A new man in 2 years

Today was quite momentous... I officially start my next 24 months in Seattle. Although I can't talk much about it, I finally did something I should have done many years ago but just didn't have the balls until now. Today, I set it in motion. I am almost relieved.

Career-wise, I have decided to put it on hold, at least not at a trajectory I envisioned previously. There are quite a few things I need to do for myself. Afterall, I am here to live my life, and no one else's. I feel good to be at peace with making these tough decisions, which should have been done last summer if not the year before that. Being in a cozy relationship has a tendency to insulate and isolate myself from the rest of the world; now I have been on my own for awhile, I finally feel liberated. The funny thing is that, this morning, I woke up and showered with the same girl I was in that relationship a few years ago. How much has changed and yet, paradoxically, how little has changed!

Tomorrow morning, I will present the 2nd talk of a series of seminars, as sort of a multi-part swan song. I'll probably blog about my research work in the future. For now, I feel almost accomplished, and definitely a well-deserved soon-to-be-minted PhD. The end is near, yet it's also the beginning of a new person, not in terms of degree, diploma, certification, license, etc. In my core, I have changed quite a bit and when she plucked out those gray hairs this morning, I also noticed a dramatic change in my physical appearance.

As the announcer at MGM (Las Vegas) repeated about those caged lions, "It's good to be king!"