I’m currently writing this up from Bed Stuy, while in bed at my airbnb. The last week has been crazy:
- Flew from SJ → Pittsburg
- Attended a graduation in Pittsburg, barely slept while I was there
- Flew from Pittsburg → NYC, started feeling a sore throat
- Stayed in Manhattan at a family friends’
- Got a sore throat (which thankfully was not contagious)
- Enjoyed a bunch of food, medication, and not a lot of sleep lol
- Moved into my airbnb which was quite far away
- All while working, probably the busiest week I’ve had in a pretty long time, since I was preparing for sabbatical.
I’m pretty exhausted from it all. I’ve caught myself thinking about if I regret my decision, because I usually hate the feeling of being tired, but without fail, my quick answer has always been no. The area I stay in is so beautiful. There’s community, happiness, nature, everything. If someone asked me if I would move to Manhattan, my answer would be no. But if someone asked me if I would move to Brooklyn, I’d probably have to think about it for a bit.
What’s keeping my head up is the opportunity I get. I just don’t know when in my life I would have been able to swing 6-12 weeks to do something like this. For me, someone who loves schedule and being close to all my family back home, this is a big jump. But getting to hear from others in my batch, reading their bios, observing zulip threads — it’s all just so exciting. I feel like I can be my “stupid” self and just absorb knowledge and experience from all the people I’ll meet, without fearing that someone will judge me for not knowing something. Of course, I hope I can provide the same experience to someone else too.
I’m a bit worried about not knowing what I want to work on, and I’m wondering if it’ll translate to a “lack of doing,” which is what’s traditionally happened in the past. I’m going to do my best to hold myself accountable. Something that interests me is worth diving into, no matter what the outcome. After all, that’s what having dedicated time to things like this means, anyways. When working, you have to take calculated risks because you don’t want to tire yourself out over time. Here, it’s a free for all. I’m inspired to do the most learning and creating I’ve done in my life over the next few weeks.