Sidereal

I thought I'd start with the word-bomb today. No doubt this word will come in handy when marketing those psychic readings...

Sidereal: adj. of the stars or measured by them.

So after spending hours tossing and turning last night, I decided as I finally drifted off that I would press the "restart" button, try to stay at my company and be their NYC presence for the next year or more. I could move back to the bustling city, restart my Equinox membership (and Dance! with Tootsie!) and be closer to people I care about.

The turmoil prior to reaching this conclusion was in part a reaction to a conversation with my current jefes and hearing how flexible they were willing to be about my future role with the company, if I wanted for there to be a future role. It was also driven in large part by the depressing median salary figures for the fields I'm interested in (City & Urban Planning, and perhaps public administration and public policy more generally). The thought of spending 3 years virtually salary-free, and then graduating to make less than half of what I currently earn was somewhat less than reassuring.

Then I popped out of bed this morning, shook out the cobwebs, and incredulously asked myself, "Girl, are you CRAZY??"

I don't know at what point grad school and public-service-right-here-right-now got shifted up to #1 on my priority list, but it shouldn't be there. Somewhere along the line, I must have forgotten that full-time grad school and near-term public service comprise Plan B.

Contrast this with Plan A: To take a year off to be a life student and write a book or two. Meanwhile, perhaps work part-time, get to know the city, and hopefully find a meaningful, interesting and sustainable job without having to go back to school, or at most, going back to school part-time.

So although planning for contingency Plan B (e.g., taking the GRE, applying to grad school) will precede the execution of Plan A, sL's gotta stay focused on making Plan A happen.