I'm baaack

It has been one year and 4 months since my last post. Life has been busy in that time. I've not only felt as if I've had no time for creative writing, but also nothing to say. My mind was so focused on research that I gave myself little room for other writing beyond a Facebook or Instagram entry. However, I need to write, and I need to write more than just for work. And as I'm typing these words now, I'm realizing that blog thoughts used to just flow, and now I have to think about it. I hope to change that.

I am 3 days out from my dissertation defense. I think it will take awhile to get used to this major milestone and what it means, not only through how it changes my career, but also because it marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. I'm using this new start to reconfigure my life priorities. It will take a while to habituate to the adjustments that I have set for myself, but I need to push through. Some of them are critical, others of them will make life more balanced. All of them are intended to help me take a step back from the hectic pace of the last 2 years as that pace can't, or at least shouldn't, be maintained long-term. I expect this will be a difficult transition as the use-every-moment-for-work multi-tasking has become a habit. So, I am embarking on an exercise in "retraining the brain" -- and I hope to make permanent.

Daily
 o stretch/meditate every morning
 o make bed
 o pick up one space

Weekly
 o exercise 3xweek (beyond walking/dog park)
 o declutter/organize one room
 o take bus to work 3xweek
 o blog
 o visit friend(s)
 o yard clean

Monthly
 o 1-2 date night
 o 1-2 friends over for dinner