For the first time in a long time, I woke up following a seven-hour almost straight deep sleep. Having received shiatsu from the massage chair while listening to Brahms's first piano concerto last night might have done the trick.
The morning sunshine poured in as I opened all shutters of my five-bedroom house. According to the weather forecast, it was going to be very hot today at the maximum of 37 degrees (98F.) Global warming has been increasingly intense.
Even so, I don't need to commute, nor do I have to telecommute. Until a while ago, I had been shackled to the work iPhone serving my boss, similar to a dog chained by its master. Now I have no supervisors. No guidance. No talking points. No flip-flops. No organizational disorganization. No turf wars.
This would be called a stress-free life.
For whatever reasons, being fired is one of the most unpleasant life events. It is like being expelled from school after earning straight As. My boss apologized over and over again and emphasized that the closure of the NOAA Asia office was entirely for a budget concern and had nothing to do with my performance. HR offered generous severance conditions.
Still, I agonized over what might have gone wrong and if there was anything that I could do to avoid this nightmare. The answer is no, because I did my best and still it happened.
For now I might as well enjoy life like a cat -- eat, sleep or play whenever I like.
