Lucerne, Switzerland

In between Paris and Lucerne, I had been to Lyon and Besançon and while they were lovely places, Lucerne held some realisations for me. Lucerne is beautiful. Right on the lake with the Swiss Alps as a backdrop. Fresh, clean air and not as crowded as some of the other European cities. I stayed with some wonderful friends of mine and their young kids. It was the first time on the whole trip where I felt I could forgo sightseeing. Just stay at home and do everyday tasks. A bit of stability and normalcy. Some people think I’m weird, but I like grocery shopping. Doing it in another country also serves to help me learn the language and get an insight into the culture. i.e. things in Switzerland are expensive!

Doing household chores, while not terribly exciting, gives me a sense of achievement. It’s a quick trip to gratification land. Vacuum, floor is clean. Doesn’t matter that crumbs fall again from the high chairs, but for those few hours, the floor is clean, the house is comfortable. Doing laundry, hanging out the clothes etc. has a soothing rhythm and routine to it too. Almost meditative. For others, it can be a time to sort out things in their head.

During this visit, I spoke at length to my friends about career and life in general. Here is what I learnt from the discussions and  living with them.

• Family is most important. This may be your blood related family, or another group of people who love and support you. Caring for them can be one of the most satisfying jobs in the world. Seeing this relationship is quite special and beautiful too.
• However, it is also important to never lose sight of yourself. It is important for children to see that both of their parents have lives outside of the family. This is important for their own development and impression of women and men, mothers and fathers.
• Children force you to live a bit more in the present. Helping them drowns out the voices in your head. Anxiety really dropped back.
• Have strong core values. Just like strong core muscles help you move your body without losing balance, strong core values helps you weather the storm of life without losing yourself, without allowing parts of you to be snagged onto things as you move through life. These snags either take pieces from you so you are always trying to fill an empty spot or drag you back to a place in the past so you can’t let go. Of course you will leave your mark on places as you move through life, but don’t let them be core pieces of you.
• As you grow and get to know yourself and what is important to you, these core values will develop and appear to you.
• Don’t let work be everything in your life. I knew this already, but it is hard to apply. Find other things to identify yourself with.
• Connect with employees of companies of interest ie. on LinkedIn and have an honest discussion about what they do at work, how they see the culture of the company and the direction of the company.
• Think about what you want out of your next job. What skills do you want to gain? Be prepared to walk away if you are not able to achieve this in the environment or there are no other growth opportunities.

Well that’s it for today. A relatively short post, but a few points for you to think about.