This is my final post
… of the year 2022. Let’s hope I write more in 2023.
What Happened This Year?
The year 2022 was life-changing for me. It was a year of changes, a year of growth. It was the end of many things but also the beginning of many things. It is a year that I will never forget.
This year marks the end of my master’s degree where I graduated with my MPhil in Psychology. Alas, after two years of getting this degree and another one-and-a-half years of my research career, I am saying goodbye to academic research (for now, maybe). I still very much enjoy doing research and love the commitment to the rigorous scientific pursuit, I embody that diligent mindset every day, but ultimately I am exhausted with all the conceptual and theoretical debates and the politics that exist within academia. One day I may return to academic research, but right now I want to get my hands dirty and do some practical work.
With that, this year marks my debut as an engineer, and I am having the time of my life! Even though I have only just started my career as a data engineer, I am quite excited about the work that I will be doing. Still can’t believe that the end of my hopes of being an engineer during secondary school is getting revived after I have gone through all the academic journey. Only time will tell whether I will still enjoy it in the future, but in the meantime, I feel like I belong.
This year also marks the start of my writing journey. I am pretty bad at writing, as evident from all the posts that I have made. But I like it (when I don’t have a deadline, that is)! I never thought of myself as a writer (well, I am not one still, if by writing we mean to write a book), but I enjoy putting my thoughts into words, my website is my thought dump sometimes. Writing picks my brain and helps me organize my thoughts. And when I am writing informational posts, it forces me to understand everything as much as possible so everything that I write is accurate. I love writing.
Last but certainly not least, this year marks the betterment of my mental health. I started seeing a therapist in early- to mid-2022, and it was one of the best decisions that I have made in my life. I came to understand a lot more about myself, and to accept myself for who I am in spite of all my peculiarities. But more importantly, I have learned how to handle bouts of irrationality and emotion using meditation. Maybe I should write a post about that.
New Year, Still Me, But Better (Hopefully)
I have a few wishes for the new year; things that I want to accomplish. I am not the type of person that makes huge new year’s resolutions. I find that the more elaborate and grandiose you make a plan, the more difficult it is to keep up with it. So here are a few minor suggestions for my 2023 self.
Keep learning and work smart. Your new career will probably take some time to get used to, but never stop learning new things. Things may get busy and you may get burned out, but there are other things in life that you enjoy doing. It’s easy to get into a depressive loop when work gets rough, but it’s important to remind yourself what you enjoy doing, those are your escapes, those are your raison d’etre.
Write more consistently. This is one of the things that you enjoy doing, this is one of the things that can help you out of your whirlpool of thoughts. As you said yourself, and I quote, “writing picks my brain and helps me organize my thoughts”. Do it, especially when you don’t feel like it because of the stress, that’s when it’s going to help the most.
Exercise more. I got lazy in the final few months of the year and didn’t run much. I played a bit of badminton and table tennis, but you have to get back to running in the new year. It’s another activity that helps you with your mental health, and you know it’s helped you tremendously. Keep working towards your running goals, hopefully, you can reach them in 2023.
Last but certainly not least, meditate. You saw the benefits that meditation had on your well-being. Don’t be complacent and stop doing it just because your episodes have lessened, psychological flexibility is like a muscle that you have to train. Perhaps it’s time to do some more structured meditation. All the best to your mental health, take care of yourself like you would take care of another person.