I’ve always had an eye for design.
For many years I was ashamed to say that I wanted to be a designer, because I was told when I was young that design was for women and real work was for men. Being a young boy at the time, I was so disappointed in myself for wanting to do “women’s work” as my dad called it, and so I attempted to suppress my desires and live life the man’s way. Now I am a fifty year old man with three kids, and funnily enough, a wife who is an interior designer.
My wife is incredible. When I expressed my admiration of her work to her, she opened up her world completely to me. Soon the secret pleasures of my life: watching interior design shows, reading design magazines and obsessing over each year’s best designs, became shared hobbies. I no longer had to hide my love for design, and when we built our first proper family home eight years back, we both worked alongside a kitchen designer to build the most perfect kitchen anyone had ever seen. When three people with a keen eye for design work together, the results are beyond impressive.
Being accepted and doing what you love truly is the recipe for happiness. I feel so free now. If I decided I wanted to employ and work alongside a renovator today, I would be free to do so. I think my next project will be bathroom renovations. Melbourne is not short of talented interior designers, which means I’ll be working with the best. Maybe one day, now that my father doesn’t have the power to dictate my life, and now that I have my wife’s support, I will become an interior designer.
Dreams come true all the time. I think it might finally be time for my dream to come true, too. Here’s to happiness.