Quarter-life crisis?

Hello, strangers.

I started this blog expecting to write more; however, summer classes are in full swing, leaving me with little time for much else. I'm still looking forward to reading some of your blogs though. I'll try to get to that soon.

For the last few days, I've been trying to think of some creative topic to write on... and I've come up with nothing. But I have realized that graduate school has really stifled my creativity. The papers are all fact-based, requiring support from numerous scientific journals but leaving little room for any creativity or originality. Booooooring... it's even boring to read about, right?!

So, here's my dilemma. I love my field of study, but I am not a fan of the type of writing required or the fact that I feel my creativity suffers because of it. So, what's a girl to do?!

This is where my quarter-life crisis comes in. I'll be 25 this year. I've been in school since I was 4... never took a break. This year especially, I've noticed that there are so many things I want to do, but I've spent all of my time being a good student and having little time for much else in my life. And it's not just me... many of my friends and classmates (who also are around 25 years old) have also come to the harsh realization that they've focused their entire young lives on school and being good students. So, a few of us have finally decided that it's time to start living... we can still be students, but it's imperative that we experience life more fully from now on. It's time to LIVE.

So, in my exploration of what living really means, I've tried to understand what gives life meaning. I realized that life isn't about what you have but instead about what you do and your relationships with others (especially how you treat others). These things are what give life meaning. I think a lot of people spend their lives trying to acquire things... the more things you have, the better your life is.. at least that's the presumption they have. However, when you die, people don't talk about the things you had.. they talk about what you did and the type of person you were. So, I think it's important to think about what kind of impact I have on people with my actions. I want to do things that have meaning. Writing to me is one of those things. I feel as though it is the perfect outlet to let your voice be heard and let others understand who you are. So, I think it's important that I continually remind myself that writing gives me meaning, so I need to find time to do it more often. I know I also mentioned relationships with others as something that is important to me, but I'll tackle that in another blog. I feel like I've already written enough.

I guess this was my long-winded way of saying that graduate school has been detrimental to my creative side, but now I'm realizing that I need to find time to do things, like writing, that give me meaning in order to fully live my life. So, I challenge you guys to really explore what gives YOU meaning and to not lose sight of those things, regardless of the path you decide to take in life. There's always room for the things that make you happy. :)