The wonders of work

What a week. After two years in the wilderness, my reign as an unemployed entity came to an end. I am working once again. I need to start with Monday because it was excellent. And I'm conscious that my recent (and infrequent) posts have been rather disparaging about life in general. Which is not how I aim to be, but is an accurate reflection of my attitude in recent weeks. I've been feeling pretty over it. All of it.

But enough of that. Because on Monday all of that melted away. It was like all my Christmases had come at once. For a start, Sydney put on a glorious sunny show so compared to my waterlogged initiation the week before, getting myself and Miss I on the bus and into the city was a breeze. Easy peasy. The drop off at nursery wasn't quite so dry but we both survived.

I got myself to the office, picked up a coffee and made my way to my desk. Frankly I've always thought that the biggest drawcard of any office job is being able to start the day with a warm and delicious coffee in hand. But even from there my day improved. Not only did I have no contact with any bureaucratic body, no boxes to unpack and no forms to fill in, I sat uninterrupted at my desk for hours at a time.

I got myself reacquainted with the magazine. I had civilised conversations with colleagues, both new and old. I was assigned interesting articles to research and start writing. I called some old contacts. I did some computer training. The simple fact this training felt almost joyful gives you some indication of my enthusiasm for being back in the working world*.

I was half expecting someone to tap me on the shoulder and say there's been a big mistake. That I was required somewhere else to answer phones and make tea, or look after my toddler while simultaneously conducting interviews and writing copy. But the tap never came. I smiled inside and out as it dawned on me that it was all real. That at work I just get to be me. I don't have to juggle hats to get things done. I just have to do my work.

It felt easy. And fun. And overwhelmingly familiar. I had forgotten how many people I would recognise. A floor of faces that I know, not because I work with them directly but because we shared an office floor for a couple of years. So I'm used to seeing them in the kitchen, at their printer, in the lifts, in the coffee queue. In some respects, since I left, a lot has changed. But, at work, everything's pretty much the same. From my vantage point, nothing could be better.

*My enthusiasm for the new software program waned very quickly when I discovered on Wednesday that I have very little ability to navigate it. Further training is scheduled.