And the questions come storming . . .

Now that our life in Hawaii is dissolving, now that my PhD is done, now that I have side-stepped the traditional next steps of a career path, now that I'm headed into retreat, now that we've written a semi-Buddhist book, the questions have come storming --

If not psychology, then what?

Or psychology in conjunction with what?

What do I care about?

What is my affiliation?

Who do I belong to?

Where do I belong?

What do I care about? (Really care about)

How will I spend my days?

More to the point: these next ten years. How will I spend them.

I left the monastery a decade ago. That's how long it took me to get clear, take 5 undergrad classes, enter a masters program, complete that program, enter a PhD program, and now, god help me, complete that program.

That was a lot of work.

Not all of it was satisfying or helpful.

It's no secret I didn't love my academic department.

For a while I blamed them.

For a while I blamed me.

Now I don't blame anyone: a bad match is a bad match. No hard feelings.

So, but what next?

The question is raw, open, unsolvable through vision boards and brainstorming.

I'll be spending the next months and years living my way into an answer.

Hope to see you along the way,

Craig

P.S. I wrote this entry on August 23rd. By the time it autoposts on October 15th I will be in a 3-month meditation retreat. Please know that, despite my absence, I am sending you all many good wishes.