Reinvention

I've been thinking about this for a while. It seems we have very few opportunities in life to undertake a massive reinvention. Most of our opportune times are few and far between. I mean, if we want to reinvent ourselves, we kind of want it to go unnoticed. Well, I would anyway. So it seems we have a few clear cut windows for transformation; the transition from high school to university, between jobs and if you're lucky or unlucky enough (I haven't quite worked out which yet), a spot on Extreme Makeover.

Sometimes, I feel like we kind of corner ourselves into a persona that we didn't mean to create, or perhaps one we grow out of. Think of the Spice Girls. Imagine being known as Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Scary for your entire professional life? Ugh. Then again, if I had as much money in the bank for doing a bit of teetering on my sparkly platforms and lip syncing like they did, I'd answer to butt mouth for the rest of my life. But for the rest of us, how do we overcome ourselves?

Let's talk work. Some of us have a divide between our work persona and our personal one. I, for one, don't. Well, I don't think I do anyway. I can barely remember where I leave my tube pass let alone not be myself for 40+ hours a week. The thing is, when I started this 'real job' charade seven years ago, I had no freakin' idea what I was doing. Because I'm slow on the uptake, it took me ages to work out that I could actually be myself and didn't have to pretend to be this mature, worldly and professional working woman, when, quite clearly, I was not. The thing is, when we kind of start being one thing, it's so embarrassingly obvious when we try and change it. Think our dear Neighbours stars trying to break into singing, or Josh Harnett doing theatre. Finished cringing?

I have no idea how I would like to reinvent myself. I think I'd like to, but I'd probably forget that I had done it and then I'd just be left looking like a dick who was smiling excessively, sporting a new walk and wearing a beret. Don't ask me why I hypothetically transformed myself into a valium taking, Parisian strutter. Weird. Maybe I'll leave reinvention to our Kylie.