Sunday, December 31, 2017

2017 is over - long live 2018

I'll keep this short and sweet. I had planned to write a longer post with accomplishments, grievances, wishes for the new year and leaving bitterness aside - however, as the story goes, life came in the way.

So, I'll make this summary because I really want a post the last day of the year - if nothing else to leave some of the bad stuff behind and look to the future.

When I thought about 2017 earlier this week I placed it on my "Top 5 worst years of my life". Yep, that good. However, as some of the other years that end up on that list - 2017 had some pretty great moments that I would like to revel in, to focus on them instead of the less than stellar moments.

Good moments are mainly that I got some pretty big accomplishments in the year;
A Nature publication (I'm in the middle of the authors but I'm so proud of it).
I passed the PMP certification and can call me a PhD,PMP.
I got invited and did a podcast
Friends and family came to visit and we went on some nice trips and had great time together.
I got a trip to Las Vegas and got to ride in the desert, somethings I've wanted for a long time.
Found myself some more Swedes in town and celebrated both Midsummer and Lucia/Jul together.
I went to Smashville (Nashville TN) for the Stanley Cup Final and got to be there when Predators won at home and the whole city got together.

The less than positive things that happened? I 'll leave them unmentioned since they are pretty private and the main reason to mention them would be to have them as a learning lesson on "moving on" and "restarting and refocusing".

For 2018, what do I wish for?

My big hope is that I will refrain from becoming bitter. It is one of the things I fear the most and something that I would feel like a huge failure. I will also use the first few months to restart the everlasting question "what should I do with my life" and see if there are some answers out there. I will also work on my volunteerism and add a few more causes to be involved in (nothing to keep myself out of the bitterness).

For now though: HAPPY NEW YEAR! See you New Year!

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

There is Sunshine Outside the Ivory Tower (shameless selfpromoting...)

So I have been on a podcast..... Earlier this fall I got asked to be on a podcast talking about my career, how I left post-docing, and a little bit about what choices I made doing so. We had a good talk about "how it looks in hindsight", "are you happier professional now than before" and "it's about believing in yourself". It's up/out now if you want to take a listen?!

There is Sunshine Outside the Ivory Tower, episode 7

(and yes, it might be a little self-promoting but that's how the world works, isn't it? And the Podcast - without my episode - is very good and brings up very good points on "finding a new place after leaving academia". It's a tricky thing, those pesky feelings and ambitions.)

happy listening!

"Be able to ask someone else, not you, and go through the experiment with you to see if there’s something you can salvage. Get a pep talk and get someone else to evaluate things” – chall