In Three Years

Being so close to New Year's and all, I think it's only natural to still be in a reflective mood. I wanted to find one word that could describe this past year and at first I thought of "Change" or "Move." But I think the best word is actually "Love." Love has changed everything for me. Instead of getting by, I am now running and do not feel tired.

In three years (after I finish my doctorate), I am planning to move overseas and either take a break or do a postdoctoral fellowship for a year or two. Having a concrete reward like this at the of grad school is really nice. In three years, I could be in London, Florence, somewhere in Switzerland or France, or maybe Cairo. I am living the dream.

Which brings me back to New Years. I am really enjoying the Present. I feel so lucky to have a job that I love, to be doing research on Parkinson's disease during such an interesting time when neural models and theories on the disease are changing. I feel happy that writing has come back to me in full force. I always have the words now. A poem is always sitting in my head, waiting to be written down. I have rhythmic words in my head almost all the time. I appreciate the Past. Regardless of the pressures in the past year, or the unknown, it ended fine. And I find myself once again knowing that, in most situations, there is not even a need to worry or get apprehensive, because it will end well. My pastor talked once about a hockey game he watched - the Big Game. He had to tape it to watch later because he had some errands to do out of the house all day. Despite his best efforts to not overhear the score, he found out that his team had won the game. Watching the game later that night, during times when his team was down, even by a few goals, he did not worry. He sat back, and felt reassured... because he knew the ending. Life is like this. Of course there are situations that call for worry. But for most day to day problems, they won't matter a year from now, or the next day. And usually, wherever we are is exactly where we are supposed to be.