Day 147 - How Did That Even Happen?!
24th August, 2021
I have simply no idea how I got here. In the process of going from Day 7 to Day 147, I’ve managed to become a complete hypocrite of one of my earlier points about showing up, being here every day, and contributing to this stream of something or other.
Going from being a parent of one child to two children is a non-linear increase in household chaos. These wee beauties are genetically evolved to double team you from the first day they make eye contact. When one is sleeping, the other cries and telekinetically encourages the sibling to join in. A chorus of screeches and window shattering ensues.
In the intervening 100+ days since my last fellowship check-in, we (at home) have managed to settle into a new equilibrium; a steady drip of madness that my wife (the real hero) and I can just about manage as a team. As such, I’m back to try this again.
On the fellowship side of the past five score days, so much has happened. I’ve scrubbed a lab to clear out decades’ worth of archaic curiosities, transported my old lab kit to the new fellowship lab, sourced, priced, and bought new equipment, advertised posts to join our team, set interview strategies, made hires, postponed hires, made new professional collaborations, amicably severed old ones, had both academic and business-focused mentor meetings that challenged my thinking, finished a book draft, completed one course, failed to commit to completing another, aaaand so on, I’ll say more about all of this in other posts, but suffice to say that time is passing so much faster than I ever expected.
One of the main struggles over this time has been to not see every day as being in urgent need of massive progress. Shaking the academic guilt of not working every minute of every day is tough. I am definitely some sort of a workaholic, and not always productively. Rarely productively actually. I’ve slowly realized the power in creative sprints as opposed to prescribed feats of bravado endurance that bears little fruit. Taking that time to adjust and thrive with my family, as a family, is time I will never see again. And I’m immeasurably OK with that!
Call this a recovered project that was almost lost. Which of your own projects warrants the dust to be blown of it?
I’ll see you tomorrow. I promise this time…
If you have a question for Marc, upload an audio recording for it to be featured on a later Q&A episode!
If you have a question for Marc, upload an audio recording for it to be featured on a later Q&A episode!
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