As the old song goes, “make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold.” I’m reminded of this song often, as I navigate my new life (three months in) Down Under.
Sydney is just beautiful. I walk around this city in awe that this is now my life. I’m just bopping along and then I look up and am gobsmacked by yet another beautiful scene.
Once I made the decision to move, I noticed that I approached NYC slightly differently. I stopped looking at two things I typically like looking at: clothing and men. Clothing because, well, I'm throwing things out and not looking to re-accumulate. And the man thing just made sense.
Please, go ahead and settle into yourself. Your personality is what it is. Don't waste another minute cringing about your social awkwardness. Just be who you are. You're an introvert. You're never really going to totally fix this, but it's okay.
Can something be awesome and horrible at the same time? Apparently, because that's what this was for me. I really hated the climbing part; it was much, much tougher than many of us imagined it would be. But it was more awesome than it was horrible.
Back then I didn't want to be addressed as "ma'am." "Ma'am" is a lady of 50 years or older, which technically I was, but I had a much fresher attitude . . . or so I thought.
Obnoxious Question No. 1: "What's wrong with you?" This is usually paraphrased as "Why aren't you married?"—but we singles know what you really mean.
I know that a friendship between a married man and a single woman can be tricky. Which really makes me appreciate my guy friends—and their wives—that much more. I’ve learned, though, that each relationship is different. This part-time-husband thing wasn’t planned; it just sort of developed organically.
We have stayed too long on dates we didn’t want to be on just so we wouldn’t be seen as too picky, difficult, and whatever other hostile descriptions single women are sometimes labeled.
The “other woman” has traditionally been the scorned party, a negative force. But is this changing? Is adultery becoming more acceptable? Rather than painting all adultery with a broad brush, it seems we may now be seeing gradations of “how wrong is it?”
I am puzzled by those who protest the show "Scandal" as sending the wrong message about women. The name of the show is "Scandal," not "Saint." It’s supposed to incite. It’s a failure if it’s not scandalous.