Random Musings: The world through an outsider's eyes

I'm travelling a lot for work at the moment. It sounds far more glamorous than it is. Generally its long days of work, before an evening of more work as I try to get through the email that doesn't stop coming even when I'm not in the office to deal with it.

A room with a king bed is great because it means I have space to lay out materials as I pack up satchels or participant packs and the key things I first look for are the ironing board to get my work clothes presentable and if they have decent tea in the mini bar.

But between the hubbub of long days of busy work, one of the things I love is the moments I spend by myself in cafes. I try to find a window seat where I can watch the world go by.

Trams full of early morning commuters. People walking dogs. Mothers with prams on a mid- morning outing. Uniformed teenagers getting an after school coffee (when did that start, I don't think we ever did that in my time). Busses filled with tired workers heading home. The strange pauses and spaces that need to be filled in during a day of work travel lets me see people at all stages of their day and view them with an outsider's eyes.

Travel for work is very different from being on a holiday. It isn't just that your purpose and attitude is different - work not play - holidays for me revolve much more about who I'm with. The solitude of work travel provides an opportunity to sit back and observe. Work travel also usually places me in the business district or office parks, not your typical holiday destination. Instead it is home of the natives going about their everyday business.

As with anyone who travels a lot for work, the glamour rubbed off a long time ago. However I do love the opportunities it gives for professional growth, the inspirational people I meet, the conversations I have. And of course the opportunity for a little extra people watching.

Dressed for Success

I have been a little absent from my blog of late.  Sorry about that, I put it down to my new job.  I'm having a fantastic time but my brain has been bursting at the seams with all the new knowledge I'm acquiring and it hasn't left much space for creative writing - or creative anything really.  However I'm going to make a concerted effort to get back into the swing of writing and reading everyone else's blogs, I feel out of the loop!

There are many great things about my new job but one thing I've noticed that I really hadn't expected is how excited I've been about the clothes.  It isn't that I have some brilliant uniform or anything it is that over the last few years I've worked in a very casual environment but now I'm in a bustling office full of well dressed women.

When I started working one of the things I was most excited about was the clothes.  Random I know, but after too many years of bottle green uniforms followed by my uni uniform of jeans and a t-shirt the idea of dressing up for work sounded brilliant.

I've been through various fashion phases related to the work I was doing.  At first I wore a lot of suits.  Skirt suits, pant suits, greys, blacks, pinstripes.  There was one fantastic bright red suit - I really loved it because it made me stand out when I went to the numerous events full of men in black and grey.

As my work moved away from lots of formal goverment meetings I moved to a slightly less formal style of dress.  Lots of jackets were still involved but not so matchy matchy.

Then there was the last few years working for a small business where it was rare to have clients visit.  It isn't that I still didn't dress nicely, but the very lovely team of guys I worked with would just never notice.  How do I know?  They didn't notice for a week when I wore ugg boots in winter and there was never a problem if I just felt like wearing jeans to work.  To be honest I probably could have worn a track suit and no one noticed.

Now I'm back in an office environment complete with a team of well dressed women.  Actually the women in this office are quite fantastically dressed and it has me upping my game.  I'm back paying attention to what I wear in the morning, thinking about outfits, accessories and different ways to wear things and I'm LOVING it.

There are many aspects to work.  Lets face it, the primary reason most of us work is for the income, but there is so much more you get out of the experience.  There is the social interaction, the intellectual stimulation, the satisfaction of achieving outcomes.  And so for me the clothes is something I'm really enjoying about my new job.

Do you like dressing for work?  And what are the aspects of work you really enjoy?

Inspiration

I work in the kind of industry where there isn't a lot of organised professional development. It isn't the kind of thing where you can do courses or further education to much effect, so instead, I try to go to networking events and events where they have speakers who you can learn from.

I'm regularly hugely inspired by the people I hear talk. Their experiences, lessons learnt, trials and tribulations all inspire me to try something new when the opportunity arises.

Today I went to a talk by Louise Curtis. She is a Canberra business woman who took her idea of chocolate bouquets, and has turned it into Australia's fastest ever growing franchise business, Lollypotz. She was so inspiring. I don't know that I could ever work the 17 hour days that she does with two small children, but hearing how she could take her idea and make it a reality was great.

It is those stories that keep me working on my dreams and ambitions.

A room with a view

Have you ever worked somewhere without a window? Where all day you sit in artificial light, air conditioning, remote from the natural world?

I have a couple of times and I find it incredibly draining. Particularly in the winter months when you often arrive in fog, leave in darkness and it feels like you never get to see the sun.

Well a couple of weeks ago I got to move into an office with a window - and not just any window, one that opens! I sit with my back to it, but it still fills my area with natural light, and a short 180 degree pivot and I can look out at a tree about to burst into leaf, a footpath, the pigeons nesting on the next building and down a long street. There is always something happening, something to look at. In those moments when you need a brain break, it is perfect.

Plus, on a gorgeous day like today, you can open the window and get bursts of fresh spring air in the room.

So I really appreciate my new office and its wonderful window.