Career Break Journey

When I was single, I could stay in for weekends like a champion and be very, VERY content.  Between reading, knitting, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing charades, binging Netflix, surfing Daily Mail, Instagram-stalking realty stars - so much contentment can be found in four walls. Sometimes I love a good dreary, rainy day because it gives me the perfect excuse to do 'nothing' over the weekend. Why is staying in considered nothing?  Why does being content with your own company and space get discounted to, well, nothing? Now that I can 'stay in' for the entire week, which is my jam, I should be having a blast.  And I am, but I also have bouts of feeling directionless. Pathetic. Of feeling non-productive. Of feeling like a blob. Just there, squishing around, no shape or definition. I will have projects that motivate me: Write a book! A sassy work of fiction! Scratch that..let's try non-fiction. Still sassy of course.  Ok, how about learn French! Knit a Sweater!  In bet...

Recently, I was selected to be part of a committee to review and select high school senior applicants for college scholarships focusing on academic performance and financial need. While reviewing the essay portion of the application, two things stood out to me. ANXIETY. Many of the applicants wrote about anxiety at varying levels. It was heartening to see students talking about anxiety without shame or stigma.  On the flip side, has anxiety become so openly discussed and claimed that it is being used to label more innocous things such as shyness or lack of confidence? Did not we all go through some form of anxiety while growing up? Especially with all the hormones and unwritten rules of high school social hierarchy that consumes kids, who have absolutely no perspective on how large the world is if they are only able to see beyond their daily routine. Or, is the omnipresence of social media highlighting a glossy and filtered reality creating a pressure cooker environment for kids wh...