I’ve been envious of Tony, who’s spent the week journaling his thoughts and processes through the start of his school year. This week has been probably the most unique of mine in recent years. So many thoughts have gone through my head, so many times I’ve wanted to post them … I’m still not sure how to glue them together. I will do a recap this weekend, when hopefully I find some time to decompress and empty the mental inbox.

In a two minute recap, I had my grad student orientation at the start of the week, and I just finished my first week of class (okay, only two classes, and both this morning.) I’ve taken tours, introduced myself to people, and am trying to use all the helpful resources made available to me to make every minute of grad school count.

I’m also living alone, for the second time in my life, but under extremely different, and yet strikingly similar situations. That’s been an interesting mind wrap too.

And work, good ol’ work, is still omnipresent, and still busy.

So, there it is. It’s hard not to recount and feel like I really am “the master of my own destiny.” (I tried for a bit to find a reference for that, but failed.) The actions I do, the way I let myself feel, how I react to my environment, is all a conscious decision made by me. (Well, this week it’s been conscious, but there have been so many changes. I think in a steady-state, those choices are autonomous. Maybe we even feel ensnared by them – trapped in our own habits, and lives we’ve defined for us.) Now, I’m more consciously aware of all of this, and it’s changing me (or maybe I’m changing me.)

I guess I’ll find out, and of course, I’ll share that with you. But for now, it’s lunch time.