Hello!
Let’s talk about life transitions today.
As you might know, I recently finished my dissertation and I will no longer be a student. I have been a student for about 24 years by now. So, this new chapter in my life is very exciting and I am looking forward to it but also a bit intimidating. I do not know how life is when you are not a student.
My new job is an office job, so it will have set hours. I did not have that as a student, especially as a PhD student, because my mind was constantly occupied with my research (though the actual work time was not that much, relatively speaking). So, I did not have free weekends or evenings. The idea of having free weekends genuinely excite me but in the past week, I also got a bit concerned. My mind is used to being occupied. What if it cannot handle having that much free time? So, I started looking for fun language classes I can take, dance classes where I can learn dances I have long wanted to and I am more relaxed now. At least, I have alternative ways in my mind to fulfill that emptiness. Maybe in time, I will like just having free times and not take classes but I need that in the transition.
This concern hit me because I decided to take this month as a completely free month where I really did not do much. I do not have my dissertation to be concerned about and I will start my job in June. So, this is a free time period. The first few weeks were fun because I did not have a time like this ever since I started my first graduate school 10 years ago. But then, the emptiness started bugging me, which led me to think of alternatives. I think I need a smoother transition from being fully occupied to calmness than I originally imagined.
How do you handle transitions in your life? Any suggestions? Let’s discuss life changes and ways to handle them today.