took the MRT to the Esplanade instead. And headed straight for the Haagen-daaz ice cream store.

Heavenly was the smooth indulgence of bitter-sweet Green Tea haagen-daaz ice cold goodness in a waffle cone. Totally worth every cent of the SGD $6.70 paid upfront.

At the Esplanade, known for free music performances in the evenings, there was a cute young singer today ready to bare his soul to the awaiting audience. With the ice cream in hand I lazed on a triangle-shaped seat against the wall and the non-musical world was no more. 

Almost prophetically, the suave young man belted out in a sweet mid-falsetto, Let it Be, by the Beatles...
 
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
 
 
It was almost as if God was reminding me, "Worry not about your troubles, for I am in control of your circumstances. Whatever unsettles your mind, give it up to me, and taken care of those matters will be..."
 

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be...

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be




...the power of the marriage bond.
 
Came to me as a huge shock. So many little things... which I dearly miss. Things i did NOT expect to miss.
 
Socks on the floor. Packing leftover dinner for the next day's bento. Baileys vs Beer. Hanging laundry. Walking to the grocery shop to buy organic milk. Baking muffins. Or Cookies. Peeling grapefruits. Morning hugs. The hugs after your work. Watching CSI. Roasting vegetables. Naming the pillow myuk. Knittings. Post-it notes on the toilet seat. Strolling by Aker Brygge. Ice skating. Pizza at Brugata. Getting the cheeks pinched. Drooling over organic soap products at Body Shop. Flat feet jokes. Asking if I remember my keys/cards/phone/transport card before leaving the house. Losing my keys/cards/phone/transport card in random jacket pockets. Cooking surprise food. You washing the dishes after I cook. Playing baseball. Sharing chocolates. Being paralyzed after a fight. Recycling paper and plastic bottles and beer cans. Making pancakes during the weekends. Going for evening runs. Cafe chats. Growing vegetables.
 
The little things. The routine things. The comforts and emotional security of that routine. Small little events, but life-defining. Insanely bonding.
 
The truth is, no matter how hard or difficult life gets, when two people are married, they end up giving up a large part of their lives to each other (whether they like it or not!). To severe that bond - good or bad - would be like ripping flesh apart. The bond is so powerful; any attempt to destroy it would destroy the couple itself.
 
It is a bond that I have severely underestimated...


Moral of the story (subjective to opinions of people):
1) Do not marry when you're unsure
2) Do not marry under pressure (especially parental pressure)
3) Do not marry BEFORE you've figured out what you want to do with your life. And WHERE in the world you want to live in.
 
In short, do not marry if there is hesitation of ANY sort. And do not marry when under 25 years of age.





http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6342116.ece


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/14/polly-vernon-childlessness-cameron-diaz-babies


The world automatically assumes that kids come naturally after marriage. I'd say to them: marriage is one thing, and kids is an entirely different thing.

To all women out there who experience great pressure to have kids, I feel ya, I really do. I've had countless moments when friends, relatives and even strangers come up and ask "When is your turn?" and get taken aback when I tell them, "I never want children." Their faces fall, as if to say, how DARE she have the AUDACITY to deny the chance of motherhood!

And the next question that follows will always be, "What about your husband? Doesn't HE want kids?"

Sigh.

Thank you, World. Don't you know that most of the responsibility of caring for kids are still primarily the women's responsibility? How often do men think about childcare? Or readily give up their career to care for their offspring? Or even CONSIDER how to balance their families and career? In my own sad experience, men can only think of how much fun it is to play with the child - perhaps with an occasional bottlefeed or diaper change. It's the woman who will bear the burden of pregnancy + giving birth + taking care of it. Even if the father DOES want to be involved, few of them want to deal with the day-to-day responsibility of how much hard work it is. For most guys I know, having their precious sleep disturbed by a wailing baby would be more than enough hardship to bear.

Just like when I lived in Norway. The statements the world threw in my face - OF COUSRE I'd give up my life and career and everything to be a housewife there. OF COURSE i was lucky to be able to live in Europe (nevermind maladjustment issues). OF COURSE i was blessed that I didn't NEED to work cause the hubby was earning enough. OF COURSE I should stick around with him if i cared for him. OF COURSE. No one questions anything when a woman sacrifices for a man.

And then I left him to have my own life in Singapore/Malaysia. And I faced immense opposition. HOW DARE SHE abandon her husband and leave the poor fella alone in Norway? HOW DARE SHE desire her own career. HOW DARE SHE want her own life! HOW DARE SHE not support the man she married! HOW can she NOT sacrifice for him? HOW DARE SHE be so selfish!

You know, world, if a woman stays at home and takes cares of the kids, she's a wife/mother. If a man does that, he's a bloody saint.

If a man goes abroad to work (while leaving his wife and kids behind), he's earning a living + providing for them. If a woman does that, she's abandoning her family.

Of course, with increasing equality in gender roles worldwide (although much is still left to be desired), a lot of men are feeling that the world's starting to get dominated by women.

It's like, at the very juncture women lay footprints on the wet concrete of human history and start making great strides - the moment they stopped consulting men before coming to their own decisions - that's when the men start to panic. They start to feel that they're 'losing out' to girl power/the feminist movement and what-not. Sigh. You'd think that with dudes feeling that way, they'd gain some understading of what dudettes have been through and appreciate how hard we've fought for a desire to be EQUAL. Yet men still somehow believe that they are deserving of unconditional power and that they're #1 in society just because they've got a damn penis between their legs.

To all the men out there: When you start to feel completely alienated, marginalized, and rejected by society, welcome to the lives of your female counterparts.



Sigh...

Thursday, April 28th, 2011 15:21
Someone should just fire me from my life. I'm doing a terrible job of living it.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails...



I have a hubby that has all the characteristics of a love like that. One of the most patient, kindest, non-envious, non-selfish, non-angry, and most forgiving people I know.

And I embody NONE of it.

I'm the worst friggin' wife in the world.

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