New Year Resolutions (2019)

It is been a while since I posted stuff here. Last time it was the start of 2017, on my 40th-year birthday. Almost two years have passed, and quite a lot has happened. The transition from being a carefree student to a not-so-carefree scholar took longer than I thought, but I am glad that I am moving to the next stage of life. 

This, above all, means being in a relationship and cultivating it wholeheartedly. We met in the spring of 2017, in Toronto, at a conference. The dating was unconventional as we live in different cities. But we made it work against odds and difficulties, and solidified the relationship later that year. In the past year, we managed to spend more time together, which certainly helped. Now we are ready to move to the next stage. In my last post, I said that if I can find somebody in the fifth decade of my life, I would be happy. Things happened more quickly.

For a loner like me, this involves lots of changes; it is not easy to open up myself completely and walk into another person's soul. It takes effort, and courage, and perseverance. Two souls clash, and gradually become one. Relationship, as I have learned in the process, is about how much you care about yourself vs. about the other. It may seem that I have lost lots of freedom when I am with somebody, but the feeling of being connected to another person, deeply and affectionately, is a stabilizing force that I, at this stage of life, very much yearn for. Maybe that is what love is all about. Simply put, it may be hard from time to time to be with her, but life without her is just unimaginable.

On my career development, it's been slowed down a bit due to the time I spent on relationship. That, I believe, is a necessary re-balancing of life. I am in the midst of the third year of my tenure track, so I still have time. But the pressure has been building up—I must finish a manuscript of my book by the end of this summer. Otherwise, I would be in trouble. It is about time to speed up. And I will. 

Hence my New Year Resolutions as follows:

Major ones:

(1) Finish my book manuscript by the end of the summer. Find a good publisher—being realistic is the key—and ideally get the reviewers' comments by the end of the year.

(2) Get married, either this summer or at the end of the year, depending on our schedules. We will just get the certificate and deal with the wedding later, when we find time.

Minor ones:

(3) Work on my saffron paper in the fall. Hopefully I can submit the manuscript to a journal by the end of the year.

(4) Keep learning German, which is fun!

(5) Some travels: Early March in Hawaii; late March in Denver; and hopefully a road trip from Baltimore to Tacoma in August! [This depends on (1)]

(6) Get my Green Card application rolling—it takes time.

(7) Keep exercising (swimming, biking, running, planking)—I need to lose at least 10 pounds.

Well, life will surely be busy this year, as typical for an academic. But there is lots of excitement and hope on the way, and I will embrace it with my whole heart!