my next blog post was originally going to be a “hey, J & I just celebrated 1 year together!”, due about a month ago. but life got in the way of blogging it.
now, I’m faced with the decision of whether to follow him to Sydney, or not. WTF!??
you see, J, in his disenchantment with his now-former employer, started applying for jobs, particularly targeting places he actually wanted to work (as distinct from simply applying to places who just happened to be advertising on Seek or whatever). in the interim, he accepted a 3 month contract with an agency, which he’s a few weeks into.
one of those leads was with a major globally-recognised web-based software company, BASED IN SYDNEY. after a lengthy courtship, including a trip to Sydney at his own expense, he’s been offered the position, including significant assistance & reimbursement of relocation costs. and now after several days of deliberating & number-crunching, he’s decided to accept it. ignoring the bigger picture it’s almost a no-brainer, it’s a great opportunity that should directly facilitate his desire to live/work overseas in the web world a year or two hence.
but there IS a bigger picture. those who know me know my thoughts on Sydney, and why I left there 11 years ago bound for Melbourne, and would understand my reluctance, or at least extreme ambivalence, to return, and in the process jeopardising my Melbourne-based client income. (and for those who don’t know, no, it wasn’t for any of the classic reasons one usually flees a city (love/hate, STDs, parking fines), it was just, to cut a long story short, being totally over Sydney Life & needing a big change).
and there’s J’s youngest brother who lives with us, who’ll need to relocate – somewhere.
J starts at the new job in Sydney in mid-September, less than a month away.
suffice to say i’m a little shitty at J’s lack of consequential thinking. although I was aware he’d applied, there was no “what if?” discussion if he were to be offered a job, and naturally need to start there within a month. partly that’s because of his lack of self-confidence at landing a job with a high-flying company. but partly it’s the reality of our ‘partnership’.
as you might remember, after I returned from Byron in April last year, I started hatching a plan; a plan that perhaps would’ve seen me living up there by now, perhaps continuing to service my clients remotely (with the assistance of a local pair of hands for on-site work), or perhaps doing something altogether different.
you might also remember that, shortly after I announced that intention, J “changed his mind”, and we rekindled what had begun & quickly ended 6 months earlier. acknowledging that lightning doesn’t usually strike twice, there was still more than enough mutual attraction, interest & respect to “enjoy the ride together for however long it lasts”; which put my half-made plan to migrate north on hold.
well, now i need to balance “however long it lasts” with the financial feasibility AND desirability of moving back to Sydney. don’t get me wrong, the last year with J has been totally joyful. but, a man’s gotta pay the bills, too!
as far as my willingness to leave Melbourne, nothing has changed. many of the friends I made in the first 5 years have left (or died), and 5 years of social stagnation from depression did nothing to rectify that situation. whilst there’s still a few people here I’d really miss, there’s even more back in Sydney who are already rallying for my return!
it’s more than geographically closer to my intended destination, it’s a rut-busting move of similar proportions to the one that got me down here in the first place, and if there’s anyone who needs a comfortable, financially subsistent 11 year rut busted, it’s me! 1 to 2 years in Sydney (before J finally fulfils his overseas ambition, and I mine) could be just what I need to unsettle, stress and stretch me in hopefully positive ways, getting rid of some of the old, to make way for some of the new.
or am I just being a pathetic lapdog?
