Free-Write with Me

The coming eclipse has got this area all in a tizzy...we are close to the path of totality and will experience about 94% totality here. It's also a big energetic shift. In a part of my life I don't really advertise, I have training in Quantum Crystalline Energy methods, and my teacher suggests it's time to do some Shadow Work, to take a fearless inventory of our hopes and dreams and fears, and let the dark parts go with the new energetic patterns coming in to our consciousness. So, here we go. Whom do I hate?  I mean, I try not to hate anyone. There are days my eldest child is particularly trying, but I don't hate him. Same for my husband. Same for my mom. I hate stupid people? People who drive like they ain't got no where to be? (I always have somewhere to be, and I'm usually late in getting there.)  There are plenty of people I would prefer not to interact with, but it doesn't really rise to the level of hate; friends' chosen partners, friends of ...

I've been thinking lately about the differences between how I was taught to behave as a student and a post-doc, and how I am now expected to behave as an assistant professor. Be selfish, they tell me. Take time for yourself, they say. Block entire days, don't come to work, write write write write write. Close Outlook; email can wait. These are all pieces of advice my mentors have given me. Prioritize. It's all about you and your success. My current department chair was my post-doc principal investigator. The rules weren't printed anywhere, but it was expected that I was constantly working for the good of the group. There was no such thing as personal time. She expected to be able to find me on campus, either at my desk or in our research unit, during normal business hours, even if I was supposed to be writing; I sat in an office with five other people. I always had a computer with me, and was always on email (this pre-dates the iPhone; how did we ever function witho...