My Life With Furniture
These days, I find the lines are blurred between school and Real Life. Student life often means spending a cozy evening with your computer or heading to the boardroom for an on-site lesson. Even traditional campus life has been redesigned for grown-ups. On September 5, 1999, the New York Times Magazine carried a story about life in the New Dorms that look like yuppie condominiums, complete with carpeting and what the Times calls "adult-sized refrigerators." Meanwhile, a lot of grown-ups who are old enough to remember typing their term papers are still living like students. Books, magazines and loose stacks of paper are strewn everywhere. A Real Student secretly misses bricks and boards, although today they cost more than particle board shelves and are impossible to move. When I lived in Alaska, I realized there was no point in buying Real Furniture. You could equip a ten-room house for the cost of shipping the contents of a studio apartment to the Lower 48. I ended up buying a couch from a graduating student and adding an extra futon to the Bedroom Set. In my next job, I fully intended to do the same until a colleague observed, "Isn't there a time in your life when you stop buying used couches from students?" A friend had a similar experience when she visited a Real Furniture Store seeking bookshelves. The salesperson showed her a nice unit for $450. Seeing that my friend was about to pass out, the salesperson explained, "This is a piece of furniture that you will be proud to display in your home." My friend left the store in a daze. Somehow, she explained later, she had never thought of bookshelves as furniture. Still, I see progress. A friend called to say he bought a house because he was tired of living like a student and was ready to grow up. He was forty-five at the time. I myself have acquired some Real Furniture, including the Beautiful New Couch I bought twelve years ago. And I once had a grown-up lawn, thanks to my lawn service person, who was a student. We will never succeed completely. My friend with the house just called to say that his two cats have shredded most of the trappings of his adult life. I understand perfectly. My Beautiful New Couch has served as a place for me, my house-sitters and my guests to take naps, and the dog has carried out extensive performance tests on each cushion. I haven't been a student but the Beautiful New Couch has gone through a reverse graduation: it looks far more exhausted than its predecessor -- the couch I bought fifteen ago, from a student. For serious advice about moving, download Making the Big Move. About The Author Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com. "Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294
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