Seeking Balance

“I’ve decided I’m going to drop out of grad school and go live on a deserted tropical beach, get really shaggy, and live off fish and coconuts. I’ll spend my days obsessively sharpening my handmade spear, and if I ever hear ‘reflect on that’ again the person who said it will be stabbed.” – Personal Correspondence

Having sputtered through my first year of grad school, barely keeping my head above water and dreading getting back into it this September, I have decided to take action.

Throughout first-year the buzz word was “self-care” but I didn’t really get it, or more accurately I didn’t really buy into it.  As a student I felt as though someone else should be watching out for me, as though my profs were responsible for not overwhelming me.  Let me tell you they failed miserably!  As I move away from the student mentality and closer to becoming a professional it has occurred to me that sanity is my responsibility. Who knew!?!

This blog will chronicle my endeavour to engage in “self-care” this year.  The measure of my success will be that I do NOT, for example, end up on a roof with a rifle wearing a clown costume.  (And also that I do NOT end up a shaggy hermit on a beach with a spear, although that one still appeals to me.)  I’ll share my journey as a way of keeping myself motivated and also with the hope that you may find some inspiration here.  I’ll also share information and resources as I come across them, for your benefit and mine.

Here we go!